Skateboard Wall Art Care: How to Clean and Look After a Deck

Last updated: July 2026 · By Stanislav Arnautov · Berlin · 10 min read

This is a short guide because there is not much to say. A printed deck is one of the least demanding things you can hang on a wall, and most of what follows is about what not to do rather than what to do.

Why there is so little to do

Most art care routines exist because of the materials involved. Paper cockles and yellows. Mounts spot. Glass fogs, smears and breaks. Canvas sags on its stretcher and collects dust in the weave.

A printed deck has none of those components. The image is cured directly into a sealed maple surface rather than sitting on a separate paper layer, and there is no glazing at all. What you are looking after is essentially a finished piece of wood, which is a far more forgiving object than a framed print. Our materials guide covers the construction.

How to clean it

Wipe it gently with a soft, dry cloth. Microfibre is ideal. That removes dust, which is the only thing that accumulates in normal use.

For a mark or smudge, use a barely damp cloth with plain water, then dry it with a second cloth. That is genuinely the entire method — there is no glazing to streak, so none of the products you would reach for with a framed print are needed or wanted here.

How often? Whenever you dust the rest of the room. There is no schedule to keep to.

What to avoid

Short list, and none of it is demanding.

Abrasives. Scourers, rough cloths, and anything gritty can scuff the printed surface. Soft cloths only.

Solvents and bleach. Unnecessary and potentially damaging. Water is sufficient for anything you will encounter.

Soaking. Wipe, do not drench. It is wood, and wood does not want to sit wet.

Prolonged harsh direct sunlight. No printed artwork of any kind benefits from all-day direct sun, and this is no exception. A bright room is fine; a spot where midday sun falls directly on the piece for hours every day is worth avoiding, exactly as it would be for a framed print or a canvas.

Direct heat. Do not hang it immediately above a radiator, a stove, or an open fire. Wood responds to sustained heat and dryness.

Kitchens, bathrooms and humidity

This is where the format has a real practical advantage, and it is one of the more common reasons people choose it.

Ordinary framed prints struggle in kitchens and bathrooms: steam fogs the glass, condensation gets behind the glazing, paper cockles and mounts develop spots. A sealed, glassless deck has none of those failure points, so it handles the normal humidity of a well-ventilated kitchen or bathroom without trouble.

The limit is direct water rather than humid air. Do not hang it inside a shower enclosure or anywhere it will be repeatedly and directly wet, and make sure the room actually ventilates. Within those bounds it is a sensible choice for rooms where framed art is a nuisance. See the decorating guide for placement.

Sunlight

Worth being straightforward here rather than making claims about decades.

All printed colour fades under sustained ultraviolet exposure. That is true of posters, giclee prints, canvases and decks alike — the differences between them are of degree, not kind. The sensible approach is the same one you would apply to any artwork you care about: keep it out of the path of direct, prolonged, all-day sun.

In practice this rules out very little. A bright room is not a problem. A wall that catches direct sun for an hour in the morning is not a problem. A piece hung where full summer sun falls on it from midday to evening, every day, for years, is worth reconsidering — and you would move a framed print out of that spot too.

The glassless difference

Three practical consequences of having no glazing, beyond the cleaning.

Nothing breaks. No pane to crack if the piece is knocked or dropped, and no broken glass to deal with if it does come off the wall. That matters in households with children and in busy rooms.

No glare. The matte surface reads the same from every angle, which is useful in rooms with windows opposite the wall, where framed glass reflects the light back at you.

Less weight. Glazing is the heaviest part of most framed pieces. Without it, a deck hangs on lighter fixings, including damage-free adhesive strips in rentals. See the mounting guide.

Handling, moving and storing

Handle it by the edges where you can, the same as any artwork, mostly to keep fingerprints off the printed face.

If you are moving house, wrap each deck separately in a soft cloth or bubble wrap and transport it flat or upright rather than loose in a box where it can slide against other objects. The surface is durable but it is not scratch-proof, and the damage that does occur to decks almost always happens in transit rather than on the wall.

