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Bio - Eric Mihelbergel is an intermediate level windsurfer and kiteboarder living in the Great Lakes Region of New York State who enjoys writing about windsports and fitness.
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Snowboard Waxing
By Eric Mihelbergel (Written February 2019)
Many years ago I headed up the chair lift with my wife and our two children. We got off the chair and all four of us fell on our faces. Our boards were sticking so badly that we literally had to walk all the way back down the hill. We could not slide at all. That day I decided to learn a little more about proper waxing of snowboards.
This article consists of the simple basics to keep recreational snowboarders sliding well. You can certainly take waxing to a much higher level than what I will discuss here if you want a higher level of performance from your board. Consider this article to be the least amount of work you need to do to get a good sliding benefit and to slide better than 95% of the other riders on the hill.
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Step 1: Clean Your Base
I don't use any chemicals to clean my base. I simply use a brass snowboard cleaning brush. Look them up online and buy one. Brush your base lengthwise with firm pressure. This will remove dirt. If you use chemicals on your board it can eventually ruin your base. And, chemicals remove all the wax that penetrates the porous surface of your base. We don't want to remove all that wax that has penetrated the base. We just want to remove most of the dirt with the brass brush. The act of waxing and scraping off that excess wax will remove the rest of the dirt.
I don't use any chemicals to clean my base. I simply use a brass snowboard cleaning brush. Look them up online and buy one. Brush your base lengthwise with firm pressure. This will remove dirt. If you use chemicals on your board it can eventually ruin your base. And, chemicals remove all the wax that penetrates the porous surface of your base. We don't want to remove all that wax that has penetrated the base. We just want to remove most of the dirt with the brass brush. The act of waxing and scraping off that excess wax will remove the rest of the dirt.
Step 2: Sharpen Your Edges
As recreational snowboarders we don't need to sharpen our edges every time we wax. But if you are going to sharpen your edges do it before you start applying wax. You can hit the bottom of the metal edge with a flat metal file, and then use a snowboard sharpening tool for the side of your edge.
As recreational snowboarders we don't need to sharpen our edges every time we wax. But if you are going to sharpen your edges do it before you start applying wax. You can hit the bottom of the metal edge with a flat metal file, and then use a snowboard sharpening tool for the side of your edge.
Step 3: Apply Wax
You will need a waxing iron. I use a Dakine waxing iron, but there are many brands out there. Set the temperature so that the wax does NOT smoke. As far as wax type, I mostly use an all temperature wax from Dakine called Nitrous Hot Wax. But, again, there are many brands out there. For this wax, I set my iron at about 150 degrees. I like to drip the wax on one-third of my board, and then apply the iron directly to the board to melt and move that wax evenly over that third of board. Safely put the iron down, and turn the board under a light to see the reflection so that you can tell if you missed any spots. Do not leave the iron in any one place on the board too long as it could damage your base. Continue doing the same thing to the rest of your board. I do only one-third of the board at a time so that the droplets of wax don't have time to cool and harden before I spread them around. It saves a little time so you don't have to re-melt the wax droplets after dripping them.
You will need a waxing iron. I use a Dakine waxing iron, but there are many brands out there. Set the temperature so that the wax does NOT smoke. As far as wax type, I mostly use an all temperature wax from Dakine called Nitrous Hot Wax. But, again, there are many brands out there. For this wax, I set my iron at about 150 degrees. I like to drip the wax on one-third of my board, and then apply the iron directly to the board to melt and move that wax evenly over that third of board. Safely put the iron down, and turn the board under a light to see the reflection so that you can tell if you missed any spots. Do not leave the iron in any one place on the board too long as it could damage your base. Continue doing the same thing to the rest of your board. I do only one-third of the board at a time so that the droplets of wax don't have time to cool and harden before I spread them around. It saves a little time so you don't have to re-melt the wax droplets after dripping them.
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Step 4: Scrape Off The Wax
After the wax cools to room temperature you are going to scrape it off, leaving only a very, very thin layer. I use a metal scraper because I can scrape the wax off more easily. However, be careful with a metal scraper as you can scratch your base. A plastic scraper works too, but you have to apply more pressure and sharpen the plastic scraper after each use. By scraping off all the wax you are removing dirt that was still left on the board. The hot wax pulls the dirt out from the base of the board. The very thin layer of wax that remains gives you a fast slippery surface. Make sure you scrape wax off the metal edges also. Use a plastic scraper for the edges.
After the wax cools to room temperature you are going to scrape it off, leaving only a very, very thin layer. I use a metal scraper because I can scrape the wax off more easily. However, be careful with a metal scraper as you can scratch your base. A plastic scraper works too, but you have to apply more pressure and sharpen the plastic scraper after each use. By scraping off all the wax you are removing dirt that was still left on the board. The hot wax pulls the dirt out from the base of the board. The very thin layer of wax that remains gives you a fast slippery surface. Make sure you scrape wax off the metal edges also. Use a plastic scraper for the edges.
Step 5: Brush Your Base
Get a horse hair tuning brush. Brush the base of your board lengthwise from one end to the other. This will smooth out the wax and give it a very fine texture to increase glide. There are different coarseness brushes for different temperatures, but for most conditions a fine horse hair brush will be good enough for the recreational snowboarder.
Get a horse hair tuning brush. Brush the base of your board lengthwise from one end to the other. This will smooth out the wax and give it a very fine texture to increase glide. There are different coarseness brushes for different temperatures, but for most conditions a fine horse hair brush will be good enough for the recreational snowboarder.
When to wax? The MOST CRITICAL time to wax is before riding on cold snow after a previous session on warm snow. It is CRITICAL that you wax in this situation. When you ride on warm snow your board base will suck up a ton of dirt. You might not see the dirt, but it's there. If you subsequently ride on very cold snow at your next session you will likely fall on your face when you get off the chair lift. So, if you rode on a 40 degree day, and your next session is going to be on a 20 degree day, be sure you put fresh wax on your board before going out. The other way around is not necessary to wax. If you ride on a 20 degree day, and your next session is on a 40 degree day you should have no problem. In general, warm days are not as wax-sensitive as cold days for the recreational snowboarders. If it's really cold, like zero degrees, I suggest you wax no matter what your previous session was like. Very cold snow is very slow because of the more jagged shape of the cold snowflakes. Watch the weather forecasts for daily temperatures. And, if you have ridden your board five or six sessions without waxing then you should probably apply fresh wax no matter what the temperature.
Keep in mind what I said at the top of this article. This article describes the least amount of work you need to do to get a good sliding benefit. In warm snow you can get away with little attention to your wax situation, but it will not be elite maximum performance. In cold snow you can get away with just a fresh application of all temperature wax, but it will not be elite maximum performance. For maximum performance you will need different types of wax for certain temperatures, an array of different finishing brushes for specific temperatures, and some more education. I recently experimented with temperature specific waxes. Did it make a difference? Yes, but only a little bit measured by my speed on the flats compared to other riders using boards that I personally waxed with all temperature wax. The difference in speed was very slight. It was not a big enough difference for me to spend extra time using temperature specific waxes. If you simply want your board to slide better than 95% of the other riders on the hill then the steps in this article using all temperature wax will serve you just fine.
