Wax?
 

So I just got a new board and it has one big traction pad on top. Most of the time its pretty good but I find my front foot slipping off when I'm carving harder. Has anyone ever put surf wax on the traction pad itself? Does it hurt it in anyway? Is there a way to get it off once its put on? Thanks in advance

We do it on the front foot of all our boards. It helps a ton on big carves and slayshes. There is a massive misconception that wax makes your board or traction sticky like your feet stick to the board like glue, in reality it takes all the slip off the board so your feet dont slide around. We lightly wax out traction before every set, you'll notice that the spot your foot tends to be will wear off the wax after a set or two. The only down side is that your traction and board is forever waxed after you do it, it never goes away and cant be removed easily without replacing the traction. I was concerned at first that it would get all over the boar and racks but that really hasn't been a problem. For what it worth we like Sticky Bumps wax, we use the tropical in the summer heat and the cold water in the spring and fall.

There are two general types of wax out there, regular traditional surf wax and sticky waxes. Sticky waxes have adhesive additives and are literally like glue, especially extra sticky types. Most pros/competitive riders use some amount of wax on their EVA traction. It gives it more grip. EVA depending on the traction surface can be very grippy, but over time it picks up oils from hands, feet, sun screen, etc, and can loose its grip.

In your case you may consider adding an arch bar to your upper traction in the future if you do not have one, or a pure wax front or wax alternative. A raised arch bar gives you something to push against, this is why you pretty much always see them on skim board, because skimming is all about push, kick and flip tricks.

Downsides of wax on traction:
Wax makes a mess of your traction and will cause more wear and tear to your EVA.
Wax will melt and work its way down into the EVA and reduce the adhesives ability to hold the traction on the board, thus the EVA will pull up in time.
Everything sticks to wax so literally the wax will be like dirt or sandpaper or fuzzy with fabric in time (add to the first con).

Nick

Thanks for the input guys!

I didn't even think of an arch bar. My only question there though is how can I stick that on top of the traction that I have now? It has the diamond texture and isn't a smooth flat surface

You can't. You can cut a space and pull up part of it the existing traction, replace the whole upper, or just remember and wait for your next board order.

Nick

Once the wax wicks under the traction pad, you’re done. It’s practically impossible to remove once it enters the micro pores of the glass and nothing will stick to it.

That’s why you have wax remover... rub a bit and you would never know wax was on the board. Not sure if it would work on traction though.

Wax remover only partial dissolves wax. It is effective at cleaning up some to most depending on how many cloth or paper towels you want to use, but resin is porous and covered in scratches. If you ever want to put traction on after waxing, you will have to sand the board and ideally wipe with acetone or xylene. Back in the day, traction pads came with a little piece of sand paper and a 'primer pack'/xylene wipe to scratch the surface and wipe it down before applying the traction.

Wax remover will soften and dissolve the adhesive backer on traction, and your traction will more than likely pull up.

Nick