Instructions: how to wax skis properly

Hello friends! Welcome to Lisa’s Beauty Palace. Today, I’d like to discuss wellness and cosmetics. But for winter sports equipment! To answer the question “How do I wax touring skis properly?” (and Alpine skis and snowboards and skating skis and snowblades and … LET’S GO!!!) OK, OK, enough, let’s get started…

Ski waxing – requirements and methods

Your planks need a little bit of TLC every now and then, too. That’s why you should regularly wax your skis. This will not only improve their speed and gliding properties but will also protect the ski base.

The most common and long-lasting method is hot waxing, i.e. applying special ski wax using an iron. That’s what we want to look at in more detail in this article.

Another popular and, most importantly, simple method is the use of liquid wax or wax sticks. They can quickly and easily be applied to the skis. You just have to polish the wax after a short while. But it doesn’t last quite as long and doesn’t really help with very worn ski bases.

For this reason, the use of liquid wax is more an addition than an actual alternative to classic hot wax. Furthermore, companies such as Swix, Holmenkol or Toko offer numerous other waxing systems, but they’re often designed for specialist applications.

This article is therefore not about perfectly preparing your skis for a race or waxing classic cross-country skis with kick wax. Today, we’ll merely deal with how average tourers or skiers can get the ski base of their skis back in shape and ready for action.

First thing’s first: There isn’t just a single method of how to wax skis. Everyone has his or her own tricks. If you ask five people, they will give you seven different options. What I’m going to explain today is therefore not the be all and end all. It’s my own way of waxing skis. And it’s been tried-and-tested for the many years that I’ve been skiing. Of course, it’s based on the instructions of the wax manufacturers.

When is ski waxing necessary?

That depends on how much and how vigorously you’re using your skis. But also on the snow conditions. In powdery snow, for example, less demand is made on your ski base than on a hard artificial snow slope.

Contact with stones and similar will also put a strain on the ski base, requiring repairs. When the skis don’t “run” properly, at the latest, it’s best to act. It’s even better though not to let it get that far. I wax my Alpine and touring skis every fourth to fifth skiing day, for example, which has really been working for me over the years.

A clear indication is when the ski base feels extremely blunt and is going grey in some places. With black ski bases in particular, it’s easy to see and a clear sign that the ski base is worn and desperately needs to be refreshed. Just imagine extremely dry, cracked skin. By applying moisturising cream, the skin will become smooth again and feel great. It’s the same with ski bases that are waxed.

I’d also recommend waxing your skis after the season and leaving the wax on. That will protect the ski base when storing it over the summer and it won’t dry out.

Ski waxing – what you need

Before you get going with ski waxing, make sure you have the required equipment. So here’s a rough overview of what you need.

Clamping device for the skis

When waxing, it’s important that the skis can be secured with the ski base facing up. You can buy different clamping devices for this. Alternatively, you can build your own. Mine, for example, consists of two covered timber pieces and a machine vice. You can also use a mobile workbench with clamping jaws, for example, but that’s often a little fiddly.

Elastic bands

In some ski bindings, the stopper can be folded up and locked by turning and shifting the binding. If that doesn’t work, the ski brakes have to be locked in a different way so they don’t get in the way later. I found that strong elastic bands work best. You can buy them as an accessory or alternatively, use classic rubber rings from preserving jars.

Iron

There are special waxing irons for ski waxing. Not only do they have the advantage that the temperature can be set precisely but they also keep the temperature consistent. Plus, the iron’s sole plate is rectangular and doesn’t have a tip. Grooves in the sole plate also ensure that the wax is distributed perfectly.

There’s an alternative here, too. It’s known as a dry iron. Dry irons are predecessors to steam irons and don’t have holes in the sole plate.

If your grandma still has one of those, you can use it for ski waxing. But it can’t be used for the laundry again afterwards. Disadvantage: conventional irons don’t maintain their temperature very well and you first have to find out what temperature two dots or “cotton” actually stands for.

Scraper

Scrapers are generally made of plastic and not very expensive. Trying to find alternatives is not worth it. But make sure when buying a scraper that it’s wider than the widest part of your skis.

Ski base brush

This kind of brush is available in all sorts of materials that all have pros and cons or different areas of application. A quality nylon brush is sufficient for our work. Trying to find an alternative is not worth it either for this. Ski base brushes aren’t expensive and come with the required structure and dimensions.

Ski wax/glide wax

Hot wax for skis is available in different versions. Depending on temperature and snow characteristics, it’s worth using different types of wax. But this topic is quite complex so there will be a separate article about this here soon.

In general, it can be said that amateur athletes can’t really go wrong with quality all-round wax. As long as the conditions aren’t extreme (e.g. wet snow or extremely low temperatures etc.), universal wax will do a good job.

In our example, we’re using World Cup High Performance Universal – Hot wax by Toko. Natural Skiwax Bar by Holmenkol.

