I was making a last minute stop for wax the other day at a 7-Eleven in San Clemente when I saw Matunas Surf Wax for the first time ever, sitting right next to the Sticky Bumps. I grabbed a few bars of Sticky Bumps just to be safe, but also purchased a bar of Matunas surf wax to see how it works. The first thing that I noticed was the smell. After years of using only Sticky Bumps and Sex Wax, I was finally in the presence of a new smelling surf wax…and it smelt really good. I seriously want to taste this wax. I just get this feeling that it might taste like it smells, but so far I haven’t tried that out.
The real difference between Matunas and the brands I usually purchase is that Matunas is 100% organic, eco-friendly surf wax. In an age where “green” products are starting to become really important to consumers, it is good to see companies making even the small things that we use so often, like surf wax, out of organic materials. Even the wrapper is made out of recycled paper with soy ink. Here’s what Matunas has to say about their surf wax, “Every bar of Matunas Surf Wax is organic, biodegradable, and nontoxic. We use only natural, California-grown products” Matunas Surf Wax also won “Green Product of the Year” for 2007-2008. The real question now is, does this wax actually work?
The short answer to this is yes, but I don’t know if I am fully converted yet. The wax applies very nicely to the board. It comes off thick making really nice bumps that make me excited inside cause I know I’m going to have a really fun session with a wax job this good. Surfing with the wax felt really good for the most part. I had a few slips here and there but was pretty sure it wasn’t the wax’s fault. After surfing I noticed the wax was really smooth and flat. The weight of my body paddling on the board had flattened out a huge portion of the wax. This never occurs with other brands of wax for me as badly as it did with Matunas Surf Wax. I had to reapply a substantial amount of wax every session for the last few weeks, using a wax comb frequently to rough up the flattened wax. I’m hoping it is just a temperature problem, because other than that I love the wax. Luckily Matunas makes wax for 4 different water temps as well as a basecoat. Summer must just be too warm this year in Southern California.