Ski Wax Routine

[BrandoComando]

How often do ya'll wax your skis? Every night? Every 10 days? Never? I know the proper way to store skis over summer is with a nice healthy coat of wax. But what's your mid-season routine to keep those bases spiffy?

 

[CatdickBojangles]

Usually once a week. Probably could get away with less but working from home allows me to wax a lot.

 

[Rparr]

I have lost my mind and have been waxing my skis every couple days of skiing for a while now. I like to know that I am going as fast as I can. I also ski a shitload of rails so my skis seem to lose wax very fast

 

[BigNaturalsOnly]

For me its every 3 - 5 riding days. Just depends on if I feel like doing on my days off or at work.

1 base cleaner and brass brush, dry

2 stiff nylon brush

3 wax and scrape

4 brush out, really working the horse hair brush to finish them

 

[CatdickBojangles]

Also does anyone iron the wax multiple times? I initially iron the wax on then every hour or two re iron 3 or 4 times. I’ve heard it helps and I’ve also heard it’s useless but I feel like I can tell a difference sometimes.

 

[mountaindewgirl]

Ehhh like 1x a month. I'm trying to get that more like 2x month tho

 

[broken_skier0]

Whenever I feel like I'm not getting enough speed on jumps and usually once at the beginning and end of the season. For my next pair of skis, I'm going with Phantom.
https://www.dpsskis.com/products/phantom_permanent_waxless_glide

 

[broken_skier0]

delete

**This post was edited on Jan 19th 2021 at 7:32:53pm

 

[snowmosexual]

I wax about every 3-5 days of skiing, the night before a big storm, or if I'm stressing hard and need to clear my mind.

 

[Dan-Man]

usually just 1 time a year haha! and use candles/gulf wax.

I had some pretty beat skis from hitting urban that I actually took a belt sander too in order to attempt a base grind. actually worked really well! then some wax... perhaps the finest street ski there ever was!!

but yes, I usually only wax the whole quiver once a year. unless things seem to get supper slow, then I'll make an exception.

 

[_IRRELEVANT_]

Usually try to shoot for three riding days but waxing them is super relaxing wish I had an excuse to do it more

 

[NateDude]

I wax every weekend. I've got 6 temp ranges and I always scrape, cork, brush, and buff. Some days my skis are too slippery to stand in the lift line.

 

[Bended_Toenail]

A lot. Whenever I'm bored at work I go into the back and way mine. Advantages of having the facilities of a nice shop at your disposal.

For XC skis like whenever I use them, its getting to the point where it's OCD

 

[teamdummy]

Basically never. I get new skis. Beat the snot out of them for a year. Then get new ones the next season and repeat the process.

 

[BrandoComando]

I understand waxing your skis reduces friction. If you wax, you ski fast. And if racers don't wax or if they use the wrong wax, they can burn their bases. Is there any damage risk to waxing bases only once or twice a season? I go fast but I'm not Lindsay Vonn

 

[anders_a]

maaaan now I feel so bad for neglecting my skis.....

 

[ljackstar]

I wax before every trip to the mountains, don't really worry if I'm just riding city hills.

 

[broken_skier0]

I understand waxing your skis reduces friction. If you wax, you ski fast. And if racers don't wax or if they use the wrong wax, they can burn their bases. Is there any damage risk to waxing bases only once or twice a season? I go fast but I'm not Lindsay Vonn

For a new pair of skis, Phantom is a good option. It lasts the lifetime of the skis. If you can't tell the difference wax makes in your skis, keep waxing once or twice a season and save your money. Ski bases get oxidized over time, but the main problem with an oxidized base is the skis are slower.

 

[eheath]

For just casual skiing, I never wax my skis, but I found myself waxing my skis often in the spring/summer when I was at park shoots, wcs, summer camp etc but when the snow is cold I rarely wax.

 

[ASSholebomber22]

I wax when I blow out a section of base or when it's spring/summer slush and my shit sticks like velcro. So maybe a couple times a season

 

[clindblomskier]

Whenever I feel like I'm not getting enough speed on jumps and usually once at the beginning and end of the season. For my next pair of skis, I'm going with Phantom.
https://www.dpsskis.com/products/phantom_permanent_waxless_glide

That phantom stuff smells like BS. There isn't any material that doesn't wear.

 

[broken_skier0]

That phantom stuff smells like BS. There isn't any material that doesn't wear.

It's not BS. It permanently modifies your base.

 

[clindblomskier]

It's not BS. It permanently modifies your base.

