How to Wax Your Board and/or Skis?

1. Place the skis/board upside down on a vise or any support that will remain stable

Use elastics to keep the brakes out of the way. Don’t forget to protect your floor as the wax scrapings are fairly messy and can be quite hard to clean up. N.B.: Wax scrapings cannot be reused. Contact with the ski base, counter and/or floor contaminates them with dust and dirt particles which can then damage the base of your skis/board.

2. Clean the base with a citrus-based wax remover 

The objective here is to remove any grease (example: adhesives from climbing skins) or old wax leftover on the base. This step must not be repeated each and every time you wax your equipment as it tends to dry up the base. Usually, it can be done once or twice per season, ideally, only when necessary.

3. Clean the base using a brass brush 

The goal here to prepare the base. It will “open up” the structure by clearing any old wax from the grooves and optimize wax saturation.

4. Hydrate

Apply a universal base wax using a waxing iron. (Tip: You want to let the wax melt on the iron and then drip on to the base.) Then, spread the wax by moving the iron from tip to tail along the base (no zigzagging) without ever staying to long in one place as to not burn/damage it.

Once evenly spread along the entire surface, scrape it off using your scraper. For this step, you must not let the wax cool down.

N.B.: It’s possible to use a classic clothes iron albeit not recommended as you usually will not have a proper control over the iron’s temperature.

The iron must be set to around 120C-150C. (The specific temperature will vary with the type of wax used.) Tip! If you see any fumes/smoke when applying the wax, the temperature is too high. Also, the hotter your iron, the more care must be given as to not burn your base.

5. Apply the temperature-specific wax of your choice

Here, it’s important to let the wax and base cool down to ambient temperature before scraping it off.

6. Two-step brushing 

You want to start off with the nylon brush in order to clear out any excess wax, especially from the structure grooves. Then use the horsehair brush to polish your base. Quick tip: Always brush from tip to tail and always use your brushes in the same direction. If you are the kind that waxes your skis/board often, be it for you or the entire family, you can also consider ROTO brushes that are used with an electric drill. It’s pricier, but gets the job done much quicker. Also, if you do not want to invest in all 3 types of brushes (brass, nylon, horsehair) go for the nylon one as it is the most versatile.

7. Clear your edges 

Clear your edges of all excess wax using either the corner of your scraper or your nails. And there you go, you’re ready to go skiing!

Our technicians suggest that a wax coat will last on average for one entire day of skiing but we all agree that waxing your skis/board every time can be demanding. The easiest way to know if a good wax is really required is to look at your base. If it starts to whiten, then a proper waxing is in order.