How to Wax a Surfboard 2

Waxing is one of the most underrated, pivotal parts of surfing. It makes your feet stick to the board (no we're not snow boarding or skating, where we want a slicker surface to slide, we actually want a grip). Waxing a surfboard is generally looked at as a simple, take off the wax, and throw it back on, But in fact, there is technique to it that can make it stick better, and reduce your chances of slipping when you drop in of the biggest wave of your life, pull off your first air, or even when your just doing normal off the lip at you regular beach break. a nice coat of fresh wax, just boosts your confidence, and makes a surf session that much better.

If you are waxing a new board, skip this step.

What you need to do is take a wax comb, gift card, or something similar, and scrape off all of the wax on your board. I've found that wax combs are good for getting the bulk of the wax off, and then it is easier to use a gift card to get in all of the little dings and places the wax comb doesn't reach easily.

I highly recommend that you put your board out in the sun for a few minutes or use a hairdryer to soften the wax before you de-wax your board. It will make your job 10 times easier, guaranteed. I used a hairdryer to soften the wax because I was doing this later in the day, and the sun was starting to go down, so hairdryer was my only option.

Once you've gotten most of the wax off, you can get all of the residue off with something like a pickle or a potato. If you don't know, they are these magical little things filled with some kind of powder, and they work wonders. If you don't have one, get one right now, you won't regret it.

Use your pickle and just scrub the board. Get the deck, the rails, the bottom, all of it. Get every last inch of wax off.

Once you've pickled the board, just wipe down the board with a wet rag to get the remaining salt and some of the powder that the pickle leaves off.

Another thing that you can do is to put some sealer or car wax on the bottom of the board. this will seal up some of the pores in the bottom of the board, reducing the amount of water that gets into the board. Not to mention there is now less friction between the bottom of the board and the water, allowing you to go faster.

And it makes it feel amazing. Just saying.

This is optional (obviously), but you should apply stickers before you wax your board. Now, lets get this straight, i am not sponsored (unfortunately), and I just put this sticker on for fun... and my friend made it so I figured I'd promote him...

I would recommend not putting paper based stickers on the board though, like the one I put on... it didn't last very long in the ocean. Anyway put the stickers wherever you want on the board.

As for promoting, I got this sticker from a startup called: NOTHING. Well, it's named Nothing, not like "it doesn't have a name" kind of nothing. Anyway, I think they're a pretty sick brand, and you can check them out at nothing.design. Not to mention, the sticker I used for my board (pictured above) is free. Just visit nothing.design/free to get them for free, They're pretty sick looking for free stickers...

**Sorry for the self promotion? well I'm not promoting myself... so what do you call that? Just promotion I guess... Anyway, You really should go check out some of the sick t-shirts and stickers they sell. Ok, I'll stop the promoting now...

Now for the moment of truth, to apply the wax.

Grab some basecoat wax, ans start making 45 degree lines across the deck of the board. How far up you wax it is up to you. Most commonly, the board is waxed to around 2/3 up, I like to wax it up a little bit higher than that, and some pros, who do airs and stuff will wax it all the way up to the nose. It's all personal preference. Once you've done the 45 degree lines all the way up, then do 135 degree lines (or 45 degrees the other way) of wax, so you should get an X pattern in the wax.

Once you have the X pattern, Then start filling in with your basecoat as you normally would, using a circular motion to apply the basecoat.

Before I put on my normal wax, I like to use a different kind of wax that is softer than the basecoat, but harder than my normal wax. In this case, I applied tropical wax, before I put on my normal cool wax. Apply it using a curcular motion, the same as you would any wax.

Now to apply your regular wax, in my case, cool water wax. I like to use a fresh bar, and start from the top middle, where my front foot sits, and work my way down. This way I have more wax where I need it most, where my front foot is. Apply this the same, with a circular motion.

Now sit back and examine your hard work. Next time you go surfing, appriciate that beutiful, and extremely comfortable sheen of perfectly white wax. It is recommended that you re-wax your board about every 10-15 sessions.

Also check out my previous instructable on waxing a surfboard here.
Don't forget to check out the youtube video on my new channel here.

Don't forget to check out my new youtube channel here. I plan on making more videos soon, and have been getting into filming more often. Not just DIY things but also movies and similar things just for fun.