In order to keep your feet stuck to a surfboard, surfers use a type of manufactured wax that they rub on the board. Normally, this is made using lots of chemicals, including paraffin and calcite. Not all of the chemicals used are eco friendly, and especially not the emissions from melting it all together. I deided to do some research, and attempt to make organic surf wax. To make wax meant for colder water, I used tree sap, coconut oil, and beeswax.
I mixed all the ingredients together in an altoids container on a hot plate. The dirt on the bottom is gunk that was trapped in the tree sap. I then took the container off of the hot plate for it too cool. | To the left are the three ingredients. I used 5 ml of tree sap, which I got by tapping a tree at home, 10 ml of coconut oil, and 25 ml of beeswax. While the recipe called for 1 part tree sap and 1 part coconut oil, I felt like I didn't have enough materials, so I doubled the amount of coconut oil. |
Reflection
The wax cooled very quickly, but I let it sit for about 2 days before using it. My surfboard already had a thin coat of surf wax on it, but the new wax went on just fine. However, when I slid my hand over it, it felt really smooth. My suspicions were confirmed when I caught a few waves: the wax wasn't sticky. I fell off the board every time I stood up! My guess would be that the extra coconut oil dissipated the effect of the tree sap, and made it a lot less sticky. If I were to do this again, I would try to get a lot more sap, and maybe switch what I did with the coconut oil, double how much I used of sap. I also would like to try putting the cooling wax in a refrigerator, or freezer, to cool it faster. Would this change anything? I will try this again, with my possible changes.