How to Hot Wax a Snowboard

Waxing your snowboard provides immediate benefits and is easy to do. With a few tools and an hour anyone can put a fresh coat of wax on their snowboard and slide better than ever.

Benefits of waxing your snowboard

Waxing your snowboard will make the base more resistant to wear and tear from regular use, prolonging the life of your board. Waxing will also make your snowboard slide better which will make riding easier. Easier riding makes for longer time spent on the hill.

Tools to wax your snowboard

• Drop cloth or newspaper to lay out under working surface.
• Good Ventilation
• Base Cleaner- to clean the grime off of your snowboard.
• Iron- Wax specific is preferred, but any iron will work. Make sure that the iron you are going to use is not one that you use on your clothes.
• Wax – Hot Wax specific for skies or snowboards is mandatory, any ole’ wax will not work.
• Scrapper– a medium ski specific scrapper is preferred over a long snowboard scrapper. A medium scrapper will not bend like a longer scrapper will. A piece of Plexiglas with smooth edges will work to scrap off the wax.
• Horse hair or brass brush- for texturing the base.
• Abrasive Pad- for final finish.

Optional Tools that will help

• Work bench to work on is always nice.
• Snowboard vice to hold your snowboard in place.
• Stacked books work in place of a bench.
• Stacked lumber same idea as the books.
• Saw horses again a make due bench.

Preparation
You will have to get your snowboard ready to wax by cleaning the base and edges. You can get base cleaner but most citrus cleaners will work. Use any type of cloth with the cleaner to get rid of any grime on the base. A gummy stone or an abrasive pad will work well to clean the rust off of your edges. This is also a good time to sharpen your edges before applying the wax.

Applying the Wax
Turn the Iron on and let it heat up. A waxing specific iron works best because it will heat up to the proper temperature. If you are using a house hold iron make sure that you are melting the wax and not burning it, the wax should not smoke. Hold the iron point down and press the wax lightly against the iron to drip the wax around the snowboard sparingly (you can always add more later).

Smoothing the Wax
Place the iron flat on the snowboard and melt the wax so it’s smooth. A tip to tail motion is a good rule of thumb; just make sure the wax is fully melted along the base. Don’t let the iron set in one place on the base or it may damage your snowboard.

Scrape the Wax
Let the snowboard and wax cool to the touch. First scrape all the wax off of your snowboards metal edges. Then hold the scrapper on the base at an approximate 45-degree angle and scrape from tip to tail. You may have to scrape your snowboard many times to get all of the wax off. This step may seem strange but when you hot wax your snowboard you are actually putting wax in the pores of the base. Any excess wax on the base will slow you down.
Tip
When waxing take your hand and feel for excess wax on the base, if you feel it there scrape it off. If you have wax build up and the long side of the scrapper won’t work use the short end.

Finishing Texture
If you have a horsehair or brass brush run it from tip to tail of your snowboard in smooth even strokes. Run the brush over your base only a couple of times to add texture. Next take your abrasive pad and run it from tip to tail of your snowboard to finish it off. This abrasive pad will give your hot wax that final touch to make you go fast. If you don’t have a brush or abrasive pad you can use cardboard and rub the base of your snowboard in short quick movements to create friction and finish the base off.