The Scrapeless Wax

[jbotti]

I have been scaping skis for years. Unfortunatley for me, when I ski with my family I am waxing and scraping a minimum of 3 pairs of skis each night and if I am skiing more than one pair (which is often the case) we are talking about 4-5 pairs of skis to wax and scrape. A few weeeks a go someone showed me how to do a wax that requires no scraping. I have now been doing this pretty regularlly and I can tell you that it works great and there is no way to tell the difference between the performance of the scarpeless waxing versus the full wax and scrape.

Let me also say that if you have the time and don't mind scraping, there may be no need to use this. But for travel, this is a superior option because you will havea little more wax on youir skis to protect them in tranist.

How to do a scrapeless wax:

Fiirst take a hard cold new wax bar and rub in wax all over the ski. Next take a hot iron and place the short side of the rectangular bar on the iron to just warm the wax. Immedaitely starting at the tips rub the same edge of the bar onto the ski near one edge. Repat this agian further down teh ski but with the wax smear on the other edge. Essentially you are making a checkerboard of wax smears (each 2-3 inches long) over the ski from top to bottom. Next start to melt in and distribute the wax over the ski from tip to tail and back to the tips. It takes about 3 round trip passes to fully distribute the wax. You will be using way less wax than nomal but you will still be getting plenty of wax on the ski. When you finish the last pass back up to thentips, take out a paper towell and place it on the ski up at the tip. Put the iron on the paper towel and then slowly using even pressure move the iron and towel down the ski all the way to the tail. You will be melting the wax and the paper towel will be absorbing it. What you will be left with is a ski that has plenty of wax but little enough so that scraping is not necessary. In less than one run, all the remaining wax comes of and you a have a perfectly waxed ski and no scraping. I do scarpe any wax off the edges which takes two swipes.

Clearly this does not replace and hot wax and scrape to clean the skis (which I do when necessary) and for new skis that need several coats with scraping and brushing to condition the ski, this will not rpelace that either. But for everyday use when a ski has been conditioned properly, this is a quicker and very effective way to wax every day. As well, as I mentioned before, it is great for tarvel when you would like to have some more wax on but won't be able to scrape the skis before use at the hotel.

I have had great success with this and for me it is a huge time saver.

 

[Svend]

I will definitely have to try that, as I think I spent what few hours of free time that I had this winter waxing, scraping and brushing my family's six pairs of skis.? A few glasses of wine, some rock-n-roll on the blaster sure helped, but it seemed I was down in the basement for hours every week inhaling fumes and making a waxy mess on the floor.?

Speaking of mess, it seems to me that this method would be totally mess-free, as you don't mention brushing.? Do you still brush after the application?

In my search to find short cuts to make this whole exercise less time consuming, I have contemplated rotary brushes, but have hesitated to go that route for fear of overdoing it and ruining the bases -- a little too much pressure or too slow a pass with a rapidly spinning brass roto brush, and Ooops! there goes my Ptex up in smoke!?

BTW, Swix has a good video of the paper towel method on their Swix School page:? http://www.swixschool.com/web_tysk/index2.html
Click on Alpine/Sport/Glidewax/Ironing

Their "paper towel" is their own product called Fiberlene.? I have looked at this in a shop, and it seems for all the world to be the same as the blue mechanics Shop Towels that you can get in an auto parts store.

Looks like a quick and easy method -- I will try it. Thanks John.

[Gary]

Hey guys....I know I may be thinking old school...but the stuff I was taught and learned over the years was that it wasn't the hot wax melting into the skis...

It was more about the brushing that forced the wax deep into the base.

Is this not correct and is brushing not necessary? 

Gary

[Ron]

this works! i have been doing it for a couple seasons, keep the iron on the cooler side than typical temps, it doesn't need to be too hot. This is similar to corking of course, you can also use http://www.racewax.com/product/RC-2360/Base-Polishing-Cloth-for-Wax-and-Fluoro-Liquids-Powders---RC-2360.html , this is a great polishing cloth.

