Skateboard Wax

Skateboard wax will make it easier to slide and grind your tricks. You can rub it on the corners of many surfaces to reduce friction. The wax fills in the gaps and imperfections in a hard surface. It also gives a smooth layer to slide along. This lets you slide, land and learn more tricks.
That means more fun!

Be careful about where you wax things. Waxing and skating can leave dark marks on a ledge and many people don't care for the look.

How to use Skateboard Wax

skateboard waxed ledge

You can use wax on a lot of things to make them skateable.

Most metal edges will slide with almost no friction with the addition of a little wax. Many concrete curbs and ledges will also grind if you wax them up. Especially if they were painted. Wax on paint is super slippery.

Wipe away any dust are loose debris and rub the wax on the area you want to slide. Sometimes you might need to go over the area several times as you skate it and work it in.

Make sure to do it in all the spots where the board will be touching. Get the top, corner and sides where the wheels will hit. You can see here the darker rippled areas where you need more wax.

It will take a few slides or grinds to get it worked in well. You will begin to see grooves and lines where the board touches the surfaces more. Wax up those places when you need a touch up.

Don't use wax on pool coping. To get pool coping sliding a lot use clear lacquer. The spray on is quick for small jobs and touch ups. Use a can and a brush for big jobs.

The Best Wax

There are many brands of skateboard wax to buy. Supporting your favorite company by buying wax from them is cool.

The best wax is the stuff that won't crumble when you apply it. Many skateboard brand waxes come in different colours and shapes. They are specially formulated to spread on smooth without making a huge mess of crumbs on the ledge and ground. If you can find candles that stick together like that they will work great too. Plus they smell just fabulous ;)

Try to keep the crumbs off your shoes and griptape. Once the wax grinds into your griptape it is pretty tough to get it out. The wax will even melt in and make splotches all over your grip if you leave it is the sun in a car or something. It makes your board look dirty and used.

It gets on your hands and back onto the board and clothes. So be careful with the mess.

Get the Most Tricks with the Least Hassle

There are wax haters out there. Many people think of waxing as vandalism. I guess they have a point depending on where the wax is placed.

There are also skater wax haters. These are usually the hardcore skaters in the "tight crew". These guys aren't going to be pleased with much of anything. Try to stay away from them, they aren't usually very reasonable. They think they know everything.

They are not into wax because they don't think it is hardcore to use it.  It gets really interesting when they blame others for when they fall.  "I fell cause that rail was to slippery!".  No, you fell because you weren't careful.

These people often lurk on the internet and write anonymous messages. Trying to tell other people what to do.  It is laughable. If they had anything valuable to say they would use actual names and contact info.  Rather than being trolls and cowards(but I digress).

I say sliding is more fun then not sliding so I wax things I skate.

Even then, be mindful of others. Try to be careful when you put wax somewhere in a skatepark. If you go to skate a normally sticky rail and it has been waxed more than you thought.  You could be in for slippery nightmare. Kicking out your board in a frenzy to keep from falling on your face. This can be a little scary.

Test out the stuff you are skating before you skate it hard.  Hit it light the first time to see how it slides.  Once you know, go nuts at it.

My rule is use this:
If its my own stuff I will wax it up as much as I want. If I am at a skatepark I will wax my board and my trucks. Just to keep things slipping enough for fun. I will pick a spot off to the side a bit and wax that. Or I will only put a little bit of wax down. Just enough to make it slide.

Waxing Your Skateboard

For waxing your skateboard spread the wax lightly along the wear marks on the deck. Just rub it on.

Place a few light stripes on the nose and tail of your board. great for nose and tailslides.

Put some wax on the hanger of your trucks. Better for grinds.

Don't forget to get the part of your baseplate the gets scratched up too.

In the end skateboard wax can turn a frustrating skate day into a day where you landed most of your tricks. With a good long slide.

Use it when you need it and watch out for those wax haters. When they are around just wax up your trucks and deck while you are waiting for them to be all hesh.

You will be having way more fun landing your tricks. Thats what its all about.
Fun!

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