How to remove old foam padding from rails

Just had to share what worked for me. Wanted to remove and replace the padding on the rails of my Son's turbo 14. Any one who has tried this knows how hard this is. Tried the heat gun, goo gone, etc. they all stunk. I wanted to just slice it off with a knife but that would scratch up the rail. One day my wife bought a "salad knife." This is a large serrated plastic knife for cutting lettuce. Yes! Rushed outside to try it. Use a shallow slicing motion and the old foam peeled of easily. Down side? By the time I finished the first rail the soft plastic had worn down. Then....Wife was looking for her new knife. I was in trouble. These knives can be bought on EBay for about $2 each. You need 3. One for each rail and one to replace your wife's. Removing the old foam from both rails took less than 20 minutes. Any way worked too well to keep to myself.

Great tip, thanks for sharing!

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Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795

That's why I use carpet. My mom found the carpet cheap somewhere. Somehow we found the same kind of carpet we have been using for years and its held up really nice. I think we got enough to do about 4 sets of rails for less than $10 and the same brand contact cement they sell in the catalog can be bought at home depot.

have you tried a good gas pressure washer wit the tip adjusted to pencil stream This is what i used Carpet is about 50% as good as foam

Instead of carpet, I have been using rubber non-skid tape on the rails of my H-16 for years. I haven't replaced it in some time so I just Googled it and found it readily available. Just clean the rail with alcohol or acetone, peel the tape off the strip and stick it on the rail. I would round the corners on the ends of the strip. It isn't difficult to remove when it starts to wear out. The price of the one I found on line was $20 for a 1" X60 ft. roll. the 2" wide was double that. It should be available in retail stores in smaller and cheaper quantities. I like the rubber rather than carpet because it doesn't stay wet but provides very good non-slip surface with bare feet or with rubber booties.

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Howard