Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. This, we think, is one of them. The Orange Peel is essentially a silicone mould designed with the exact specifications a surfer would require for re-using surf wax.
The Orange Peel is the exact size to fit in an modern car’s cup holder and is designed to hold those small pieces of wax you end up with. The basic idea is that the ambient temperature in the car will melt the wax into the Orange Peel mould which is shaped like a bar of wax. If its winter time or you live in a part of the world that’s too cold to melt the wax then don't worry, the Orange Peel is oven and microwave proof.
This is already an awesome idea, but for us the extra benefit comes from the ability to re-use your old wax. That's right. Scrape off your old wax, put it on the Orange Peel, it forms the bar and the dirt and sand sink to the bottom, leaving clean wax at the top ready for re-application.
In a surf world where petro-chemical surf wax is still king, this simple and elegant solution has the ability to make a difference.
The Orange Peel guys need people to get behind them for help with production and have a Kickstarter campaign up and running. As an extra little bonus we contacted Nick, the designer, founder, maker of this cool and functional product. We had the chance to fire off five questions, here they are:
SB: Hey Nic, thanks for your time. The Orange Peel is a terrific idea. How and when did you first come up with the idea?
Nick: Thanks! The entire idea for The Orange Peel stemmed from us constantly leaving bars of wax in our cars when going out to the beach. Eventually the forgotten wax would melt into the carpets and seats and permanently ruin the interior. Initially we started throwing the wax into styrofoam iced-tea cups from any fast food restaurant. We could store the wax in there and a week later when we could surf again we could tear the cup apart and get to the wax at the base. Soon after, I realized that there could be a much better and reusable design that could still serve the same purpose.
Once it's cooled remove your fresh wax and re-use.
SB: What kind of reception have you had from the surf community and how long did it take to refine the product?
Nick: The reception has been absolutely fantastic. We held onto this idea for a bit until making it public knowledge and it has been a great feeling to be met with such positivity and stoke. It has been about a year and half of making minor tweaks and changes to The Orange Peel until we landed on it's current iteration. All of our prototypes are handmade and we've had some close friends with them in their cars for a while now testing and helping us improve on the design.
Simple and sustainable
SB: Will the Orange Peel be available worldwide?
Nick: Absolutely, we would love to see The Orange Peel get out to all the best breaks across the globe!
SB: Are there any limitations as to the amount of times surf wax can be re-used with the Orange Peel?
Nick: There are some limitations, but it is fully dependent on the chemical recipe of the wax, which is usually a very tightly held secret by the wax companies. The nice thing about The Orange Peel is that it's made of a high quality silicone that keeps the oils and waxes in the surf wax from leeching out during the melting process.
The peel is designed to fit in any car's cup holder.
SB: How and why did you come up with the name Orange Peel?
Nick: The name has a few ideas behind it. The initial one was when peeling the silicone wall back to get to the wax at the base, it reminded us of peeling an orange. Being from Florida the orange is large part of our state's history and we wanted to honor that. We also oddly enough named the company ( Peel Surf Co) before we name The Orange Peel. Initially a nod to a peeling wave, the name for the product just seemed to be a perfect fit after that.
SB: One of extra benefits of the Orange Peel is apparent if you make your own wax as we do here at Surf Bunker. Getting the correct silicone mould is not easy, now you can grab a few of these purpose built Orange Peels when you want to make a fresh batch, et voila. The rest of the time Mr Peel will sit in your cup holder, in your car, doing it's day job.
The idea is simplistic and genius. Now that Nic and friends have had a chance to refine the product it's our turn as the surfing community to get behind him and throw a bit a cash at his Kickstarter campaign here.
Simple and sustainable
The bits that would go in the bin or on the car floor.
Using the heat from the sustainable sun to melt.
Once it's cooled remove your fresh wax and re-use.
The peel is designed to fit in any car's cup holder.