SUP Care Guide: Effective Cleaning & Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Paddleboard in Ideal Shape
Stand up Paddle Boards are an investment; so taking care of your SUP board is crucial to ensure it lasts for many years. Some of the harmful elements that could place your board in jeopardy are sunlight, heat and saltwater. By taking the following SUP cleaning tips into consideration, you will be well on your way to prevent these and other elements from harming your beloved paddleboard.
How to Properly Clean Your Board
After each use, it is vital to wash off your board in freshwater, and if you are planning to put it away for the season, make sure it is completely dry.
How to Adequately Protect Your Board from UV
Your board can be damaged if it has direct intense sunlight exposure. A popular belief is that it does not matter if the exposure is either short-term or long-term, but this is not correct. The reason behind the damage is due to the board being structured of an EPS foam that holds air and gas that can easily expand, overheat, and add pressure to the fibreglass and epoxy skin. What these cause are splits, cracks and bubbles on your board’s exterior. You do not want this taking place.
If you tend to leave your board outside, you should consider getting your hands on a board bag, one that has a reflective front. But please keep in mind that board covers can act as an oven and overheat a SUP board, so either leave the zipper open or look for a board cover with breather holes. Even with all this protection that you are adding, it is still suggested that when you are not paddling, you keep the board in the shade.
How to Effectively Store Your Board
Every board should be stored in a cool, dry environment. When storage space is limited, a shed or a garage tends to be the go-to choice. However, you must make sure that the area is not too hot, for example never store a stand up paddle board in the top of a tin shed where it gets extremely hot.
Racks are always a great choice. Paddleboard Wall Storage Racks and SUP Ceiling Storage racks are two options to keep your board safe at all times and out of the way. This comes in handy if you do not have a lot of space. Keep in mind that you don’t store your board in direct sunlight.
How to Safely Transport Your Board
To transport your board safely, it should be secured with the aid of a roof rack system which can be a standard car crossbar or soft roof racks. SUP Boards should be face down with the fin at the rear of the vehicle and the fin upwards. Stand up Paddleboards can be multi-stacked on roof racks. The best way for tying on your paddleboard is to use two three-metre tie downs straps, remembering to not over tighten.
