Wax: taking it off and putting it on

6 min read

Wax is what stops your feet sliding off the deck. Fresh wax grips; old wax fills with sand and dirt, goes grey and hard, and in the end gets slippery. Topping it up works for a while. Then it is time to strip it and start again.

When to strip it

• It looks grey or dirty, or it flakes, or it stays smooth even after you rough it up with a wax comb.
• You change water temperature. Cold-water wax is soft; in warm water it smears and melts. Warm-water wax on a cold day stays hard and slick. Strip and rewax for the new water, for example before a surf trip.
• Before a repair, so you can see the ding and the resin has clean glass to stick to.
• Before selling a board, or when you buy a used one.
• There is no fixed schedule. Guides suggest anything from every week or two if you surf every day to every few months. Go by how it looks and grips.

How to take it off

1. Warm the wax. Leave the board deck up in the sun for about 10 minutes, or pour warm (not boiling) water over the deck. On a cold day a hairdryer on low works; keep it moving, because heat held on one spot can delaminate the board.
2. Scrape. Use the flat edge of a plastic wax comb or an old plastic card, held at an angle, and peel the soft wax off in strips. Work from one end to the other and do the rails too. Never use metal: it scratches the glass.
3. Take off the film that is left. Rub with a ball of the old wax or a wax-remover block, then wipe with a cloth and a little wax remover or coconut oil. Coconut oil is mild and works on any board, but it leaves a greasy layer you need to wipe off before rewaxing.
4. Let the deck dry and cool before the new wax goes on. Wax does not stick well to a warm, wet or oily deck.

In the app: Epoxy and EPS boards: many solvent wax removers and acetone dissolve EPS foam, and they find their way in through hairline cracks. FCD Surfboards say to clean up with alcohol, not acetone. Catch Surf say not to use solvents or cleaners on their soft-tops at all. If you are not sure what your board is made of, stick to heat, a comb and coconut oil or a water-based cleaner.

Base coat and top coat

Most surfers use two waxes. The base coat is a hard wax rubbed on first; it builds the bumps and does not melt or wear off quickly. The top coat is a softer wax for the water temperature, rubbed on top for the sticky feel. You strip and redo the base coat only when you strip the board. The top coat you add a few strokes of before most sessions.

Sex Wax puts it simply: the base coat must be hard enough to stay firm at the warmest water you expect, and any top coat works as long as it is softer than the base. A tropical wax often doubles as a base coat. In warm water many surfers skip the base and just use warm or tropical wax.

How to put it on

1. Base coat first, in a criss-cross. Press lightly and draw long diagonal lines across the deck from rail to rail, about 5 cm apart, then a second set across the first. Use the edge of the bar, not the flat face.
2. Fill in with small circles, still with light pressure, until small bumps form all over the area. Do not rush this layer; it is what everything else sits on.
3. Top coat in small circles over the base until the bumps grow. Some surfers finish with another light criss-cross.
4. Rough it up with the comb before a session if the bumps have flattened, then add a few strokes of top coat.

Criss-cross or circles is mostly a matter of taste. Criss-cross lines are said to stick better on a deck with pressure dents, where circles skip over the hollows.

Where the wax goes

• Shortboard: from the tail pad (or the tail) up to just past where your front foot lands, and where your hands go when you pop up. On a shortboard that is roughly the back two thirds.
• Longboard: most of the deck, nose to tail, because you walk on it. If you nose-ride, wax right to the tip.
• Soft-tops: the foam deck is textured and grips on its own; wax is optional. If you want more grip, a thin layer of soft wax where your feet go is enough.

Which wax for which water

Wax is sold by water temperature: soft for cold water, hard for warm. The brands use the same four words but their ranges overlap and do not match exactly. Go by the label on the bar and the water temperature on the spot page.

• Cold: Sticky Bumps Cold is for water under 15 °C. Sex Wax Quick Humps Yellow is for 14 °C and below, Purple for 9 to 20 °C.
• Cool: Sticky Bumps Cool for 14 to 19 °C. Quick Humps Green for 14 to 23 °C.
• Warm: Sticky Bumps Warm is listed for about 18 to 24 °C. Quick Humps Orange for 18 to 26 °C, Red for 21 to 29 °C.
• Tropical: Sticky Bumps Tropical above 24 °C. Quick Humps Blue at 26 °C and above, and it is also their base coat.

Where two ranges overlap, the softer wax is stickier but wears off faster. If the water is cool but the air is hot, a step harder can help, because soft wax smears when the board sits in the sun.

Traction pads

A traction pad is a stick-on foam pad (EVA) for the back foot, usually with a raised kick at the tail. Many shortboarders use a pad at the back and wax at the front. It never needs rewaxing and grips well in cold water. Longboarders usually skip it because they walk the board.

1. Strip all the wax from the tail and wipe the area clean and dry. On a new board, wipe off the glass dust.
2. Centre the pad on the stringer. Most surfers line it up with the leash plug or with the front, middle or back of the rear fin; it is personal.
3. Trace the outline in pencil with the backing paper still on.
4. Peel the backing slowly and press from the centre out to the edges so no air is trapped.
5. Leave it 24 hours before you surf if you can.

Hot days and the car

• Wax softens in the sun and slides off in a hot car, onto the seats and the board bag. Keep spare bars in a wax box or a cool bag.
• Heat is worse for the board than for the wax. FCD Surfboards say a board must stay under about 65 °C, and put it plainly: if the car is too hot for a dog, it is too hot for your board.
• A reflective (white or silver) board bag keeps the board cooler. FCD say a board sock alone makes it hotter than nothing.
• Do not leave a board lying deck up on hot sand or a car roof longer than you need to.

Sources: Sex Wax: Quick Humps and Dream Cream guide (temperature ranges, base and top coat) · Sticky Bumps Cool wax at evo (Sticky Bumps temperature grades) · Stewart Surfboards: techniques for waxing and removing wax · FCD Surfboards: board care (heat, wax removers on EPS, repairs) · evo: how to apply a surfboard traction pad · Rapture Camps: how to wax and rewax your surfboard · Surfer Today: why you should regularly remove surf wax · Catch Surf: care and handling guide

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