Painting your Onewheel front Footpad. If you love that clean all-black look of the Kush or Cobra concave rear Footpad, then you have no doubt thought how to blackout the wood on your front Footpad?
There are a couple of different ways you can accomplish this and you will be amazed by how easily it can be done. With that being said, let’s take a look at….
Painting Your Onewheel Footpad
You don’t need a Kush Or Cobra to attempt this project, as this is a great way to blackout any wooden Footpad.
Paint Pen Or Stain
There are different ways to paint your Onewheel Footpads, but we are just going to focus on two. Acrylic paint pen or, One Step Stain and Poly. Here are some of the benefits of each.
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Acrylic Paint Pen
Using a simple acrylic paint pen is an easy way to cover up that unwanted wood color on your Onewheel footpad. Precise coverage means you can apply without needing to remove your Grip. The paint pen does tend to scrape and chip off easier. But even so, touch-ups are quick and effortless.
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Wood Stain
Rather than just putting a coating on top, as the name suggests, a Wood Stain soaks in and “stains” the wood. This is better for longevity but the actual process is more time-consuming than the paint pen. The best results are achieved by both removing the grip from the pad, and the pad from the wheel.
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Make It Fresh AF By Changing Your Onewheels Grip Tape As Well
The stock Onewheel Grip Tape works, but if you are already thinking about painting your Footpads then you should seriously think about changing your grip tape. There are some amazing new graphic printed and pre-cut Onewheel Grip Tape options. Or, If you purchased an aftermarket concave Footpad, then in the box you should have an extra sheet of matching grip tape. Combine this with one of the methods above to make it bang.
Now Let’s Get To Actually Painting Our Onewheel Footpad
#Disclaimer: As with any modification to your Onewheel, this is done at your own risk! There is a possibility your FootPad sensor can be damaged and malfunction. Removing your Onewheel grip tape will void your warranty. Do your research and make your own decisions accordingly.
Wood Stained Onewheel Footpad
I had a small amount of wood stain leftover from my projects on Weekender Van Life, this and the fact that I love a project, swayed me toward the more difficult procedure of staining the Onewheel Footpad. Varathane One Step Stain and Polyurethane is great! And having used this product many times I know the finish will turn out👌
Remove The Grip
Removing your onewheels grip tape is easy. Check out our How To Remove Onewheel Griptape post, where we give useful tips and tricks to help with this part.
Remove The Footpad
Removing the Footpad is pretty straight forward, it is held on with four screws, just be careful removing the connector plug. #ProTip If you purchase a new front Footpad replacement from Onewheel, it will come with a special plug wrench, use that if you have one, otherwise use a pair of small channel lock pliers to unlock the sensor plug.
Prep The Wood
We used 100 grit sandpaper to take off the existing coating. You don’t need to sand too much, just enough to take off the shine. If you fold up the sandpaper it is easier to sand up against the sensor plastic.
Two Coats Of Stain
Applying the stain with an art brush or similar makes it easy to ”cut” along the edge of the sensor. Scuffing with a Scotch-Brite hand pad between coats helps to get a nice smooth finish.
Install The New Onewheel Griptape
This stuff is stickier than 🐕💩, you don’t want to know how I found this out?! Try your best to line up the hole cutouts and the wheel side edge, before sticking the rest down. #ProTip Make sure your pad and grip are both at room temperature before sticking down your new Griptape. Reinstall the Footpad, don’t forget to lock in your sensor plug. I’m also installing a Float Kush OG.
The Final Product
Fresh black Onewheel footpads on top of pristine factory rails, 🤤.
Painting A Onewheel Footpad – Will It Float
Removing the Footpad, sanding it down, and adding two coats of stain takes a couple of days, so if you cannot have your Onewheel out of commission for that long then you should go the paint pen route. With that out of the way, that if you are building out your dream OW you will be rewarded if you put the effort in by Painting your Onewheel Footpad
Need More Info On Onewheel Footpads?
Want More Onewheel DIY?
Where To Find Onewheel Accessories
- All The Best Onewheel Accessories
- The Best Onewheel Products On Amazon
- Onewheel Pint Accessories, Where To Get Them
As always, thank you for reading, and don’t forget to check out our latest Onewheel related content.
Sideways 4 Life!
The Sideways Movement – Onewheel Blog – thesidewaysmovement.com
∀ says
As far as using paint markers, a way to prevent chipping and cracking is to use a Clear Automotive touch-up marker*.
It’s prime for everything.
*Got mine on Amazon.
F. O. M. F.,
-∀
∀ says
I should’ve noted it’s more theory–I’ve done a lot of paint marker\painting and diyn modding in my life and I am pretty sure it’d work like nail polish, (though you have to dab the marker often to remove some black at times and also toggle the paint well opening mechanism to get a good glob going and spread it).
Just tried that with this one here, and it is dry AF. SO, I’m leaving the caveat:
May not work. But I’ll update.
Ben says
Nice! Clear Coat Protection! Good idea. Thanks for sharing
∀ says
Yeah! Sprays might be best.
Ben says
Spray will definitely work, just a little more prep involved.