Skin Glue Reboot 2.0—The Whole Enchilada

The Backcountry Garage, a local go-to shop, has an excellent DIY workspace.

Have no fear, removing and regluing skins is a doable and not so messy DIY project. We cannot hold your hand, but here’s a somewhat simple guide for the reglue process.

Not such a long time ago, a skin glue reboot went down. You can read about that here. 

Nearly a year later, the postscript includes some failures and successes. The upside to the skin glue reboot was that it got me through the season. My 95mm underfoot skis are my workhorse skis during mid-winter high pressure and most of my spring skiing. As a result, the skins received a ton of use last season. The sad part of all this is that the glue became unwieldy. 

For some background, I had a several-year-old pair of G3 skins (I know…the glue) needing a glue refresh. I added some Black Diamond Gold Label glue here and there. I’m no chemist. But something about mixing the glues, heating the glues, and then sticking to and pulling from ski bases did a number. Ultimately, the skin reboot rendered gummy, sticky, stick-to-anything-and-everything glue. It was a total mess. 

It’s time for a skin glue reboot 2.0. I knew this was on the table for months. I put it off. I feared a mess. My fears, however, were irrational. It turns out that beyond the fumes inhaled during the glue removal process, it’s a rather simple and clean process. Have no fear. This is a doable DIY process if you can access a heat gun, a metal scraper, parchment paper (or this masking paper from ACE), an iron, and a clamp to secure the skin tip in place. 

To be clear, this time, the reboot means total removal of the skin glue, starting with fresh ski skin and applying Pomoca glue anew. You can score a tube of Pomoca skin glue for roughly $20. One pair of 170cm length skins (95mm underfoot) consumed roughly 1/5 of the tube (probably even less).  

A simple but key step—secure the skin tip in place. It makes the whole process from start to finish easier.

Step 1: Skin Glue Removal

I experimented a bit here with my heating procedure. The folks at G3 have this dialed, as illustrated in their how-to video below. The first 1:15 of the video is key to our glue removal process. After the 1:15, that’s up to you—we did not use a glue-renew sheet. Again, only the video’s first 1:15 applies to this DIY project. 

Ok, let the video play. It is pretty simple. Here, the key is heating up a small section of skin, scraping the glue off, and working from tip to tail. Remember to secure the skin tip in place; it makes a big difference in efficiency and cleanliness. 

I began the glue removal process in my basement with the windows open and ceased after a bit; the fumes were off-putting. I recommend finding a well-vented space to heat and remove the skin glue if you can manage it.

Due to the slowly unfolding (over time) yet sticky disaster with my last reboot, I wanted all the old glue removed except for small traces. Once I scraped most/nearly all of the glue off, I sprayed small amounts of Swix base cleaner on the skin’s glue side, let it sit for a minute, then fully scraped any glue residue off and followed with an old rag, wiping the surface clean.

Applying the glue in a semi-organized fashion. Leave a bit of room near the skin edge, this allows for some room to spread it out without having an excess of glue.

Step 2: Applying New Glue

Here we go. And still, this is not as complicated or messy a project as I imagined.

Keep the skin tip clamped down. Have your glue, the metal scraper (cleaned at this point, hopefully), parchment/masking paper, and iron handy. 

I tried applying the new glue a few different ways to see if there was any difference once I tried to heat it and spread it out evenly with the scraper. You could apply it in a fish scale pattern, or as s-turns down each side of the skin. Either way, applying the new glue roughly 2cm from each edge allowed me to spread the glue toward the edge without any excess dripping off the sides. 

When heated, if not applied excessively, the glue is easily spread and smoothed out.

I also applied and spread the glue in ¼ increments along the skin, working tip to tail.

The glue spreading. Go light on the glue, spread it out, and add more as needed.

Spreading the Glue

• Apply the glue from a tube (we used Pomoca skin glue). We applied the glue conservatively, as more glue can always be added; removing excess glue is a hassle and a potential mess. 
• Use the heat gun (low setting for us; it has two settings), and heat the glue until it is more viscous. 
• Spread the heated glue with the metal scraper. Spread so the glue is applied evenly throughout the application area. We worked from skin-center to skin-edge when spreading the glue. Again, we worked in ¼ increments regarding the glue application, heating, and spreading.
• Move toward the next section of skin and repeat the process. 
• Again, we erred on too little rather than too much glue. In cases where we thought we needed more glue, we dabbed some more on, applied heat, and spread it.

Place a layer of parchment/masking paper down the length of the ski. You’ll be running the iron tip to tail over the paper.

Set the iron on medium heat, and run it over the paper (not too fast, not too slow—just enough) from tip to tail.

Iron the Glue

• Once the skin’s glue side surface has a thin layer of glue applied throughout, lay parchment/masking paper from tip to tail covering the entire glue surface. 
• On medium heat, slowly run the iron from tip to tail. The point here is to spread the glue evenly and ensure no clumping. We did 2-3 passes with the iron.
• Allow the glue to cool for 30 seconds to a minute, then slowly pull the parchment/masking paper off the skin. The paper should come off easily with no tearing. Pull slowly to help prevent any tearing.
• We set the skins outside in a clean environment (it wasn’t windy, and a cold garage would suffice) to allow the glue to cool. 
• We applied skin savers over the glue once the glue was cool to touch and tacky. 
• A day later, after leaving the skins outside for the evening, we ripped the skin savers and folded the skin in halves, glue-side to glue-side. 

Allow the glue to cool for a short period of time (the glue will still be a bit warm to touch), then peel the paper back slowly.

That’s it. A full skin glue reboot. Once the glue/tools are secured, it’s a rather easy mess-free task. If you find the new glue layer insufficient and need more, it’s easy to spot-add glue, heat, spread, etc.     

And if all this seems like too much, the good folks at Big Sky Mountain Products offer a reglue service. You can find more information here.