How To Wax A Snowboard

Note:

A fresh coat of wax every few sessions will keep your board riding smoothly and your friends trailing in your tracks.
If you buy a snowboard from us at EXIT real world you will get free hot waxes for life! (in store only!)

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• A work space with good ventilation
• Tuning vices or some old towels
• Citrus base cleaner
• Paper towels
• Snowboard wax
• A plastic scraper
• An iron (either designed for waxing, or an old one that you won’t ever use for clothes again)
• A finishing brush or fiber tex pad.

After you gather your supplies, get set up in a well ventilated area. If you don't have a set of tuning vises for you workbench, just roll up some old towels to place them under the ends of your board, so it's stabilized with the base facing up. (Snowboard wax is nearly impossible to get out of carpet or completely off the floor, so plan ahead and put down some cardboard or newspaper).

Instructions:

• Prep the base: Give the base a quick scrape with the plastic scraper to remove any dirt from the surface, then put some base cleaner on a paper towel and rub it over the entire base of your board and let it sit.  Once the base cleaner has evaporated and the base is dry (about 15 minutes) you are ready to wax.
• Warm up your iron: Turn on your iron and let it warm up. If you’re using an adjustable temp iron set it to around 260E F for colder temperature waxes and around 245E F for warmer temp waxes.  If you’re going pirate style with an old clothing iron, set it to the wool setting.
• Distribute the wax: Holding the iron upright above the board, melt the wax by holding the smallest corner of the block against the iron, dripping the wax in a zig-zag pattern over the entire base. If your iron is smoking then it’s too hot, so turn down the heat!
• Smooth out the wax: Use your iron to smooth out the drips into an even coat of wax over the entire base.  Make sure you keep the iron moving so your board doesn’t get too hot. Use your free hand to feel the top sheet of your board. It should be warm to the touch but not hot. Once the top sheet is warm and you have a nice coat of wax on your base, unplug your iron and let the board cool down.
• Scrape off the wax: Now that your board has cooled completely, at least 15 min, you want to scrape the base from tip to tail with a plastic scraper to remove the excess wax. All the wax you need has already been absorbed by your base.
• Buff the base: Buff it with a nylon or horsehair brush to finish, or the fiber tex pad. This will smooth everything out and get any wax you may have missed with the scraper.
• Go out and shred faster! Enjoy beating all of your friends to the bottom, and repeat.

Why wax your snowboard?

A snowboard base is made of polyethylene plastic, a porous material. Depending on the process used to manufacture the base, how porous the base is varies greatly. The more porous the base the more important it is to wax. The proper wax will help prevent the build up of dirt in the base, improve the glide, and make the board easier to turn. Snowboard waxes are specifically designed to maintain the proper amount of melted snow under your board for maximum performance in a set temperature range. In addition to this they use a variety of additives to improve speed and resist dirt. In short, a waxed board will be easier to ride and less fatiguing to the rider.