Accessories for touching up ski bases

Repair sticks for ski base damage

Making contact with a stone or similar often leaves ugly scratches in the ski base. Luckily, special repair sticks exist that can be used to touch up damage.

A candle as well as a lighter or matches

Any candle that burns well and stays standing by itself. Anything can be used from a grave candle to an old Advent candle, whatever is at hand.

Equipment making ski waxing easier (optional)

One or two cloths

Use what you’ve got at hand: from an old tea towel to a T-shirt you no longer use. The main thing is that they’re clean.

Hand brush

You don’t need anything special. A conventional hand brush is sufficient. But again, it has to be clean. . So you might want to get one specially for waxing.

Ski base cleaner (optional)

Ski base cleaner is a cleaning liquid that has been specifically designed for ski bases. It’s used to remove residual wax or adhesive from climbing skins.

A grooved pin (generally only for cross-country skis)

If your skis have a central groove, you’ll need a grooved pin to remove excess wax from the groove after waxing.

Preparing your skis for waxing

Dry and warm…

Before you start waxing your skis, you have to make some preparations. It’s really important that your skis are clean and completely dry. Also bear in mind: the warmer the skis, the more easily the wax can penetrate the ski base or the quicker the entire process will be. Of course, the ski base is heated by the iron above all. But if the skis have a relatively high basic temperature to begin with, it’ll really help.

Locking and clamping in position…

Once your skis are dry, you can start. First lock the ski brake so it’s folded and not in the way during the next steps. As mentioned above, the stoppers can be locked in position in some touring bindings. If that doesn’t work, simply use an elastic band and tie the ski brake up with it.

After that, secure one ski in the clamping device. If you’ve designed this contraption yourself, you have to make sure that the clamping mechanism damages neither the skis nor the binding. Plus, the skis have to be secured in way that the device doesn’t impair the next steps.

Scrubbing and cleaning…

After you’ve stored your skis for a while or following trips when it’s thawing or in unfavourable conditions, your skis and skis bases are often dirty. Make sure you thoroughly remove all dirt with a clean cloth before waxing. Old touring skins also leave residual adhesive on the ski base which needs to be removed just like residual wax. You can either use a brush or appropriate wax remover/cleaner.

Checking and touching up the ski base

Have a close look at the ski base. If you spot any scratches, tears or holes, it’s good to touch them up. This is how:

First, take a good look at the scratch. If the edges of the damaged area are very ragged and actual fragments are coming off the ski base, they must be removed. Either use your scraper or a conventional craft knife. It helps for the ski base to be heated a little. I always choose a low temperature on the waxing iron and briefly place it in the area that needs touching up.

To mend ski bases, there are special repair sticks. They’re either black (for black ski bases) or white/transparent for all other ski bases. When you light these sticks, the material drips down and you can apply it to the damaged area drop by drop.

In my experience, these sticks don’t burn consistently but go out every now and then. Those who have to fiddle with matches every time may get annoyed quite quickly. A small candle may be more suitable because it lets you light the stick repeatedly without much fuss.

But you should only apply the material in the area where it’s really needed. You might want to put a small protective board or something similar close to the damaged area on the ski to help you.

Just light the repair stick above that area, wait for the first drops and you’re good to go. When applying the repair material, the motto is to use more if in doubt.

That’s because the material retracts a little when it gets cold. Once sufficient material has been applied, it has to cool down and harden. The duration depends on the material quantity but you should allow 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime, you might as well put the ski you just worked on aside and treat the other one.

Once the material has cooled down and hardened, excess has to be removed. Some companies recommend a metal scraper but practice has shown that a standard plastic blade also does the trick.

Depending on the thickness of the material you’ve applied, you may have to go over the particular area several times. You can also carefully cut off thicker residual material with the blade of the craft knife. But please be careful. If you’re too vicious with the scraper, you’ll often tear open the area you just mended. But using only the scraper, you won’t be able to get the ski base flush again. So you’ll need to do some re-work.

For that, you’ll either need a ski base file or fine sand paper. But be careful to only treat the area you wanted to mend rather than sanding down the entire ski. Afterwards, give the affected area a good going over with the ski base brush to restore the structure.

How to wax skis

But now to the actual topic: waxing. There are several steps so let’s go…

The right processing temperature…

Before you can get started, select the wax that’s appropriate for your purposes. We’re using all-round wax in our example which is suitable for a wide range of uses.

Good to know: each wax has a different processing temperature. It’s usually specified on the packaging or the enclosed instructions. So set your iron to the right temperature and wait for it to be reached. In our case, it’s 130 °C.

For all those who dug up grandma’s old iron, it means about “two dots” or the “silk” setting. As a general rule, the temperature will be much too high if the wax starts to smoke and smell on contact with the iron. Turn it down to a colder setting and wait for the correct temperature to be reached.

