Waxing Your Board

Everyone has their own style when it comes to waxing their surfboard. Some treat it as an art form; others simply take a chunk and rub it in circles until they’re content. In the cold water, it’s good to use two coats: a hard coat and a soft coat. First of all start with a clean deck on your surfboard. There's no point putting good wax over a coats of old dirty wax.

Hard Coat

For the hard coat I use Sex Wax Quick Humps 5X Hard, but any “hard,” cold water wax will do. Using a light pressure, rub the wax at a 45-degree angle crisscrossing up your board or use a circular motion - people do both and it's a matter of preference. It’s good to wax right from your stomp pad up to the mid, or mid-upper part of your board. Don't rush it and get the best possible bump structure. This layer will be the base for all your waxing until your decide to scrape your board clean. You don’t need the wax to cover all of the deck, unless you ride a longboard and are going to be running all up and down, and hanging five or ten off the nose. After coating the deck once go back over the board waxing rail to rail, then nose to tail. Great, you've now got a good base for your top soft coat.

Soft Coat

After the hard coat is on, apply your softer coat (I use Sex Wax Quick Humps 2X Extra Soft, or soft Sticky Bumps) by rubbing it flat at an angle, or in circles. Sooner or later, the wax should create nice bumps to keep your feet glued to your board. I’ve heard of people rubbing for 30 minutes to get their wax right. This could be some kind of gag, but people do take their waxing serious and spend a lot of time waxing up.

Keep It Waxed

Once your finished waxing, keep your waxed surfboard wax out of the sun, because the wax can turn so runny that you’ll be able to wipe it off like wet paint. And I know it smells really good (especially the Sticky Bumps), but believe me, you don’t want to start trying it if you get hungry in the lineup. (Take some organic energy bars to the beach with you instead.) If you’re riding a soft-top, then lucky for you, you don’t need to spend the time to wax up. The foam will be more than enough to keep you sticking to your board.

Time To Rewax

When your wax is getting dirty, you can use a wax comb (like the one sold at Live To Surf) to peel it off and reapply. It may take a couple weeks, or a couple months until you feel you need to rewax, depending on your preference. And it’s all about preference. Find out what works and feels best for you, so you won’t have to deal with slipping off your edges when that perfect wave comes your way.