Waxing your own snowboard

Grab some drinks, get some chips, invite some snowboarding friends over because today we are going to prepare our boards for the season!

Waxing a snowboard is a process that sounds more complicated than it is but it is quite easy and very relaxing. So let’s put our hands to work right now!

First of all, we need a few items to be able to do it at home. They are:

• Waxing iron
• Wax
• Acrylic scraper
• Nylon brush
• Base cleaner
• A piece of cloth

clockwise from the top: waxing iron, set of boxes of wax, scraper, block of wax, brush, base cleaner

All these items are pretty easy to find on any store that sells winter/ski equipment. I personally recommend using a proper waxing iron instead of your own iron that you use for clothes at home because it will probably be ruined after this.

First of all, we need to clean the base of our board before we start the whole process. We are going to remove all the dirt that accumulated under it after all those days of riding (or those days staying inside the storage room) and also remove a bit of the old wax from the board. To do that, spray the cleaner on the base of your board and spread/dry it with the piece of cloth. Be sure to leave your board dry when finishing this process. You can wait a few minutes before starting with the next step.

Claudiu doing some spraying and cleaning on the boards.

The next step now is waxing. For waxing, it is important to select the proper wax for your riding. Wax comes in various types of composition and also they vary a lot in terms of temperature they are supposed to withstand during the day of riding. You can also go generic and buy those kind of “all temperatures” wax but, if you’re aiming for a bit better gliding, just check the average temperature on the resort where you plan to snowboard and grab the proper wax based on that.

Hydrocarbon waxes are the most common to use. Also, they are not so harsh to your base as Fluor based wax.

Wax in hand, turn your iron on to the temperature shown in front of the wax package, press the wax against the hot iron surface and let it drip over the snowboard. Go moving your iron and wax over your board to form some sort of a crossing pattern on your base. You don’t have to waste the whole wax bar on one waxing. Just make sure you have a good amount of wax on your base.

Melting the wax and letting it drip around the edges of the base.

That’s a nice zig-zag pattern right there! Maybe a bit too much wax but, that’s fine. Pablo approves the waxing process.

When you have enough drops over the board, it is time to start ironing it to spread the wax over the whole base of the snowboard. Go in circular motion melting the wax drops and spreading it to the parts around it. Never stop the iron for a long time on a single spot to avoid damaging the material of your board and you’ll be fine.

Spreading the wax gently around the whole base. It can take a while for the iron to melt it from the base but, as soon as it start melting, go with the non-stop circular motion.

By his face, this ghost has definitely seen things. Specially, a well waxed base! ;)

Job done? Nice! Go grab a drink and let’s wait a few minutes while the wax cools down. Give it 30 minutes or so. Have a chat with your friends, or go check the latest sick shred videos of your favourite snowboarder on Instagram and we will continue soon.

Time for a break! Drinks are served.

After the wax is cold and dry, it is time to scrape all the excess off from the base with the acrylic scraper. Hold it firmly with either one or both hands at an angle to the board as if you’re using a shaving blade and start scraping the wax off in a linear movement parallel to the running length of the board (NEVER sideways, always from nose to tail or tail to nose).

Scraping the wax from tail to nose on the board, pressing that scraper hard on the base to remove as much wax as I can from it.

Pablo and I trying to scrape as much as we can from the boards. It can be a bit exhausting but keep going!

Don’t worry about “removing too much wax”. All the wax we wanted on the board is already absorbed by the base so all that’s on top needs to go. Continue the scraping process until you can’t scrape anything else anymore from the board and it feels smooth to the touch.

Many many many flakes of wax. These will go everywhere in your house if you don’t be careful.

To avoid the wax madness everywhere on the floor after the session, vacuuming during the process is highly recommended if possible.

To finish the work, take the nylon brush and brush the board from nose to tail (again, NEVER sideways! always follow the running length of the board). This will create microgrooves on the now super thin wax layer that will help water and ice flow under the board during the ride to improve our gliding.

Brush in hand, pressing hard and making grooves from nose to tail.

Well done! It took a while but now you’re ready for another couple of weeks at the slopes! Repeat this process usually after every 7 to 10 days after riding or if the weather conditions change too much from the wax you used on your board. Keeping the board waxed is a good way to maintain your board in a better shape for a longer time and it will ensure that you’ll have a greater day at the mountains.

These babes are 100% ready for the next snowboarding sesh!

A big Thanks to Claudiu and Pablo for joining the snowboard waxing session, and an extra Thank You to Miguel who joined as well for the fun and drinks and took most of the pictures here.

Do you usually wax your boards at home or do you take them to the shop? Did I miss any good tips that you might have for waxing a snowboard? Let me know in the comments section below.

Cheers and have a good ride!