I found a great environmentally safe, at least safer than wax,
alternative to surfboard wax. There are lots of pros and a few cons; I will list them out for you and the ask for your input.
Pros:
Probably a permanent solution
will last the life of your board.
Clear and glossy. Will not
cover up nice graphics, logos, or gloss job.
Does not melt on hot day s your roof, roof-rack, truck bed, and interior upholstery will stay forever clean.
Sand and anything that would
cling to wax just washes right off.
Will work in both cold and warm
waters.
The best part absolutely no rash!!!!
No rash on stomach, chest, inside of thighs, session after session. No need to wear rash guard!!!!
If you do wear a rash guard you
will stick really good to your board, so you have lot more control when paddling or paddiling to catch that
wave.
Better traction and grip than
wax*, but this has a caviat.
Safe for marine envionment.
UV, most chemicals and salt water
cannot hurt it.
Cons:
Must cure for a minimum of 24
before use in the ocean, but still has some trace of order, after 48 hours
completely oder free.
Longboards 8' - 10' will use
nearly 12-14oz., short boards 5.5' - 7.5' will use about 6-10oz.
Semi permanant takes a lot of
work to get it off but it can be removed with no damage to your board. I have tried this.
Once on not even wax will adhere
to it.
* Here is the caviat, you must
wear surf booties that have a rubber or silicone sole. I wear mine which are very thin and I have nearly 100% traction, never had a slip and when I wipe out my feet are
the last thigs to come unstuck.
When you apply the stuff you
should be in a well vented area, wear a recpirator and eye protection but that
goes if your doing a glass job.
So here is my dilemma and maybe you can help me out:
Should I share this information for free and put up youtbue videos on how to do it? or go after markting it as a product to replace wax and see if I can make a few bucks?
I can upload pics of test I have done on my own boards if interested.
Dshafie, how many other times in your life do you get an opportunity to potentially start a business with a unique product or possibly sell it to a large company with the end result that you and your family will be better off for years to come ??
Explore the possibilities of commercialising your product before you go giving it away because although a lot of people don’t make money with their ideas…remember that some people make a fortune with their ideas too.
Go and see a patent attorney, someone who will decide how best to protect you innovation and keep it it quiet until you have legal protection for it. If you sell the idea to a company they will pay more if you already have a patent on it.
Or you can just give it all away free so people all over the globe can start their own businesses selling your product. If you don’t protect it then no one owes you any royalties… Think about Simon Anderson and how his life would have changed with just a dollar from every thruster made.
And don’t worry about the booties aspect, there are many other commercial applications more lucrative than surfing that could benefit from your invention, there’s probably many industries that will see a use for it.
First day I went out with it I used a rash guard because I did not know what would happen. After 30 minutes with the rash guard I took it off and went bare chest. I have gone bare chest ever since for seven or so sessions and traction is pretty good its comparable to wax. But with rash guard its better than wax you get a lot more traction.
In seven or so bare chest sessions, almost every other day, I had no rash at all. 6 were on a 7’ funboard, and the last on my 10’ longboard. After three sessions with rash guard and wax I start chaffing and nipples burn. There is absolutely none of that with this stuff even bare chest.
I have done the research and no there is no other product such as this on the market…there is wax, a couple of different types of pads or tape you put on your board and those are expenssive.
As I mentioned the product is available almost in every city its just that I dont know if anyone else is tried it but me…and I don’t know if I can patent a new use for a product that is already there.
Like anyone else I could sure use the money, but I dont have the money to go consult with an attorney either…
There is also the fact that most surfers are resistant to change unless its a new board that makes them catch every single wave and Kelly Slater used it. Also its hard to get them to wear boots no matter how thin the material is. I wear mine and get labeled a kook everytime but hey Im in the water faster than the rest cause I dont have to wax.
‘Longboards 8’ - 10’ will use
nearly 12-14oz., short boards 5.5’ - 7.5’ will use about 6-10oz.’
Sounds like very interesting stuff, with a self limiting market.
Have to wear booties, so rules out the warm water crowd except for those willing to wear booties, which would be in the definite minority.
Considering a bar of Sex Wax weighs 1.6 oz., rules out the ultra-light crowd with their disposable surfboards, which is pretty much everyone riding big box surfboards under the age of 40, which is about 90% of the surfing herd.
So target demographics would be cold/colder water surfers riding mid-length to longboards, willing to put up with a little more weight to avoid the long established tradition of waxing up before a go-out.
If you want to make money out of this, try finding some volunteer riders for the product at your local, see how many takers you can find, do the boards yourself to maintain the cover on the product, and see if they are stoked…or not.
If you decide too much hassle for a readily available product, just call the product out and wait for feedback from those willing to try it.
