Best Surf Wax of 2023
JUMP TO: MR. ZOGS QUICK HUMPS SEX WAX | FCS SURF WAX | STICKY BUMPS ORIGINAL | MRS PALMERS ULTRA STICKY COLD WATER SURF WAX | FU WAX | KASSIA PALO SANTO WAX | MATUNAS ORGANIC SURF WAX | ROB MACHADO ORGANIC BLEND | BUYING ADVICE | COMMON QUESTIONS
Author: Julianne Greco | Updated: Oct 8, 2023
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The Short Version
Best Overall: Mr. Zogs Quick Humps Sex Wax
Best Overall Runner-up: FCS Surf Wax
Best for Warm Water: Sticky Bumps Original
Best for Cold Water: Mrs. Palmers Ultra Sticky Cold Water Surf Wax
Best for High-Performance: FU Wax
Best for Longboarding: Kassia Palo Santo Wax
Best Eco: Matunas Organic Surf Wax
Best Eco Runner-Up: Rob Machado Organic Blend
The Long Version
Unless you’ve got ultra-grippy feet like a gecko, surf wax is a must-have to ensure your surfboard doesn’t turn into a Slip ’N Slide. Because standard board construction involves exterior glassing, surfers apply wax on the deck to build up bumpy mounds that create tackiness. Surfing is challenging enough, so losing your footing while popping up or performing maneuvers is the last thing you need when going down the line.
Who makes the best surf wax is possibly one of the most contentious issues in surfing. Surfers have strong opinions on which blocks reign supreme and love to playfully bicker over the matter. In making our selections for the top wax out there, we’ve explored factors like grip level, usage lifespan, formula, and scent. Most of your time surfing is spent paddling, which means you should like what’s right under your nose for the majority of your surf sessions!
Bumps like these provide traction so the glass on your surfboard deck doesn’t feel like an ice-skating rink.
Ultimately, the best wax for you will come down to the water temperature you surf in, what kind of surfing you do, how much you want to factor in environmental concerns, and more. While there are some wax alternatives out there as well as waxes designed specifically for soft-top surfboards, we will be focusing specifically on bars for hard-top surfboards in this guide because the world of wax is a wide one.
Whether you’re chasing tropical swells, into high-performance surfing, or a longboard dancer, keep on reading to find your perfect wax.
If you love reading this review of the best surf wax, then you'll likely love reading some of our other surfing content:
Need To Know What To Look Out For?
What’s the difference between a basecoat vs. a topcoat? What’s a paraffin-based formula and why does it matter? Don’t sleep on our buying advice section at the bottom of this article where we address these questions and more!
Best Overall: MR. ZOGS QUICK HUMPS SEX WAX
GRIP: 4/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 5/5
SCENT: Coconut
FORMULA: Paraffin based
WEIGHT: 85g
PRICE: $
PROS: Grippy but not too sticky, long lifespan per bar, nice scent, wide range based on water temps, single application, non-toxic by FDA standards, recyclable packaging
CONS: Sometimes a little challenging to get started on a clean board, contains petrochemicals
This OG Californian wax brand got its start in the 1970s and has stood the test of time for good reason — not just because of its provocative, “sex sells” Madison Avenue-inspired marketing. Though they’ve certainly nailed their tagline as “the best for your stick.”
Quick Humps Sex Wax is our go-to because of its great grip and longevity on the board. Of all the waxes we’ve tried over the years, it lasts the longest without needing touch-ups. It’s the perfect balance of being sticky enough that you don’t slip, but you don’t get stuck on it.
It can take a tad more effort to get going when applying on a fresh board, but it’s worth it because once you get your mounds established, those “humps” build up nicely and stay put. We’ve found we can go multiple sessions lasting over an hour with only needing to use a wax comb or a light topcoat.
The Quick Humps line has six different water-temp formulas. Any can be used as a base and top, just make sure the base is the harder one. Alternatively, keep it simple and only use one bar — this is the only wax we’ve ever used that performs just as well without separate top and bottom coats. You can check out Sex Wax’s Quick Humps single application guide here.
The biggest drawback of Sex Wax is that while non-toxic by FDA standards, it does feature paraffin wax sourced from crude oil. Mr. Zogs says there’s nuance to it, but you can read more about surf wax environmental concerns at the bottom of this guide in the buying advice section.
Best Overall Runner-Up: FCS SURF WAX
GRIPPINESS: 4/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 4/5
SCENT: Coconut
FORMULA: Paraffin based
WEIGHT: 85g
PRICE: $$
PROS: Ergonomic bar design, nice level of tack, biodegradable packaging
CONS: Can be difficult to get bumps going, probably contains petrochemicals
Unlike Mr. Zogs, FCS is a relative newcomer to the wax scene. The familiar, more surf-corporate name built its rep on fins, leashes, and board bags, but FCS now has its own wax developed with help from its team riders.
