Skins that Don't Stick

Does anyone have a suggestion for getting my skins to stick better? I'm riding a Prior Khyber splitboard and the skins do not stick very well anymore. I've heard you can re-glue them, but not sure.

Reglue the skins.  Not too difficult. The time honored method of removing the old glue is to iron kraft paper strips onto the skins (rip up old grocery bags, get the iron from Goodwill for $0.50) many times. When I last did my skins I found that if I softened the old glue thoroughly with the iron and one layer of paper I could then remove virtually all of the old glue is one quick swipe using an old piece of wood as a scraper. Much faster and more effective than ironing on 5 or more layers of kraft paper. You should be easily able to see the sort-of-canvas base of the skin when all the glue is removed.

Use Ascension Gold skin glue.  Heat up the glue can in a pan of hot water before brushing on - it flows on much better and smoother. You should be able to get a smooth gloss finish to the glue much like new skins.

Before starting cover the pile side of the skin completely with painter's blue tape to protect the surface from the inevitable bits of old and new glue that get smeared about. This process is messy. Don't try it on your heirloom dining table.

Black Diamond "Glue-renew" is a pricey alternative, essentially a 1/16" or so layer of pure glue as long and wide as the ski or board, on non-tacky transfer paper.  You remove the old glue and iron the entire Glue-renew layer on at once, trim the edges, and peel off the transfer paper. The glue is very thick, probably heavier than it needs to be, and has industrial strength stick. Don't stick the skins together - you'll never get them apart. $40 vs about $14 for the liquid glue.

Just redid my skins. Used a hot air gun and a 5" putty knife to remove the old glue. This worked well and was very easy. Did two coats of the BD glue. Using the little brush that came with the can took a while, but glue turned out smooth and looks great.

Clem ,
thanks for the tip on heatiing the glue. Sounds like like it would help.
I use the heat gun and scraper AKA " the Mad Dog attack." being careful not to fry the skin.

The painters tape is an interesting suggestion, although if the skin is heated enough wouldn't the tape adhesive start to stick to the plush part of the skin? Heating the glue-both new to me. Thanks for the tip!
Long time fan heat gun and scraper. I clamp the skins to my work bench with a c-clamp or c-clamp vice grip on both ends of the skins to hold in place, heating with hot air gun and scraping as Khyak suggests.
Old electrical paint scrapers may work also.
May have to experiment with the paper.
I carefully pull up the cloth centerpiece on the BD skins and roll up like a cinnamon roll to the end of the ski and rubberband it in a roll to the tail clip to get it out of the way.

The real key is taking care of your skins in the field.
I have skins over 7 years old that have not needed to be reglued because I take precautions to make sure they are folded properly, not tossed or dropped in the snow/dirt, put in the pack in a protective pouch so needles and dirt don't find their way on the glue.
Some brands of glue just out and out suck, but BD has excellent quality.

Nothing like getting to the bottom of a bowl as the sun is waning, going to put the skins on for the final hike out and the skins are sticking to the ski like oil to water.
Good luck
Joe

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I ended up using the BD Gold label adhesive since the Glue Renew transfer sheets are not wide enough for a splitboard. Heated up the skins using paper bags and an old iron. Then scraped off the old glue using a wide spackling knife. The nylon taffeta strip down the middle was tricky to deal with, but I was able to salvage it. The glue went on smooth and easy. Did three thin coats and I am now waiting for it to cure. Hopefully in time for the post thanksgiving rush to the mountains.

Thanks again for the help!!!