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Waxing ProcedurES

GETTING THE MOST SPEED AND DURABILITY - KEYS TO SPEED

your guide to waxing your ride

In order to get the most out of your wax purchase and achieve the best results, we recommend following the guidelines below for preparing and waxing your skis or snowboard.

step 1: tune your ride (Optional)

  • Time to check the trueness and depth of your base clearance, often using a round steel bar.
  • File eges flat as necessary.
  • If needed seek out your local Ski Shop for a Professional Base Grind
  • Time to sharpen your edges, detune the tips and tails
  • Set your preferred racing angles or leave as 90 degrees for most recreational riders
  • Repair any damaged P-Tex and/or Core Shots
  • Clean off any rust with steel wool and use a stone to remove edge burrs.
  • Make sure the edges of the side of your Skis or SnowBoard are as smooth as possible. Cut edges here will slow you down.
There are lots of great Ski / Snowboard Tuning Videos available on YouTube.

STEP 2: CLEAN YOUR BASES

  • It is very important that the bases of your Skis or Snowboard are clean and dry before you apply the hot wax.
  • Scrape off old wax if any still remains.
  • Ideally, use a soft steel roto-brush and variable course 3M scrubbing pads to remove deep pore residual wax and restructure your bases prior to cleaning and hot waxing.
  • Use a citrus based cleaner to remove dirt, oil, previous wax and residue. Allow to dry for several minutes.

Step 3: PREPARE TO WAX

  • Clean your workspace.
  • Put down drop clothes as needed
  • Open windows, turn on fans, ensure there is lots of ventilation. NEVER HOT WAX IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE WITH NO VENTILATION. THIS IS TRUE FOR ALL BRANDS OF HOT WAXING. USE PROPER PPE TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM HOT WAX AND ANY FUMES.
  • You will need roto brushes, a cork, TPW buffing pads, a handled scrubber is ideal, wax scrapers, and a waxing iron.
  • Always set your hot wax iron to the lowest temperature needed to melt the product slowly. The lower the better, but absolutely no higher than than 155° C / 311° F to avoid thermal break down of some speed agents in some formulas. If smoke is coming off your iron, it's set way too hot. Fun Fact: TPW speed agents in higher racing formulas like Grizzly Missile, Flame Thrower, and Cody's Rocket can withstand over 1,000° F and the wax will catch fire before the speed agents will.

Step 4: apply the hot wax

  • Secure your ski or snowboard in place on a workbench, or ideally use a ski or snowboard vice. We use ski vices secured to a table so it doesn't slide around.
  • Set your desired Iron Temp and allow to warm up.
  • Melt and drip hot wax onto your ride. Smooth out with your iron for 10 mins or until you have a nice consistent depth down the length of your equipment. Then wait no more than 2 mins to begin a warm scrape to ensure best product adhesion.

This video from REI shows the basics of how to prep and wax your skis.

step 5: perform a warm scrape

This photo shows what your ski should look like after performing a warm scrape. Many inexperienced riders will usually stop at this step and go ride, robbing themselves of the wax's maximum speed, durability while wasting money. If you waited too long to perform the warm scrape, don't stress, just go over the wax again with your iron. Think of your iron as an eraser.

STEP 6: Brush / Cork / Roto-brush

Next, Cork. Or use a set of roto brushes (use medium speed) or brush manually with the following brushes in this order:1. Brass Brush2. Horse Hair3. Nylon Note: We only use a Steel Roto Brush for P-Tex base prep BEFORE Hot Waxing... not after.

STEP 7: buff wax to mirror finish

THE FINAL CRITICAL STEP IS TO BUFF THE SKI WAX VIGOROUSLY USING TPW BUFFING PADS TO A HIGH GLOSS MIRROR SHINE. DON'T WORRY, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO BUFF "TOO MUCH." But you can buff too little... DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM SPEEDS OR WIN THAT RACE WHEN YOU CAN SEE YOUR OWN REFLECTION ON THE BASE AND THE SKI WAX FEELS ULTRA SLICK, YOU ARE READY TO RIP DOWN THE SLOPES!!