The FCS Surf Wax product line covers a range of temps, but only has four compared to Sex Wax’s Quick Humps’ six so it ranks just behind on the soft-to-hard precision scale. Available in cold, cool, warm, and tropical, the bars come in a cool ovular shape. They remind us of a bar of soap and feel nice to hold in your hand.
For us, Sex Wax just edges out FCS Surf Wax as the best overall not just because of line range, but also because Mr. Zogs stays put the longest with the least amount of maintenance. Moreover, Sex Wax outperforms FCS in terms of being just the right amount of grippy vs. stable. That said, FCS Surf Wax is a reliable and quality product — one of the absolute best hard top surf waxes. When applied correctly, it will always get the ultimate job done of keeping you from slipping on your board.
Best for Warm Water: STICKY BUMPS ORIGINAL
GRIPPINESS: 4.5/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 3/5
SCENT: Tropical Pina Colada
FORMULA: Mineral based
WEIGHT: 85g
PRICE: $$$
PROS: Very grippy, most extensive temperature range, quick and easy to build “bumps”, double-bar design, less eco-damaging without petrochemicals
CONS: Limited durability
Another old-school classic that’s been at the forefront of the wax game for 50 years, Sticky Bumps is a brand you’ll find in many surf shops. Their original formula is one of our go-to waxes because of its wide availability and effortless application.
Sticky Bumps probably covers the biggest range of water temperatures with eight different bars in its original line. But for non-wetsuit surf, its Warm (64°-74°), Warm Tropical (69°and up), Tropical (75° and up), and Hawaiian Tropical (80° and up) products take the cake.
We love how painless Sticky Bumps’ warm water formulas are to apply — when you use a basecoat. Unlike Sex Wax, we wouldn’t recommend single-application here because it can be tough to form bumps without harder wax on the bottom. The tradeoff with Sticky Bumps is you can burn through bars at a faster rate, but if you have a strong enough base and use a wax comb, this shouldn’t be too big of an issue.
Of the big names in surf wax, Sticky Bumps is probably one of the most mainstream eco-friendly options out there because of its mineral base.
Best for Cold Water: MRS PALMERS ULTRA STICKY COLD WATER SURF WAX
GRIPPINESS: 4.5/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 5/5
SCENT: Irresistible, nostalgic
FORMULA: Paraffin based
WEIGHT: 70g
PRICE: $$
PROS: Sticky, long usage lifespan, great smell
CONS: Smaller bar size, likely contains petrochemicals
If you’re surfing somewhere that requires a 3/2 wetsuit and up, Mrs. Palmers is a nice option to bump up your board with. Like a lot of the brands in this guide, they have a collection of waxes for different climates, but the cold water options in their Ultra Sticky line are hard to beat. They’ve got cool (59°-68°) and cold (59°and below) to fit all your chilly seas needs for those winter swells.
It’s one of the easier waxes to build up on the board and it’s hard to fault in terms of usage lifespan as it can be well-maintained with a wax comb or light topcoat each session. Also, it’s good you don’t go through Mrs. Palmers bars as fast because they come in smaller packages than most competitors at just 70g.
Hailing from Australia, Mrs. Palmers is another OG producer, and it has a scent that we could only describe as nostalgic of earlier surf eras and irresistibly delicious — their packaging even has “do not eat” printed on it. And we wouldn’t dare bite into it, because this one’s not plant-based and we’d be shocked if it were biodegradable. No marketing pretenses here about being eco-friendly! This is a no-frills, classic product that puts performance above all else.
Best for High-Performance: FU Wax
GRIPPINESS: 10/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 2.5/5
SCENT: Notes of bubblegum
FORMULA: Paraffin based but the rest is top-secret
WEIGHT: 80g
PRICE: $$$$$
PROS: As sticky as it gets, great for air shows, wide temp range
CONS: Expensive, runs out the fastest, uncomfortable for longboarding, plastic packaging, almost certainly contains petrochemicals
Surfers will get into brawls over who makes the “best” wax but there’s one thing most can agree on: FU Wax is the stickiest out there. If you want to use what the pros do, this 100% Brazilian-made brand is for you. The biggest names in modern-day high-performance surfing like Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds, and John John Florence (to name a few of the many) reach for FU Wax because of its insane ‘grippability’. Like just try to slip and fall while your sled is waxed up with FU, seriously.
So why isn’t this our all-time favorite? While the extreme stickiness is great for the highly skilled aerialist who needs sure footing, it’s almost too much of an adhesive for others. Longboarders cross-stepping the length of the board will find it harder to walk smoothly and beginner surfers might find themselves too stuck on the pop-up.
