A great characteristic of kayaks is that you can modify them to your liking. With a little work, you can make them safer, better-performing, and more comfortable.
Foam pads are an important outfitting in most kayaks. In this article I discuss how to remove and replace kayak foam pads.
To remove and install kayak foam pads, try to pull them off with your hand. If unsuccessful, use a knife or pressure washer to remove the largest pieces. Clean the remaining debris with a hot gun, plastic scraper and degreaser. To install kayak pads, locate and clean the area, shape the pads and affix them to the boat.
Table of Contents
What is the purpose of foam pads?
Foam pads are so simple, yet they play such an important role in most kayaks.
Foam pads make our kayaks safer, sturdier and more convenient
Bulkheads are the foam walls typically located at the stern of a hardshell, sit-in kayak. Longer, higher-quality boats also have a bulkhead towards the bow.
This foam is not just any foam, it is typically minicell closed foam. This is a special high-density, closed-cell foam that doesn’t absorb water. This characteristic makes it perfect for use on kayaks.
It can be a little expensive, but is soft, firm and can be easily shaped with common tools.
When installed towards the front and back of your boat, these foam bulkheads create a water-tight cavity. This is useful for three reasons:
1. The water-tight cavity creates a dry area for you to store gear.
2. The cavity improves the buoyancy of your kayak. In other words, bulkheads help keep your kayak from sinking.
3. The location of the bulkheads also provides structural integrity to your boat. Bulkheads help keep your boat from warping and deforming.
Kayak foam pads make your kayak more comfortable
Paddlers attach foam pads at strategic locations inside their sit-in kayaks for various reasons. One important reason is simply to make the boat more comfortable.
Hardshell kayaks are manufactured from plastic, fiberglass, composite material or wood. None of these materials are comfortable to sit on or connect with for long periods of time.
Foam pads are typically installed near a paddler’s thighs, hips, back and seat, to create a surface that is softer to the touch and a little more comfortable than your cold, hard kayak hull.
Kayak foam pads help you perform better in your kayak
Hip pads and thigh braces keep you better connected to your kayak.
You are better able to control the direction and movements of your kayak when you are ‘wearing’ it, rather than when you are merely ‘sitting’ in it.
What’s the difference?
Well, sitting in kayak is kind of like sitting in a bathtub (when the bathtub is empty). Your backside is firmly positioned on the bottom, but the rest of your body doesn’t touch the sides.
There is no connection.
If you need to perform a maneuver such as edging or bracing, you require connection to your kayak. Without it, you slide from side-to-side and never really have control of your boat.
Foam pads create this connection.
A pair of pads are typically installed on either side of the cockpit, near your hips.
Another pair are often installed on the interior of the deck, near your thighs.
You shouldn’t need to jam yourself past the foam pads to enter and exit your kayak. However, the pads should dramatically reduce the available room for your body to slide around inside your boat.
When it comes time to edge or brace, the instant connection between your body and your boat greatly improves your ability to perform these moves.
How to remove old foam pads before you install new ones
If you have purchased a used kayak or simply want to upgrade the one you have, then swapping out the foam pads is an inexpensive way to improve the feel of your boat.
Step 1. Pull the pads off the kayak.
This can be super-easy or heartbreakingly difficult.
See if you can wedge a finger between the incumbent pad and the kayak. If you’re lucky, the pad might just pop off.
(Don’t do this with a tool as you’re likely to damage the surface.)
Honestly, this probably won’t go well.
You’re likely going to require mechanical aid to remove the pads.
Using a knife to remove the foam pad
A long-ish, serrated knife is usually the default tool that gets the job done.
I’ve heard stories of folks having success with plastic, serrated lettuce knives. They cut through minicell foam surprisingly well and don’t slice gouges out of your boat.
The downside is that these plastic knives dull quickly. You’ll require more than one to get the job done. The good news is, they’re not expensive.
Whichever knife you choose, don’t try and cut the whole pad off in one cut. Take a few passes.
Be particularly careful once you are cutting close to the hull. Knives and kayak hulls are not good friends.
Cut off as much foam as you can but don’t try to get it all. The leftover debris can be cleaned up later.
Power washers can sometimes be effective at removing foam pads
Gas powered washers have been known to knock off a well-affixed minicell foam pad.
If you have a power washer kicking around the garage, feel free to give it a try. Use the narrowest setting to focus a concentrated stream of water between the pad and the hull.
Step 2. Clean up the residual debris
Once you have removed the big foam pieces, you are then tasked with removing the mess that is left behind.
That mess usually includes foam nuggets and adhesive as well as tape (if double-sided tape was used).
If the residue is mostly made up of contact adhesive, you will usually find success removing it with acetone or a citrus degreaser.
If reinforced tape was used to hold the foam pad in place, then you will require heat to remove the mess.
Using a heat gun, warm up the residue on a low setting. (If the heat is too high, you risk deforming the hull.) While the remaining adhesive and tape are warm, scrape everything away with a plastic scraper.
This will remove most of the mess.
Wipe the cleaned area with acetone or another degreaser to remove everything that the scraper missed.