[Svend]

Good one! Will definitely try it, and seems like a great alternative to scraping and brushing.  That is just way too time consuming.  For one or two pairs, OK.  But a whole family of skis...no thanks.  Less mess and faster too than rotobrushes, it seems.

BTW, Racewax has a whole 25 meter roll of Fiberlene for only $9.  That is way cheaper than the Swix stuff up here in the stores. 

[jbotti]

Gary, I find that there is usually plenty of wax still one the ski after a day of skiing. I brush it before I start the next waxing and it is definitely going into the structure. So far this has been working great and my skis look great as well, with no white on the bases near the edges.

Great price on the fiberlene. Not sure that paper towels don't work just as well.

This is especially good if you are using expensive high flouro wax for racing. This really saves the amount of wax that gets used. With everyday wax it doesn't matter much, but the high flouro stuff is crazy expensive.

[Svend]

Has anyone tried rotobrushes? I am thinking I might get them anyway to use as a cleaning step (brass) and a finishing brush (nylon) to use with the paper towel / Fiberlene method.? Save even more time.? Anyone have any experience or comments?

SVST and others even have double-barreled brushes, so you don't have to swap in the drill all the time:?
http://www.svst.com/categories3.aspx?Category=219d76d6-ed93-4284-9fa6-8fa5cb5253fc

[Gary]

Hey JB......Ok....I see....I do a version of that when I'm away skiing. At home though if it's been 6 times out since my skis have seen wax or the begininng of the ski season....I spend the extra time with the brushing.

It is nice to know however that there are ways to make things easier...

Great post gang and thanks.

g

[LivingProof]

Time to confess again. I simply iron on wax every 2 or 3 days and mostly just let skiing scrape it off during the first runs. Maybe a little light scraping, nothing more>

Maybe it's the rock hard Penna. snow conditions, but, we ski on our edges and glide is not so much an issue (warm spring skiing excepted). Not knocking anyone who strives to keep equipment in great condition, I just think wax is overrated.

Ducking the flames about to be delivered. Gosh, I would love to be able to **** about wax but it's 7 months till it's an issue.

[jim-ratliff]

LP:

You have company.    I heard someone ask Harald how often he waxed his skis. His response was "I ski on the edges, not the base" but really didn't answer the question I guess.  However, Lynn was telling me a second hand story of someone who observed Harald, while riding on the chairlift, taking off one of his skis to do a bit of work on an edge.

I, on the other hand, don't even do my own waxing, so that puts me in a real "gaper" classification.

[Svend]

Perhaps I should be waxing my sidewalls instead?? ?

Seriously, unless they are perpetually turning to the right, or the left, as it were (sometimes I am able to do both in a single day even; amazing, eh?? ), every skier will have to transition from one edge to another.? Meaning that even on rock hard snow the ski will be flat at least for an instant between turns.? Add soft snow to that, when skis on edge are in contact with more than just their edges, but are riding in the snow and are constantly making contact with the bases too.? A crappy wax job will show itself pretty quickly.? Heck, even my kids notice when I haven't done a good job on their skis, and complain about it too, the little urchins.? This is especially noticeable to them on their twin tips, as they spend less time on their edges carving than we grownups do.

Of course waxing matters, and choosing the right temp wax matters as much.? And scraping and brushing matters too, especially on very cold days.? Had a day this winter when I put cold range wax on for 15 below temps, got lazy (or in a hurry, more likely) and didn't scrape and brush it all off, and it was like I'd put molasses on our skis.? Skied the next day -- same temps, same snow conditions -- but went back to my shop the night before and made sure to scrape it ALL off, and brush like crazy, and literally flew down the hill.? Dramatic difference.?