And all that grip comes at a cost: this expensive wax is super easy to burn through, plus, you need a strong base coat if you don’t want to finish a whole bar in a single session or two.
FU Wax has a line of six products including a basecoat and five different temperature bars, none of which compromise on grip. They are paraffin-based but the exact formula (which has a cool story of being discovered accidentally) is only known to the three brothers behind the brand. But, like Mrs. Palmers, there are no big eco-friendly goals or claims here and their wax is predominantly sold in plastic packaging.
Best for Longboarding: KASSIA PALO SANTO WAX
GRIPPINESS: 4.5/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 3/5
SCENT: Woody, Palo Santo
FORMULA: 70-90% paraffin waxes, infused with the scent of Palo Santo tree
WEIGHT: 120g
PRICE: $$$$$
PROS: Smells phenomenal, grippy, application-friendly triangle shape, recyclable packaging
CONS: Can run out relatively fast, expensive
Longboarders looking to make beautiful bumps on their logs can try wax made by legendary lady slider, Kassia Meador. The “Queen of Noseriding” has her own brand, Kassia+Surf and it sells cold, cool, warm, and tropical bars.
Her wax, while pricey, is much larger than most and comes in a unique triangle shape that can be broken up into four smaller triangular pieces meant to minimize waste. The shape and consistency result in wax that applies with minimal effort. It’s got an optimal amount of stick for cross-stepping, though this is another one we recommend having a strong basecoat in place for because it does reduce on the faster side.
Just take a look at her wetsuit designs and background in sound healing and you’ll see Kassia has a love for all things cosmic and earthy. Her grip is no exception. The story is on the packaging, which states that the wax is infused with the scent of the sacred Palo Santo tree and that shaman and medicine people gravitate towards it thanks to its cleansing and healing properties.
Kassia’s self-proclaimed “magic wax” is one of the strongest scented we’ve come across — you can easily still smell it once you’ve hit the lineup and had some waves.
Unlike the wax’s “energetic properties”, her exact formula isn’t publicly published, but it is listed as 70-90% paraffin-based. Given the surfer’s extremely outspoken position on sustainability with her wetsuit production, we suspect her brand is using mineral-based paraffins as with Sticky Bumps, but we can’t confirm the exact formula at this time.
Best Eco: MATUNAS ORGANIC SURF WAX
GRIPPINESS: 4/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 3.5/5
SCENT: Light blend of raspberries, strawberries, and jasmine flowers
FORMULA: Natural ingredients like clay, beeswax, tree sap, jasmine, raspberry, coconut oil
WEIGHT: 85g
PRICE: $$$$$
PROS: Organic, biodegradable, non-soy based, recyclable packaging using recycled paper, tacky
CONS: Expensive, can be hard to get going, flakes without base
If your priority is picking wax with minimal impact on the planet, then Matunas Organic Surf Wax is one to try. The eco-considerations of this product are comprehensive from ingredient selection to sourcing. Best yet, it can hold a candle to its non-eco-oriented competitors on the market when it comes to traction.
Matunas claims all ingredients are grown on its own 25-acre farm in Santa Cruz and are 100% natural. The wax comes in recyclable packaging that’s even printed on recycled paper. Its delightful natural scent comes from a mix of real strawberries, raspberries, and jasmine flowers.
Like with Sex Wax, Matunas can be a bit tricky to amass those mounds from the jump, but with this one, it’s even more important to make sure you start with a clean board — as it feels harder to get it to bind to paraffin formulas. To avoid flaking, we strongly recommend using their basecoat on the bottom, regardless of whether you’re waxing with their warm, tropical, cool, cold, or extra-sticky Hawaii competition formula.
Best Eco Runner-Up: ROB MACHADO ORGANIC BLEND
GRIPPINESS: 4.5/5
USAGE LIFESPAN: 3/5
SCENT: Coconut
FORMULA: Vegetable-based raw materials
WEIGHT: 85g
PRICE: $$
PROS: Very tacky, among the most eco-friendly, affordable
CONS: Finishes fast
Unfortunately, using this wax isn’t going to make you surf like Rob Machado. But, if you’re on the hunt for an organic block that doesn’t sacrifice tackiness, it’s worth checking out the famous free surfer’s collaboration with Bubble Gum Surf Wax. Instantly recognizable at the shop with its big smiley face and single fin tongue logo, the Rob Machado Organic Blend comes in tropical, warm, cool, and cold.
In terms of texture, we would ‘stick’ this one in the middle between FU Wax and Sticky Bumps. Meaning, it’s quite grippy and soft, more so than Sticky Bumps but less so than FU Wax.
