How To Hydro Dip Roller Skate Trucks and Plates

I hydro dipped some roller skate trucks the other day and now I'm OBSESSED! My gear will never be monochromatic again. And yours doesn't have to be either, if you watch my how-to video on YouTube.

The reason why I'm so obsessed with hydro dipping is because it's really easy and you don't even need that much stuff. There are videos all over the internet teaching you how to hydro dip, and soon I'll have one too.

What Do I Need To Hydro Dip?

• Spray paint: 2-4 colors
• Sealant
• Bucket /Tub (one you don't mind getting paint all over)
• Masking Tape
• Whatever you want to dip
• Rubber /Latex Gloves (optional)
• A Mask/ Ventilator (optional)
• Test objects, such as soda bottles, rocks, etc.(optional)

That's seriously it. Mask and gloves are not strictly necessary but highly recommended. If you buy everything it may cost you about $50, but of course you can use all of these thing over again for another dip. And odds are you already have some of these things or have a friend that does, and in that case you can do this cheaper or maybe even for free.

Another tip: In my experience, spray paint from the hardware store is very limited in color and expensive, around $10 a can, but if you can find a shop meant for street artists, such as a skate shop, you can find much more color variety for a significantly lower price. I found a shop by my favorite skatepark that sells pretty much every shade of every color for only $4 a can.

How to Hydro Dip Roller Skate Trucks

I made a video on how to hydro dip roller skate trucks and plates. Here are the basic steps:

1. Clean your trucks so they are clean and not rusty
2. Cover the axles with masking tape, plug the toe stop, and fill the pivot cups with something, I suggest vasoline.
3. Fill the bucket with warm water. It should be deep enough that the trucks can be fully submerged.
4. Assemble all equipment. Put on your mask and gloves.
5. Spray various colors into the water until you get a cool marbled effect you want to transfer to your trucks
6. OPTIONAL Slowly dip in a test object, such as a soda bottle or rocks, to see how your colors look
7. SLOWLY dip your truck into the water, and slowly lift it out.
8. Repeat for the others. Set them somewhere to dry. DON'T TOUCH THEM!
9. When they are fully dry (approximately an hour later), give them a few coats of sealant. Wait at least 15 minutes in between coats of sealant.
10. Remove the masking tape. If the axles got wet they may be rusty, but you can easily remove rust with vinegar.
11. Enjoy!

What I've Learned About Hydro Dipping, From Experience

• You really should try a test object, because sometimes a color scheme looks really good in your head but not so good in reality; better to make an ugly rock than ugly skates.
• When the paint is very wet, right after you have dipped or even in the middle of a dip, you can put your fingers on the object and move paint around if you want, but be very careful because the paint formations at this point are very delicate and easy to smudge or destroy.
• If you are dipping plates, it can be very difficult to get the paint to cover all of the angles properly. If you give your plates a base coat of one of the colors you will be using, spots that don't get covered won't look as naked.

That's it. Have fun, check my how-to video, and please tag me on Insta (@rollerskaterevival) if this helped you personalize your skates!