Why You Should Wax Your Own Snowboard
Jayme Souza explains in text and video how to save money and just do it yourself, as well as potential problems to avoid when taking the DIY approach.
Technically Speaking
There’s a lot of technical reasons you should wax your snowboard (or skis), but more or less it comes down to keeping your boards base in better shape for longer and making it easier to ride faster.
Technically speaking, waxing your board extends its life, and the more regularly you do it, the longer it lasts. The base of a snowboard is somewhat porous and therefore subject to drying out, especially after multiple days being on and off the snow. Keeping your board waxed helps seal the base and prevents it from drying out.
Waxing your board is also vital for the performance of it, making it more slippery and easier to glide across the snow. This is important for all types of riders, making it easier to float on flat cat tracks, transition from one edge to another, and go as fast as you want to.
How often should you wax your snowboard?
Depending on where you look, most sources will suggest waxing your snowboard every 3–4 days of riding. Personally though, I like to wax my snowboard at least once after every day of riding. This is definitely not necessary, but the more often you wax your board, the better off your board and your performance will be.
What will you need?
It doesn’t take too many actual items or tools to wax your snowboard and some of them are a bit pricey out of the gate but spending a little extra is definitely worth it.
Waxing Iron: The largest ticket item is going to be the iron — I prefer TOKO’s basic iron which will run you around $65. Getting a decent iron helps ease the process of applying the wax and will last you years and hundreds of waxes. There’s a ton of riders out there still using old clothes irons to wax their boards, which can actually damage the snowboard, so getting a proper waxing iron is extremely important.
Wax: Getting quality wax is probably the most important step in this whole process. There are a lot of different options — cold temp, warm temp, all temp, racing — and at the end of the day you just have to choose the one right for you, your riding style and the snow you ride on. I have done tons of research and used a bunch of different kinds of wax from different brands and Purl Wax All-Temp Purple is hands down my favorite. It’s relatively cheap compared to all other reputable waxes, costing $28 for a one-pound brick. It goes on and comes off easy and there is a noticeable difference the first time you ride after using it.
Scraper: There’s all kinds of shapes and sizes of scrapers out there, but they are really all the same, so just make sure to have one and make sure it’s sharp. I personally like the One Ball 12-inch scraper, which is around $8.
Brush or Brushes: Most basic waxing kits come with a tiny brush that’s about the size of a toothbrush, which I can say from personal experience is not realistic to use on a snowboard, so you’re going to want to invest in some larger ones, preferably one coarse and one fine. I regularly use two of the three brushes I picked up for $32 on Amazon.
#3 Phillips Screwdriver: This is not a 100% necessary tool needed to wax your snowboard but is extremely helpful if you are going to be waxing your board and taking your bindings off regularly. Using a regular Phillips head screwdriver to take your bindings off can sometimes strip the screws and make it really hard to get them off or back on. I picked up a Burton EST tool for $20 — which has a #2 and #3 Phillips screwdriver and locks at different angles to make it super easy to take tight bindings off — and I use it every time I wax my board.
Things NOT to do:
Waxing a snowboard is a relatively easy thing to do, but there are a few mistakes that are often made and should be avoided.
Don’t #1: Do not have your iron set to too high of a temperature, hold it on a certain spot for too long or go over a certain spot too many times, because this can overheat your base or even burn your board.
Don’t #2: Do not scrape or brush too aggressively, side to side or erratically, as this can scratch and damage your board.
Don’t #3: Do not leave visible excess wax on your board because this can lead to a wax buildup in the future that can be hard to take care of.
Don’t #4: Do not leave your bindings on while waxing your board. This creates recessed areas on your board because of the heat that are both hard to get the wax into and then hard to get the wax out of when scraping.
How to wax your snowboard:
Step 1: Take your bindings off and then use a cleanser or a towel to remove any dirt or loose stuff off the bottom of your board. Also remove any old wax with a brush and/or scraper.
Step 2: Turn on your iron and set the temperature to about 120–140 degrees.
Step 3: Hold the wax to the iron and drip a good amount of wax all over the board evenly. Start off using what you think you’ll need, as you can always add more if you need to.
Step 4: Spread the wax all over the board with the iron, making sure to keep the iron moving at all times. If you keep the iron sitting in one spot for too long, it can burn your board.
Step 5: Once your board is completely covered in a nice layer of wax, turn off your iron and let your board sit and cool for around 15 minutes.
Step 6: After making sure your entire board is cool to the touch, start scraping off the wax. When scraping, always go top to bottom and never side to side or erratically, as this can make little scratches on your board. You are going to want to get as much wax off as you can during the scraping step, but don’t go overboard because your brushes will get the rest.
Step 7: Start brushing with a coarser brush to get most of the larger pieces of wax off of the board, using the same top to bottom method as you did with the scraper. Press down hard enough to see little bits of wax coming off, anything harder is too much. Once the board starts to look polished and you can’t see the lines the scraper made, wipe your board off with a towel and move on to the fine brush. You can press a little harder with the finer brush because it’s much softer, and once the board is completely polished and glistening, you’re done!
