9 replies to this topic

[ski122506]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how often should I wax my board? Some one once told me every two or three full days on the slopes. Is that right?

Thanks

[SkiBachelor]

You should wax your board every time you go snowboarding. If you hot wax, it will do a better job of sticking to your base making the wax job last longer.

It also depends on the type of wax you use, liquid, powder or the solid stuff.

[zeedotcom]

Waxing helps your board in a number of ways. It protects the base directly by making it a bit tougher. If you do not wax, the Ptex material has a tendency to shrink. It is more noticeable depending on the grade of Ptex and the thickness. If the base shrinks, it will pull away from the edges and lead to delamination.

Waxing also helps with glide by repelling impurities and water in the snow that want to stick to the base. It is realistically impossible to over wax. You can burn your base and cause other problems, but if you do it properly, you can't wax too much. Different waxes have different durabilities as well as glide factors. You can tell the difference the more you work with it. In my experience, a lot of the cheap "shop" waxes don't hold up well. Some of the better waxes are more durable.

If you look at the base of your board (or skis) and you see an area that looks gray or "feathery" it is a sign that you need to wax. Some waxes require rewaxing basically daily. Others you can get by for a couple of days depending on snow texture. I have found machine made snow, particularly containing Snomax and other products, to be harder on waxes.

[Lift Kid]

Well, I work with a lot of wax, but for cross country skis. The wax and technique for waxing xc skis, downhill ski, and snowboards are the same. As stated above, waxing not only improves your glide depending on the weather, it also increases durability. I have had the best luck with Swix waxes. They run on the higher priced side, but you get what you pay for. Toko makes a good wax as well. The Swix Universal Yellow wax is awesome on downhill skis and snowboards, because it works well in a wide temp range from about 22 degrees F to 40 degrees F. If you live in a colder area, Swix's CH7, CH6, and CH4 are great. Anything warmer, try a CH10 and if its between 40 and 50 (not like you should be skiing/riding) you can use CH12. All of the Swix waxes are great, and I highly recommend them!

[skierdude9450]

I don't wax my skis as much as I should. One day I waxed with mid-temp (yellow wax), and then the first day I used them after waxing, it never got above -5 F. Needless to say, I might as well have been skiing on a pair of 2X4s. OK end of story.

[liftmech]

I haven't waxed any of my boards all year. That said, zeedotcom's synopsis is probably the best description I've seen in a long time. I didn't know about the 'feathery' look meaning that one needed to wax the bases- guess I better break out the hot iron.

[zeedotcom]

I used to eat sleep and breath tech and specs. 8 years as a rental/repair tech and shop manager will give you a lot of insight...

In regards to specific waxes, I am a fan of Purl. It seems to hold up the best/longest, especially for the price. It is a bit more expensive than the super cheap stuff, but it is significantly cheaper than waxes like Swix.

The "feathery" look is basically a graying area. It is usually near the edges first. It is the most obvious on equipment with black bases.

The season is beginning to draw to a close for many. Another item that is recommended is to put a thick coat of soft wax on for the summer. Usually the softest non-fluoro works best. It will protect the base from moisture (and dryness) over the summer and will also protect the edges. It also gives it a bit of protection against dings. Scrape and re-wax in the fall for those early season conditions.

[hyak.net]

I wax my regular riding boards maybe once every 2 years (lazy) but when I do I hotwax with an old 1950s iron that has no steam holes (works great). In deep powder waxing really dosn't make much difference IMO and I don't ride hardpack if I don't have to.

I also have a snowboard I use for summer riding, it is 15 years old and I NEVER wax it (the one shown in my avatar). The PTex does not shrink and is still in as good of shape as it was when it was new in 1993 (minus the couple of minor rock lines that even wax won't stop). The reason you don't wax a summer backcountry board is that it will suck the dirt and pitch from the snow like glue and give you a SLOW board.

Wax is mainly to get your board across snow easier/faster PERIOD. If it were to protect the p-tex then my 20+ year old snowboards should look like crud (I have about 15 snowboards currently)...

This post has been edited by hyak.net: 12 April 2008 - 07:55 PM

[Snoqualmie guy]

So do you use all of those boards...ever...?

I wax my board just about as much as Jack does. When the snow gets really sticky when it warms up does wax help at all?

[hyak.net]

Snoqualmie guy, on Apr 12 2008, 10:36 PM, said:

So do you use all of those boards...ever...?

I wax my board just about as much as Jack does. When the snow gets really sticky when it warms up does wax help at all?

I have 3 boards I ride fairly regular, a swallow tail 198 for deep powder, my normal ride 168 and a 162 for hard snow. My summer board is the Crazy Banana asym 166 and it works well in the hard spring snow because of its stiffness. I'm currently building a split board from a 166 that I hope to have ready for next winter. The rest of the boards are either in my vintage collection, or I keep for friends to ride who don't have boards.

This post has been edited by hyak.net: 13 April 2008 - 08:11 AM