Are you a dps employee?

 

[BrandoComando]

Are you a dps employee?

He's probably just a fan. I think actual DPS employees are too busy hanging out on yachts with their dentist friends to be spending time on NS

 

[OregonDead]

For just casual skiing, I never wax my skis, but I found myself waxing my skis often in the spring/summer when I was at park shoots, wcs, summer camp etc but when the snow is cold I rarely wax.

yeah I rarely do in winter anymore. Summer is when I tend to get more into it to try to get that edge over sticky snow. Even then I wonder if it’s more psychological than anything though. I know people that ski every month of the year and never wax ever. Kinda hypes me up though so even if it’s placebo I still like fresh wax

 

[The.Fish]

Also does anyone iron the wax multiple times? I initially iron the wax on then every hour or two re iron 3 or 4 times. I’ve heard it helps and I’ve also heard it’s useless but I feel like I can tell a difference sometimes.

you are essentially hot boxing the skis. This is a tactic used by pro racers. If you have a super high quality base, then it is worth it. If it is a shitty extruded base like a lot of park skis, it is a complete waste of time.

 

[HAMNATION]

In before the dominator schools you on the finer points

 

[snowmosexual]

In before the dominator schools you on the finer points

I too await the master. Never knew I was so mean to my skis

 

[abar.]

Every couple of weeks when they start looking dry, no scrape because I don't care that much about speed and it's 10x the work and makes a huge mess

 

[PsychicMigration]

This probably isnt the best but I do a couple of times a year maybe and im on snow most days.

 

[BradFiAusNzCoCa]

Used to be like once a year. Then when I was in australia this past summer, I started waxing a lot because the snow there really strips your wax fast. Now I wax a lot because it’s so relaxing and therapeutic. I love putting some music on, getting a beer, and just working on my skis.

 

[alphie_cisar]

I only wax when my bases get white and can scratch my fingernail on them also in the last day of year with a shit ton to cover the edges so they don’t rust should probably do it more

 

[dolanslebensraum]

Inb4 “inb4 dolan”

 

[evanball]

Whenever I feel like I'm not getting enough speed on jumps and usually once at the beginning and end of the season. For my next pair of skis, I'm going with Phantom.
https://www.dpsskis.com/products/phantom_permanent_waxless_glide

For a new pair of skis, Phantom is a good option. It lasts the lifetime of the skis. If you can't tell the difference wax makes in your skis, keep waxing once or twice a season and save your money. Ski bases get oxidized over time, but the main problem with an oxidized base is the skis are slower.

if i send you a box of wax will you split that dps check w me?

 

[dolanslebensraum]

I have lost my mind and have been waxing my skis every couple days of skiing for a while now. I like to know that I am going as fast as I can. I also ski a shitload of rails so my skis seem to lose wax very fast

It is really fun if your skis have a race base like revolt 87s or any race ski

For me its every 3 - 5 riding days. Just depends on if I feel like doing on my days off or at work.

1 base cleaner and brass brush, dry

2 stiff nylon brush

3 wax and scrape

4 brush out, really working the horse hair brush to finish them

Base cleaner is not good. Do get the old wax out you want to do a hot scrape. Using base cleaner does the opposite of what you want. You want to cram in as much was as you can into the valleys and crevasses in the skis base.

Also does anyone iron the wax multiple times? I initially iron the wax on then every hour or two re iron 3 or 4 times. I’ve heard it helps and I’ve also heard it’s useless but I feel like I can tell a difference sometimes.

The wax is actually dissolving into the amorphous (non crystallized) areas in your ski base surface. So the more you move around the liquid wax on your base the more wax you are going to get to dissolve into the ptex. So going back over the ski with the iron and remelting the wax will help to get more wax into the base. Also as the base warms up it will dissolve more wax i to it as well. Dont overheat the base tho bc ptex melts at 130-135 degrees F. The wax should solidify within a minute or less after you take the iron off. If the wax is sitting there as a puddle for 5 min after you take the iron off you might be melting the base and you dont want to do that.

Whenever I feel like I'm not getting enough speed on jumps and usually once at the beginning and end of the season. For my next pair of skis, I'm going with Phantom.
https://www.dpsskis.com/products/phantom_permanent_waxless_glide

Using phantom is like doing invitro fertilization instead of just having sex.

usually just 1 time a year haha! and use candles/gulf wax.