[jbotti]

LP and Jim, Harald is notoriously slow to wax hsi skis, but does when they really need it. The issue with wax is less about on snow performance (unwaxed skis still move pretty well over the snow) and more about proper care of the bases. If you don't wax the skis the bases get white and dried out and then you can get some bending and bowing in them from the lack of lubrication and protection that the wax provides. In Montana I can easily go 5-7 ski days withoiut waxing and the skis will run well on the snow, but I iwll definitely do some damage to the bases. Sometimes a base grind can fix the issues and sometimes on poorly cared for skis the damage is permanent.

IMO, unless the wax is chosen that morning to match the exact temp of the snow, it is impossible to tell if a ski is freshly waxed or not (unless it hasn't been waxed in a while). If you get the temp exactly in tune with the wax, the skis do glide better.

This is my experience in Montana where the snow is dry and excellent. In a different snow environment skis may act differently.

[jim-ratliff]

A week of ski days is sort of my guideline as well (or earlier if the base begins to lighten), but I just pay the $12 and have a local place do them rather than doing them myself. I will pay $2 more if they have a hand hot wax listed in addition to the "normal" hotwax.? I also try to remember to swap skis left to right to even out the wax friction.? For me, the inside two inches of the ski under and around the foot will begin to show signs of wax deprivation first.

[LivingProof]

Any thoughts on the following:
In January, Phil and I were at Elk on a demo day. I demo'd at least 6 pair that day including the Kastle 88's presently coated with storage wax for the summer.

One pair of skis had no glide what-so-ever. I don't want to discuss the specific ski as members here have them in their quiver and they have a very good reputation. I needed to pole anytime on flats and it was a real PITA. It was January and had been in the 20's for a while so I don't think the rep would have waxed them in a product not meant for winter temps. I don't remember ever having to work so hard getting skis to glide. One run and I gave them back to the rep. I told him of the lack of glide and he could not explain it and indicated they had been waxed recently but not that day. He asked other reps if anyone reported unusual glide that day and they said not.

What do you think?

[jim-ratliff]

As the least knowledgeable skier, let me copy some stuff from the web.?See especially number 2.? No matter what the wax, a ski base should have structure or texture.? This is actually what allows the suction created by the ski melting the surface of the snow to be broken.? May not be very noticeable in really cold weather becuase not much water is created by the friction, but can be very noticeable if the snow is already near the melting point of ice.? i think a warm weather wax also helps in this, but your case sounds like a lack of structure, i.e a base grind that was done on a machine that couldn't grind in structure.



1. Your ski bases must be able to absorb wax. If the bases have been overheated in the past with a overheated iron, the top layer of the bases will have been melted over, effectively sealing the base up so no wax can get it. To a lesser extent the same can happen if the bases have been exposed to air for a long time -- the P-Tex oxidizes and dries out.
What fixes sealed or rough bases? Elbow grease. There are many great articles on this subject, one at the Star Wax website and another really good one at The Master Skier. Basically, you use sandpaper to take off a thin layer of P-Tex, once again opening up the pores. Use 80 or 100 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper mounted on a flat sanding block. Run the sandpaper down the ski from tip to tail about 100 times.

2. The bases also need to have a structure or texture on the base. Skis glide more or less due to a tiny amount of melted lubricating water due to the friction of the skis on the snow. But water has a tendency to create suction on perfectly flat, smooth skis, thereby slowing you down or making your skis a lot harder to turn. What you need to do is to roughen the base so it is not perfectly smooth -- breaking up the suction. Kind of like car tire treads channeling water away from the tire.
And that sandpaper you just used in Step One solves two problems -- it will unseal your bases and create a structure. You could also have your skis stone ground (expensive, but the best), or buy a structuring tool or rill bar that actually cut small grooves in your ski bases (Tognar Toolworks has these), but these are more expensive. If you the sandpaper method and live on the west coast you want to use coarser sandpaper because our snow tends to be wetter. The wetter the snow, the coarser the structure.
But using sandpaper creates another problem. Read on.