The recipe for cleaning foam pad adhesive and tape is some combination of heat, scraping and chemical degreaser.
This concludes the process of removing kayak chemically affixed foam pads and cleaning up the mess that they leave on your kayak hull.
How to install new kayak foam pads
Now that the offending foam pads have been removed from your kayak and their mess cleaned, you can begin the process of installing brand new foam pads.
Installing hip pads
You can purchase pre-cut foam pads from a foam manufacturer or kayak supply store. However, it’s not difficult to trim and shape foam pads yourself from a block.
Most recreational kayakers do best with about a half inch of space between their seated body and their hip pads.
Step 1. Position the pad
Position a hip pad in the approximate location that it will eventually live. Use painter’s tape to hold it in place.
Use a dark marker or grease pencil to mark the areas requiring shaping.
Step 2. Trim and shape the pad
Remove the foam pad from the kayak wall.
Cut a basic wedge shape from the foam using a serrated knife (either a metal one or plastic lettuce cutter will do).
The widest part of the wedge is to be situated at the top of the cockpit and will narrow as the foam descends lower into the kayak.
Sit in the kayak and replace the cut foam pad to assess the fit. Trim more where necessary.
Once the general shape is in place, use course sandpaper to round off the edges and corners. Again, the bottom of the wedge should be quite narrow.
Step 3. Attach foam pad to the kayak
Use a marker (water soluble) or grease pencil to mark the position that the foam pad will occupy on the kayak hull/seat.
Most recreational paddlers install hip pads such that the top edge of the pad sits just below the cockpit rim.
Athletic paddlers often position the foam higher – in line with the cockpit rim. The support is better this way, but the craftsmanship required to shape the foam is demanding.
Use a commercial grade, waterproof, contact cement that works. Use H2 Glue from NRS or Clifton Hypalon (Shore) Adhesive, also from NRS.
Mask the area around the desired pad position with painter’s tape.
Lightly abrade the plastic framed by the painter’s tape with sandpaper. Then remove debris with a moist rag and acetone.
Wear gloves and work in an area with adequate air-flow.
Apply a thin coat of adhesive to the hip pad and let dry until tacky. When you touch the adhesive and it sticks, but when you release the glue stays put, that’s tacky.
When tacky, apply another thin coat of adhesive to the hip pad.
Apply a thin coat of adhesive to the kayak. When the two glued surfaces are both tacky, it’s time to affix the hip pad.
Line up the top edge of the pad with the markings you made on the kayak. Then, lower the foam into place. Press the two surfaces firmly together.
You’re using contact cement so you only have one shot to get it right. Take your time and be intentional with your movements.
When the hip pad is in place, use acetone to clean any stray solvent from the surrounding areas.
Well done. The hip pad is installed.
Installing thigh braces
Recall that thigh braces are positioned inside a sit-in kayak on the underside of the deck.
When correctly positioned you grip them with the inside of your upper thigh.
Two issues to consider are the positioning of the thigh braces relative to your legs, as well as the amount of hook on the brace.
If the thigh braces are not positioned correctly inside your kayak, you won’t be able to grip them.
Should this be your experience, slide your seat forward or back. While this should help with the fit of the thigh braces, it could also mess up the trim of your boat.
If your thigh braces just don’t fit, some manufacturers offer replacements sets to fit different-shaped folks.
Another thigh brace characteristic to consider is the amount of hook.
Too much hook and your kayak feels too tight. Too little hook and you can’t grip the braces at all.
Again, some manufacturers offer different sizes of brace to fit the different-sized people that paddle their kayaks.
In terms of installing thigh braces, the nature of the installation varies from boat to boat. Usually, though not always, the installation is mechanical, rather than adhesive.
Some river kayaks have a complex mechanism of screws and plugs to install and manipulate the braces. Other touring kayaks have thigh braces that simply install with two screws.
If you are completely unable to make your thigh braces fit your body, consider installing two small, wedge-shaped foam knee pads underneath your deck with contact cement. This will let you rid yourself of the ill-fitting thigh braces while still keeping sufficient contact with your kayak while paddling.
Installing bulkheads
I wrote a comprehensive article about how to remove, clean, and reinstall a kayak bulkhead here.
A word about installing seat pad foam
Most manufactured kayak seats are at least as comfortable as they need to be. Occasionally, one will degrade, giving rise to uncomfortable bulges or wonky angles.
If this happens to you, you have a few choices: live with the changes, buy a new seat, create a DIY foam solution.
Note that you usually can’t fix a kayak seat by slapping a piece of foam on it. Bulges will become ‘bulgier’. Slants will get ‘slantier’.
Rather, the solution is to improve the shape of the seat.
If there is a bulge, consider a foam pad with a recess underneath that leaves space for the bulge.
In the case of a slanted seat, insert foam on the low side to provide better support and level out your mid-section.
How to remove and install kayak foam pads – Parting thoughts
Foam pads are used in kayaks to make them safer, better-performing, and more comfortable.
The location in the kayak and job of the foam pad determines how it is both removed and affixed.
With a little research, a few tools and some practice, you can modify your kayak so it feels and performs exactly how you like.