How to Wax a Surfboard

Surf wax is the stuff that makes your feet stick to the top of your surfboard. It's a good thing.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Women's Athletic Swimsuits
• Sunscreen
• Adhesive Traction Pads
• Board Shorts
• Surf Leashes
• Surf Waxes
• Surfboard Bags
• Surfboard Ding Repair Kits
• Surfboards
• Surfing Wet Suits

1. 

   Understand that different kinds of surf wax are made to work in different water temperatures. Buy surf wax that is suited to the water conditions you surf in.

2. 

   Rub wax onto the "deck," or top, of your surfboard using 3- to 6-inch circles. Pay particular attention to the parts of the deck where your feet will be, and wax the board all the way to the tail.

3. 

   Note that you don't need to wax the extreme front of the deck, but put some wax at the spot on the top side of each "rail," or side of the board, where your hands grab the board to sink the nose when you duck dive.

Tips & Warnings

• Use grip tape on the deck as a substitute for wax. Once it's on, you don't have to bother reapplying it.
• Put a heavy coat of wax on your board every time you go surfing while you are learning.
• If you are wearing a wetsuit, you can tuck a small bit of wax into the calf of your wetsuit so that you will have it handy if you need to rub a little onto your board while you're in the water.
• Once you have a thick coat of wax on your surfboard, you can use a stiff comb to rough up the wax for an even better grip.

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[bonanza7]

on 7/27/2009 Try this article...

[leewbutler]

on 6/10/2009 Instead of wax for the surfers back foot you can use a traction pad and http://www.DuckClaws.com for the duck diving grip toward the front. These two high traction areas of the surfboard are good to have traction pads on for cold water surfing, long board duck diving (or rolling), and shallow reef surfing - when you need to do flat palmed duck dives so you don't grind your knuckles on reef.

on 9/25/2006 With the end of your wax comb (the one with the spikes), bring it diagonally across one side of your board, do the same on the other side. Your board will end up with squares carved in the wax, which creates better traction.

on 8/8/2006 Put the wax on in a cross motion with an inch between. First you do one way then the other way (crossed), do this 2 of 3 times. When finished and you got a diamond pattern, you can cover the patch with wax. What's happening is the pattern catches the wax you're rubbing on and you get nice bumps for good grip. The diamond pattern provides more grip and is the base. If you prefer, you can change to any pattern you think will work for you.

on 8/8/2006 Wax with big, lovely, diagonal strokes (warm water bottom-coat, cool water top-coat depending on conditions). This way you will get tall gripping bumps on your deck. Waxing in circles will flatten those bumps and make you look like a cheese bandit. Hold the wax at an angle. Do put wax near (not too near) the nose, you may need to put your foot there when distributing weight to get over a section or re-form. Don't limit yourself to a small square of wax just for your front foot- good surfers walk all over their boards, not to mention landing airs. Try a dab of wax behind the tail pad- could save your knackers if your foot lands too far back (think pin tails). Don't bother mucking up your forward rails with wax for duck-diving- if you cant hold on to your board, then...on second thought, keep the wax a cool inch away from you rails. Enjoy yourself!