Why do we wax snowboards

A freshly waxed board provides better slide on the snow, which means less time getting stuck in flat areas and having to unstrap. Waxing your board also hydrates and protects the base, meaning it will last a lot longer. By waxing your board regularly once per week , you will ensure your board rides fast! In doing so, waxing your board reduces your chances of having to one foot along flat spots Because let's face it, no snowboarder enjoys getting caught on the flats and having to one foot.

Waxing your board will increase the longevity of your snowboard. Waxing hydrates the base and stops the pores of the P-tex base drying up. If you wax your board regularly, your board will stay as fast and fresh as a daisy. Press the wax on your heated iron above your snowboard. The wax will liquify and pour off of the iron and on to your board. Draw a line with the liquid droplets on your board near the edge closest to you. Make sure you run the wax the entirety of the boards length.

You want a hot iron that melts the wax quickly, but not too hot that the wax begins to smoke when in contact with the iron. As soon as you get to the end of your snowboard with the drip line. Press your iron onto your snowboard and start going back and forth along the drip line.

You can push the wax in as hard as you like, just make sure to spread it. The harder you push the wax into your snowboard base, the more the wax will seep into each P-tex pore. The trick is to get the board nice and warm. Feel the underneath of the board to ensure the iron is not too hot and the board does not overheat. If the top sheet feels warm but not hot and the wax is nicely spread out, move onto the other side of your board.

On hotter days the wax will wear down quicker. If you do have that need for speed then wax more often but if you prefer a slightly slower board for whatever reason then you could hold back on the waxing.

Ideally those not wanting too much speed would have an extruded base but you may already have a sintered base fortunately most beginner and freestyle boards do have extruded bases. Check out this video for a quick overview of how you can tell if your board needs waxing.

Another way to check is to if you run your fingernail over the board and it does not collect wax then you may need to wax.

For maximum performance on a sintered base you probably want to wax every full days of riding. If you can make that sacrifice you can wax less often. But you still probably want to wax at least every days of riding depending on the factors above conditions you ride in, how fast you want it.

You have a little bit more leeway with extruded bases. So you can get away with doing it less often. If you want to get the most out of your extruded base then again every days of riding will maximize performance.

Thanks for checking out this page and I hope it has helped you to decide how often you will wax. Remember that it depends on your own personal circumstances. If you have any comments, opinions or questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section below. Get the 7 step email series plus other relevant snowboarding emails, review releases, promotions, and information from time to time. We take your privacy seriously.

No spam. See our privacy policy here. Nate is passionate about and loves learning new things everyday about snowboarding, particularly the technical aspects of snowboarding gear. That, and becoming a better rider and just enjoying and getting the most out of life. If you are wanting to do hot-waxes and want to do it yourself, you will need an iron.

Easier to work with and easier to get the temperature right. Depending on how much you ride, you might only need to do a hot wax once a year. If you ride quite a lot, then you might have to do it more often. But if you only have to do it once a year in a addition to a storage wax , it usually makes more sense to take it in to someone to do, rather than investing in all the stuff to do it yourself. With a sintered base, definitely makes more sense, financially, to do it yourself.

Thanks for this post. I have been riding my board now for almost a month with the factor wax. How much damage do you think the board gets? I plan on getting it waxed this week. Make sure that any old wax and dirt is removed from the base so that the fresh wax can be absorbed properly. This can either be done by using a base cleaner and cloth, or by the hot scrape method. A hot scrape involves using an iron to apply a thin layer of hot wax and then immediately scraping it off while the wax is still warm in order to get rid of any grime from the pores.

Once finished, wipe over the base with a cloth to remove any remaining residue. Pick your wax. Melt the wax. Warm up the iron to a medium heat and then hold the wax against the iron until it starts to melt the wax at a slow drip. Iron the base. Next, place the iron on the base of the board and move it around in a circular motion.

Leaving the board in one place is how you can end up damaging your base permanently. Let the wax cool.