08 Apr WAXING YOUR SURFBOARD

WAXING YOUR SURFBOARD

We’ve all heard the saying ‘Wax on / Wax off’  – It’s a never-ending cycle of waxing your board and taking the wax off to re-wax it. But the good news is, there’s not really a wrong way (unless you put it on the bottom of your board of course!)

 

But here are our top waxing tips:

1. Choose the right wax 

The wax you need to use will vary depending on the water temperature. It will say on the packaging but in the UK it’s generally cold for winter and spring, cool for summer and autumn. If you’re lucky enough to be based in the tropics or going on holiday to a hot destination such as Bali, Maldives, Central America, Sri Lanka etc, then ‘tropical’ is what you’ll need to go for. 

 

 

2. Make sure the deck is clean

This is to ensure there’s nothing that will stop the wax from sticking properly. If your board is new, just give it a wipe with a cloth, alternatively, if you need to de-wax your board first, check out our tip at the bottom.

 

3. Make sure you’re not waxing the board on anything sharp or hard

Either bring your board inside, lie it on the grass (as long as you’ve cleared any rocks) or place it across your knees. If there is anything hard under the board you could ding the bottom as you’ll be applying a bit of pressure when waxing

 

4. Applying the wax: Step 1

Using the edge of the wax, draw diagonal lines across your board from rail to rail, then repeat going in the opposite direction to create crisscrosses. How much of your board you wax will depend on the board and your ability. You want to wax from the tail (unless you have a deck pad, then start above this) so your back foot doesn’t slip. If you are surfing a longboard and want to start cross-stepping, then wax to the nose. On a mid-length or shortboard, you won’t need to wax as far up. 

 

5. Applying the wax: Step 2

Using the flat surface on the edge of the wax, rub the wax over in small circular motions over the crisscrosses. This will start creating small sticky bumps. Keep going until you have a consistent layer of bumps across the deck (shortboards will use about half a block of wax and longboards you’ll probably use the whole block)

 

6. How often you wax your board is personal preference

You can wax your board before every session but it’s not essential if you have a good layer on. A wax comb will add a bit of stick if you forget your wax too (scratch in a diagonal motion from rail to rail)

 

7. When to de-wax and start again

Depending on how often you ride your board will affect how often you should re-wax. If you’re riding the same board every day, you might want to change it every 2-3 weeks. It’s usually time to de-wax though when the layer gets too thick or it’s super dirty (no matter how clean you think your feet are, after a walk to the sea they won’t be!)

~

Our top tip for removing wax:

Pour hot water over the board (be careful it’s not boiling hot as you might burn yourself!) or use a hairdryer to warm the wax. Scrape off with the flat side of your wax comb or an old plastic card works too. In hot countries, there is an option to leave it in the sun to warm the wax, but if you do this too often your board will go yellow. For the really stubborn wax, you can use a solution, like ‘De Wax. IT’. 

 

~

Now you can wax your board, jump into the ocean and catch some waves!

If you’d like to come and surf with us, whilst getting even more tips during your lesson and our surf theory sessions, check out our calendar!