Skate Life

Skate Wax... To make or not to make?

Where I'm at, there's no skate wax available, and if I want to order online, the shipping fees are psychotic.
At first, I figured... you want a lubricant that would make you slide. So I grabbed a candle and some car wax. Used the candle, applied some car wax, and then fixed it with more candle. To cut it short, let me say that wasn't the best way to go. While it did work well enough and have lived with this for about two months now, for the record, the car wax was a mess. Messed up my skates, my clothes... eew. So I finally looked up some online recipes, settled on the vaseline, oil and wax combo, added a bright red crayon and made a batch. Tried it out and figured I need to add a bit more vaseline/oil to the mix to get an even faster run. Bear in mind the grind box I'm using has a folded sheet metal edge, which has none of the hassle a cracked ledge would present.
The question, has anyone bothered to make some wax themselves, what worked best for you and does it make a difference depending on what you're grinding?

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Permalink Reply by Mike on January 30, 2010 at 5:48pm

I don't really get why people go through all that work... I mean, for the last 15 years, I've used JUST candles, literally just scraped the candle on the rail/ledge, and it has worked completely fine for me.

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Permalink Reply by Tom "Back Farv" Watson on January 30, 2010 at 5:54pm

im with you candle is the way forward

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Permalink Reply by Mada on January 30, 2010 at 6:00pm

i think we try to blame the wax instead of catching the ledge just right. lol.
With the box it didn't matter much, but for curbs, I just couldnt slide... those things are a pain... I try to hit them with more speed and end up stalling after a foot and compensating with a jump off to avoid breaking my face. But if you've been doing it with just candles for so long, perhaps it is just me. :)
besides, it took all of 10 minutes to prepare the homemade wax especially since I'm not a kid trying to melt it with a desk lamp. I can actually use a stove,

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Permalink Reply by JP Kweli on January 30, 2010 at 8:40pm

idk about candles. I used them for a long time and I thought they worked just fine, but then I decided to try some element skate wax. Turns out it makes it 10 times more slick than it was with just candle wax

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Permalink Reply by UNYIE! on January 30, 2010 at 10:56pm

this is what i used to do a few years back and i still have wax left. go to home depot, or safeway or something and buy a block of paraffin wax. you can use this as regular skate wax if you want but i made it better. put the block in a pot and melt it into liquid. then pour the liquid wax into a cardboard milk carton (the ones made of paper, not plastic) and let it harden. then peel the bottom off and use it like a crayon. keep peeling the carton back as you use the wax

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Permalink Reply by Jack McI on January 31, 2010 at 4:46am

i have always just used candle wax as it is easy to get nd doesn't cost much nd u can use it straight away...

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Permalink Reply by ROYA7 JENKIN$ on February 1, 2010 at 1:39pm

WHITE HOUSEHOLD CANDLES ARE THE BEST.

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Permalink Reply by Kotatsu Mushi on February 1, 2010 at 4:00pm

I remember this dilemma when I was skating before. Like everyone has said, candles are the best bang for the buck. If you want to spend the money on production wax or make your own blend that’s cool, but the trick is layering. There are different types of candles you can use. Your standard cheap candle is great for filling in the holes and cracks, then some scented candles because they have oils and make the slide better, all items you can pick up at the local dollar store. The trick is to layer your wax. Apply the basic candle wax, grind it in with your skate, apply another coat, repeat step B, and do this until there is a nice thick layer of hard wax. After the base coat you can rub on the oily stuff to get a nice slide. It all depends on if you are re-waxing or starting from scratch. After apply enough layers and with a little love form the sun you can have a nice sliding edge. Rails and metal edges should take much to make em slide. If anything add more speed.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Keene on February 1, 2010 at 7:28pm

i did the exact same thing as unyie its the best i went to my skatepark after i made it and some guy bought it for three doallers after i made for about 50 cents