I had some pretty beat skis from hitting urban that I actually took a belt sander too in order to attempt a base grind. actually worked really well! then some wax... perhaps the finest street ski there ever was!!

but yes, I usually only wax the whole quiver once a year. unless things seem to get supper slow, then I'll make an exception.

candle wax sucks dick at waxing skis. Its not going to like damage your skis or anything but youre not gonna glide that fast on candlewax.

Usually try to shoot for three riding days but waxing them is super relaxing wish I had an excuse to do it more

It is relaxing. My favorite part is watching the wax disappear into the base. Its a very aesthetic concept imo.

I wax every weekend. I've got 6 temp ranges and I always scrape, cork, brush, and buff. Some days my skis are too slippery to stand in the lift line.

I know this feeling. If the snow is 25 to 30 F and youve got fluoro wax on your skis you can hadly stand up. Its like pouring laundry detergent onto an ice rink and trying to stand on it.

I understand waxing your skis reduces friction. If you wax, you ski fast. And if racers don't wax or if they use the wrong wax, they can burn their bases. Is there any damage risk to waxing bases only once or twice a season? I go fast but I'm not Lindsay Vonn

Just use a cold or medium temp wax. The cold waxes are harder and dont wear off as fast as warm temp waxes. If you use a warm temp wax in cold snow the sharp snow crystals will tear off all the soft wax off the bottom of the skis and youll get base burn. And you will be slow as shit in terms of glide speed. but a harder cold/medium temp wax will be fine in both cold and warm conditions and will stay on longer. It wont be as fast in warm condition snow as warm weather wax but it will be ok. That being said i have had very cold condition wax in warm snow and i stuck like velcro. So stay more towards the middle.

you are essentially hot boxing the skis. This is a tactic used by pro racers. If you have a super high quality base, then it is worth it. If it is a shitty extruded base like a lot of park skis, it is a complete waste of time.

Im pretty sure that no current park skis use extruded bases. Some bases like armadas s7 base they use on most of there skis is slow, but its sintered. Unless armada lied to me which could be a possibility. But if armada bases are sintered they must be durable/hard as fuck to help protect the edges. Otherwise there would be 0 reasons for armada not to use a faster base like durasurf or something. My old armadas had a base that felt hard as a rock. My theory is that a rock hard base protects the edges more because it doesnt deform as much when you hit a ton of rails and it doesnt let the edges move around/crack etc... i think edge cracks and edge ripouts dont really happen until the base has been jimmied around in different directions and the edges have been freed to roam around and loosen up. In other words i think if your base was made of gelatin your edges would get fucked very quickly if you hit a ton of rails.

Every couple of weeks when they start looking dry, no scrape because I don't care that much about speed and it's 10x the work and makes a huge mess

You actually dont need to scrape if you dont want to. The snow will remove the surface layer of wax just by abrading it while you ski. It will probably not feel very fast while you have a whole wax layer on the bottom of your ski but once it wears off it will feel similar to if you had scraped.

Used to be like once a year. Then when I was in australia this past summer, I started waxing a lot because the snow there really strips your wax fast. Now I wax a lot because it’s so relaxing and therapeutic. I love putting some music on, getting a beer, and just working on my skis.

yeah i cant get enough of waxing my skis. Im about to buy these fis race skis so i have another pair to wax 10 times this summer.

I only wax when my bases get white and can scratch my fingernail on them also in the last day of year with a shit ton to cover the edges so they don’t rust should probably do it more

Its always good to protect your skis over the summer with a layer of wax.

Inb4 “inb4 dolan”

FUCKING OWNED

 

[anders_a]

waxing is massivly important, especially for spring, but its also important all year, as you avoid base burn & dry bases which are then dead and doesnt take wax.

softer waxes we use for spring will be worn out much faster as well, my favorite trick is to apply a colder wax (and harder) than needed after base is saturated, it still glides awesome on warmer, but is much harder and stays on way longer. Just topping off with a spray as needed can have you skiiing with glide for quite a long time

I use a 6'er wax aka blue for this, which is a )=#"!=%#=%)#!¤% pain to scrape off.

 

[b00mSkis]

like once a year., storage wax end of season, scrape&brush start of season. maybe wax once mid season lol, I'll go like 50+ ski days without waxing but then i feel like a gaper when people are passin me on the cat track haha

 

[anders_a]

if you have supercold and good snow, you cant feel it as much, but... 50 days? you need a stone grind, not just a storeage wax

I can killl a red or yellow easy in half a day of skiiing. and I hate poor glide

I hate hate hate hate HATE poor glide.