Applying the wax…

When the iron has reached the required temperature, hold the ski wax on the iron’s hot sole plate, let it melt and drip it along the length of the running surface of the ski. Depending on the width of the ski, you may wish to drip the wax in a wavy line. With particularly narrow models, it’s enough to drip a relatively straight line from one end to the other.

Make sure you don’t apply too much wax. It’ll just cause problems when you’re trying to work it in evenly and you’re wasting wax unnecessarily.

Once you’ve dripped the wax on the ski from one end to the other, you can put the piece of wax to the side. Now distribute the wax on the ski evenly. Start at one end of the ski and work your way to the other end by slowly moving the iron back and forth. Please note the following:

• depending on the processing temperature of the wax, the skis may get damaged when in excessive contact with the iron. So never leave it to rest in one position for too long. (You wouldn’t do that when ironing your shirts either…)
• For the wax to effectively penetrate into the ski base, it has to have a certain temperature, so always work in areas of 40 to 50 cm. That means the ski base can warm up slowly to absorb the wax efficiently.
• When you’ve distributed the wax evenly in one area, move on to the next area that hasn’t been waxed yet and incorporate the wax there. Repeat this process until you’ve arrived at the other end of the ski.

When you’ve finished, iron over the entire ski base once or twice. Those who want to ensure extra uniformity can place the iron on an appropriate wax cloth which will make the surface even smoother.

After you’ve applied the ski wax to the ski base, it has to soak in, cool and harden. If you were to start with the wax removal straight away, the waxing wouldn’t have any effect because you’re almost completely scraping off the fresh wax again. So place the ski you were working on to one side and continue with the other one. If your ski bases have been subjected to extreme strain, you can even leave them for several hours or over night before continuing your work.

Again, imagine it like skin moisturising cream. If you’ve just applied moisturiser to your hands and then wash them with soap, you won’t get the positive effect of the cream because you didn’t give it enough time to soak into the skin. It’s the same with ski wax.

Removing the wax

The question is constantly being discussed whether Alpine skis or touring skis need the wax removed again. Thoughts like “after the first few turns, the wax comes off anyway” is something we hear quite often. I don’t think that’s true and there are good reasons for that.

First: The skis will perform a lot worse, even if just for a short time, but worse nonetheless. But I’m waxing my skis so they glide smoothly. So it doesn’t make sense to leave half the work undone.

Second: If you don’t remove the wax from the ski base, an unnecessary amount of wax will come off and get into the snow and subsequently nature. Depending on the wax, this isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. So it’s worth removing the wax before using the skis again, for the environment’s sake.

Use a scraper for this. Not much can go wrong when selecting one. A relatively simple scraper made of perspex is sufficient for what we’re trying to achieve. During the removal of the wax, work from the tip of the ski to the end. Place the blade with its edge on the ski base and, applying slight pressure and momentum, push it down to the end in several movements.

If you’re not happy after one go, just repeat the sequence. But brush off the excess wax using the hand brush in between. Many scrapers have a small notch on one side that you can use to free up the ski edge tools. Wax on the ski edge tools doesn’t have an effect anyway and would come off in the snow straight away during skiing. So it’s better to remove it in your workshop first.

Hang on. The thing is called scraper and you’re pushing it? Yep, that’s right. By pushing it, you can apply more pressure on the blade so you don’t have to break your fingers. Pushing the scraper is just easier and more thorough. If you’re doing it diligently, you’ll see how much wax comes off. Brush it off the ski with the hand brush every now and then to make your work easier.

Brushing the ski base

After that, brush the ski base. This restores its structure. A ski base isn’t perfectly smooth but has a certain structure. The reason is simple: you’re not actually skiing on snow but on a thin film of water.

If the ski base was completely smooth, the water would stick to the skis and slow it down significantly. But because of its structure, the ski can glide on the water in a sense, which ensures your fast and controlled progress.

When brushing, you’re also working from the tip of the ski to the end. It’s helpful to apply slight pressure. You’ll also see that more excess wax will come off the ski base again. So just brush this off, too.

There are different ways to do this. Depending on who you ask, brushes with different properties will be recommended. Some people brush over the skis once, others twice with two different brushes etc. etc. I usually just have one go.

If I want my skis to be particularly fast (that’s generally the case with my skating skis), I rub the ski base with a rough nylon cloth afterwards. At the end, just brush away all the wax residue and other bits from the skis, release the brake and your skis are ready for the next adventure.

A little tip at the end

Scrapers become blunt over time. But there are special tools to re-sharpen them. They generally feature a ceramic blade you can use several times to sharpen the scraper again.

But let’s talk about you

Do you wax your skis yourself or do you take them to a ski service? Do you have any tips or tricks that I may not know yet? You can also leave questions. Just be in touch, I look forward to it…

How to: wax skis properly