IS SURF WAX BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
Traditional surf wax is made from paraffin and the process includes a number of carcinogenic products being added to obtain the right consistency.
These chemicals are bad for your skin and toxic if ingested….not that you should be chewing on this stuff, no matter how hungry you are, but there’s a good chance that fish will give it a go when little bits of wax flake off your board.
So, quite simply put, yes, wax is bad for the environment.
An alternative would be to use a wax made from Soy but a lot of these are also not particularly environmentally friendly. They can be made from genetically modified soy that has been grown with nasty chemical fertilisers.
Possibly the most eco-friendly alternative would be a bees-wax based product. However, there are still practical problems associated with these, even after you have addressed the environmental issues……
So…..here’s 5 practical reasons why surf wax is cr@p….
MELTING
You don’t have to be in the tropics to experience the mess of melted wax. It may not seem like it sometimes but even in the UK we do actually have enough sun to melt the artistic wax job you spent hours perfecting…..and that’s outside of your four wheeled mobile oven. You leave your board in the car on a sunny day and faster than you can say “ruined upholstery”, your deck will resemble a discarded Mr Whippy on a metal slide at the local play-park on the hottest day of the year.
GATHERING SAND
Sand has a funny knack of getting everywhere. Add a nice and sticky deck of wax and you have yourself an abrasive surface that would rival even the best quality sandpaper.
DIRTY
It doesn’t take long, a few sessions and your pristine wax job is starting to look a bit grubby. A few more sessions and you’re having trouble identifying which board you’ve selected to ride. Some more sessions and it is clear to you and all who behold this sludge coloured skank magnet that a re-wax is well over due.
WATER TEMPERATURE
Cold’ water, ‘cool’ water, ‘warm’ water, ‘tropical’ water, ‘just-took-a-pee-in-your-wetsuit’ water…..which wax do you need?!
COST
“It’s alright, wax only costs a few quid”. That may be so but over the course of the year, if you are surfing regularly, it soon adds up.
So, this is where GRIPD comes in. Our surf wax alternative won’t melt, gather sand or get dirty, and you don’t need to change it if surfing in different water temperatures.
If you clean your board properly before applying GRIPD, it will last at least a year, so it is cost-effective alternative when compared to a years worth of traditional surf wax and it wont break-down and upset the fish.
You still can’t have a little chew on it but GRIPD is not made with any nasty phthalates, plasticisers or PVCs, so it is a friendlier wax-free alternative………and you can buy it here.