Ingredients-wise, what we know about the formula is that it’s derived from vegetable-based raw materials and includes a mix of tackifiers, plus natural and synthetic wax-based compounds. This wax is another coconut-scented one. However, it reminds us more of a very mild Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen mixed with bubble gum and we dig it.
BUYING ADVICE FOR SURF WAX
A surfboard without wax is like a bike without a seat or skis without bindings. Good luck riding your equipment without it. While wax isn’t that expensive for a single block, it’s something you’ll need for every session. If you surf regularly, you will go through countless bars of it over time.
Wax is also something you make contact with constantly while surfing. You will feel it under your chest while paddling and under your feet while riding the waves. So, it’s important to get something that has the right tactile touch and fits your needs.
Application can be an art and there’s a method to it. This guide explains it quite thoroughly if you want a breakdown of the process, as well as more info on removal, and how often you should change it up.
Sex Wax is our top overall wax pick because these gorgeous mounds offer just the right level of grip and last for ages without needing touch-ups.
Here’s a summary to help you with your wax selection.
WATER TEMPERATURE: The warmer the water, the harder the wax you will need so it doesn’t break down and melt off your board. On the flip side, softer wax is better for cold water, so it doesn’t harden too much and result in a loss of traction. Nearly all brands have different wax types designated for specific climates and publish recommended water temperature ranges for a given product on the packaging. It’s good to check this because degree ranges can vary from brand to brand.
Applying Kassia Palo Santo Wax is a piece of cake thanks to its waste-minimizing triangle design.
BASECOAT VS. TOPCOAT: As with temp designations, most wax brands have specific products marked as basecoats. A basecoat is the foundation of your board’s wax and needs to be hard enough to stick to the board — and harder than the topcoat. You can leave your basecoat on for weeks or months (some people even do for years), whereas most surfers typically apply fresh topcoat wax every 1-3 sessions to enhance grip because the more time wax spends in the water, the less tacky it gets. Pro tip: Use a wax comb to soften up your bumps and you’ll find yourself saving on wax and needing to apply topcoats less often.
Topcoat selection depends on the warmth or coldness of the water. Most brands have topcoats for cold, cool, warm, and tropical climates.
Sticky Bumps Original Tropical is our pick for warm-water wax and it smells like a juicy Pina Colada.
USAGE LIFESPAN: How quickly a bar of wax lasts depends on how often you surf, board size (the longer the stick, the more surface area to cover!), and traction-level preference. That said, a block of hard wax lasts longer than a soft one. It’s important to note that different brands run harder or softer. For instance, you may find two brands selling tropical wax that are suited for 72º and up, but it’s unlikely that they will have the same level of hardness because different manufacturers develop their formulas based not only on water temperature but also on grip level.
GRIP: Softer waxes have more traction than harder waxes. Ultra grippy sounds great, shouldn’t we all just go buy the stickiest stuff for the water temp range we surf in? Well, no, it’s not that simple. Advanced surfers performing high-stakes maneuvers like aerials tend to prefer maximum grip so they don’t lose contact with their boards, but this can be a hindrance for others. Too much grip can mean feeling stuck to the board, which isn’t ideal for longboarders surfing nose to tail and beginners when popping up and taking off.
Most wax brands are heading towards recyclable packaging nowadays, but FU Wax is upfront about its priority on performance.
ECO CONSIDERATIONS: Surf wax brands generally don’t list out all their ingredients on their packaging and product pages — and some even have top-secret formulas. So, it’s not always possible to know everything that’s in a given bar of wax and a lot can come down to ‘greenwashing’ marketing where the terms ‘organic’ and ‘eco-friendly’ are thrown around, without providing any real insight into a product’s actual eco credentials.
Traditional surf wax formulas are paraffin-based but more and more alternative options using biodegradable and non-toxic natural ingredients like beeswax are on the market. Paraffin is a byproduct of the petroleum refinement process, so when this type of wax breaks down over time, it releases petrochemicals into the ocean that can harm coral reefs and marine life.
For a deeper exploration of the environmental impact of wax, you can check out this article.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What does wax do for a surfboard? Standard hard-topped surfboards are glassed, so the surface is slippery. Surfers apply wax to build sticky mounds on their boards to avoid losing footing.
What kind of features should I look for when buying surf wax? Tackiness, usage lifespan, and water temperature are some of the factors to consider when selecting surf wax.
How much does surf wax cost? The price of wax can vary depending on your location and formula, but most bars run about $2.50 to $6 for about 80 grams.
What is surf wax made out of? Traditional surf wax formulas are paraffin-based and use other chemical compounds like tackifiers to increase adhesiveness.
MORE INFORMATION
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