Personally, as much a pain as wax can be, waxing a board is a focusing ritual that many of us treasure…
If you want a second opinion on your product you could send off a half dozen sample pots for people to try and give you feedback ? its a great way to get independant reviews.
If, as you say, youre using a product someone else has created then theres zero chance of patenting it, however if its a basic compound then you could make it yourself and customise it. For example, if it is a simple product like a clear adhesive, you could add tint and an aroma additive so it smells like surfwax, and repackage it.
It doesnt need to be for the whole deck, more people use a pad only at the back so it could replace pads. Ive been mucking around on Moths lately and it might also be used for sailing as a lot of guys wear booties.
Thinking further, it might be applicable as a non slip deck treatment on bigger sailing and motor boats or in wet industries to reduce falls.
Theres a lot of possibilities outside surfing, it all depends on the details.
I agree with surffoils, your product sounds like something that could be used in a number of other environments. You should give a few samples out and get the feedback from those guys and see what they think. I wouldn’t go telling all kinds of people what your product is, because then you run the risk of them making all that cash instead of you. hope this helps.
The name is Crystaliner, I sprayed 4 truck beds for some one about 5 years ago and my truck. They still look great and for sure no slip. You mix the base colors in with the clear to make colors. The spray gun nozzle is what determins if the finish is smooth or textured I used a heavey spatter and color on my own truck. I am very impressed with the end results. Never used in on an SUP board but it would work for sure as a none slip surface.
The ritual of waxing your board while staring out at the surf and deciding where to paddle out is somrthing I’ll never give up, it’s built in to the whole surfing experience. Plus it just smells good.
Do a lot of homework for commercial angles, not just surfing. You might not even think of a commercial possibility that some other outfit might want to buy the rights from you for their use or idea. The product on late night infomercials that is spray on rubber for flower pots, rain gutters, roof repairs and such. i'm pretty sure that stuff is really automotive underbody protection spray, and an infomercial company picks it up for late night huckstering, who'd have known! Nolo Press has some excellent beginner patent, trademark info books for a start and commonly avail. at the library. Give it a chance, without spending much money to find out how things might go.
As far as I know you can file a patent pretty cheaply. The law requires you first search for any other such patent. Once satisfied you have a unique patent you simply write a report about the item and if need be some diagrams although in your case I don’t think you’d need it. File with the office for a patent pending. That gives you 1 years protection until you can file for Patent proper and or you can extend Patent pending for a year or two as I recall.
Don’t need no stinking lawyer. … Well not in the beginning. Covers your arse till your product is proven/taken up. Allows breathing space for investment finance.
I’m guesing here but a patent pending application would cost less than 500 clams today. Maybe less.
Everything old is new. I remember 30 years ago spray on grip being in the shops. Gorilla grip seems to ring a bell??? There were probably spray on grip products even before that.
You have a lot of great points and I think your dead on with type type of market may be open to trying this product. To be honest before I applied the material I really should have put my boards, 10’ and 6’-4", on a scale to get before and after results.
Yesterday I was out for 3 hours, 2 on my longboard and 1 on the shortboard, with no rash guard and had not one bit of discomfort.
I could not say the same for the other guys who were chaffing. Also I hardly ever wiped out due to a slip of the foot. Whats interesting too is that a few times now I’ve noticed that I have such good traction that on waves too steep for my longboard I compeletely submerge the board, but then I jump up a little and the board shoots up out of the water catches my feet and off I go racing down the line.
If interested I’m putting some images of my boards to the start of the thread.
That is good advice and Im going to follow up on that. I think that the best approach would be to go to my local shaper and ask him to go out with me and give it a try and see what he thinks. Like most shapers he knows all the locals and if he digs it he’ll end up spreading the word.
At the same time I get feed back from someone who constantly is dealing with peoples custom needs and knows what his customer’s likes and dislikes are.
What do you think?
I also uploaded some pics of my boards with the materials on it.
The material is not the bed liner material as that get hard I believe. I tried another material similar to the bed liner but since it was hard it gave me a worste rash than wax.
This material does not get that hard once it sets and strecthes a bit.
I uploaded some pics of my boards with the materials on it.
some times it helps to have a good partner who’ll can serve a s a distributor.
Dave Skeldelski owner of Surfco has been working on his own wax replacement solution for years. He’s a good guy who’s taken on the big boys and maybe you can give him a call for some advice. He’s a mad scientist at heart but a good honest guy through and through(ask anyone who knows him) and that’s a rarity in this line of business.
best of luck
rode my new longboard with its new exposed cork deckpad
cushy but pretty nasty to exposed skin
and for the wax hounds
i wonder how many surfers who surf allot still have hair on the inside of the thighs?
maybe that’s why today’s shorts go past your knees and why i still wear a rash guard
and are all those sand encrusted curly hairs embedded in your desk wax a badge of honor?
Covers your arse till your product is proven/taken up. Allows breathing space for investment finance.