For longer storage, keep them somewhere dry and at a stable temperature, standing upright or laid flat, and not in an unheated garage or a damp cellar. Wood is stable but it responds to sustained damp.

FAQ

How do you clean skateboard wall art?

Wipe it gently with a soft, dry cloth — microfibre is ideal — which removes the dust that is the only thing accumulating in normal use. For a mark or smudge, use a barely damp cloth with plain water and then dry it with a second cloth. No glass cleaner, polish or specialist product is needed or wanted, because there is no glazing to streak and no paper surface to damage. Avoid abrasive scourers and rough cloths, which can scuff the printed surface, and avoid solvents or bleach, which are unnecessary for anything you will encounter. Do not soak it: wipe rather than drench, since the substrate is wood. There is no cleaning schedule to keep — dust it whenever you dust the rest of the room.

Can I hang a deck in a kitchen or bathroom?

Yes, in a well-ventilated one, and this is one of the format's genuine practical advantages. Framed prints struggle in these rooms because steam fogs the glass, condensation can get behind the glazing, paper cockles and mounts develop spots over time. A sealed, glassless deck has none of those failure points, so ordinary kitchen and bathroom humidity does not present the same problems. The limit is direct water rather than humid air: do not hang it inside a shower enclosure or anywhere it will be repeatedly and directly wet, and make sure the room genuinely ventilates rather than holding steam. Within those bounds it is a sensible choice for rooms where conventional framed art is a nuisance.

Will the print fade in sunlight?

All printed colour fades under sustained ultraviolet exposure — that is true of posters, giclee prints, canvases and decks alike, and the differences between them are of degree rather than kind. The sensible approach is the one you would apply to any artwork you care about: keep it out of the path of direct, prolonged, all-day sun. In practice this rules out very little. A bright room is not a problem, and a wall catching direct sun for an hour in the morning is not a problem. A piece hung where full summer sun falls directly on it from midday to evening, every day, for years, is worth reconsidering — and a framed print or canvas would want moving out of that spot too. Also keep it away from direct heat sources such as radiators and stoves, since sustained heat and dryness affect wood.

How should I pack a deck when moving house?

Wrap each deck separately in a soft cloth or bubble wrap and transport it flat or upright rather than loose in a box where it can slide against other objects and hardware. The printed surface is durable but not scratch-proof, and in practice the damage decks do sustain almost always happens in transit rather than on the wall. Handle it by the edges where convenient, mainly to keep fingerprints off the printed face. For longer-term storage, keep decks somewhere dry at a stable temperature, standing upright or laid flat, and avoid unheated garages, lofts and damp cellars — wood is stable but responds to sustained damp and to large swings in temperature.

Article summary

A printed deck is one of the least demanding things you can hang on a wall, because it lacks the components that create most art care routines: there is no paper to cockle or yellow, no mount to spot, no glass to fog, smear or break, and no canvas to sag. Cleaning is a wipe with a soft dry cloth, or a barely damp cloth and plain water for a mark, dried afterwards. Avoid abrasives, solvents and bleach, soaking, prolonged harsh direct sunlight, and direct heat sources such as radiators and stoves. The sealed, glassless construction handles the humidity of a well-ventilated kitchen or bathroom without the problems framed prints have there, with direct water rather than humid air being the real limit. All printed colour fades under sustained ultraviolet exposure, so the sensible approach is to keep any artwork out of direct all-day sun. Being glassless also means nothing breaks, no glare from any angle, and lighter fixings including damage-free strips. Most damage to decks happens in transit rather than on the wall, so wrap them individually when moving and store them dry at a stable temperature.

About the author

Stanislav Arnautov is the founder of deckarts, a graphic designer and print specialist originally from Ukraine, now based in Berlin, where he personally designs and prepares every deck.

Related guides

• Materials and quality — how a deck is built
• Mounting guide — fixings and spacing
• Vs canvas and framed prints — the honest comparison
• Decorating guide — room by room
• FAQ — the common questions
• Skateboard Wall Art: the complete guide