Which wax on my Ski or Snowboard?

Article content “Which wax on my Ski or Snowboard”

• icing
• snow condition
• temperature
• hydrocarbon
• molybdenum
• fluorine
• glide or kick wax
• powder wax
• liquid or rub-on wax
• and now?

You can probably remember that one time when you were at the top of the slopes ready to start skiing or snowboarding, but you barely got moving. Chances are this had nothing to do with your style, rather the wax at the bottom of your board or in some cases icing.

icing

Often overlooked is water, which can freeze and form a kind of rough sandpaper on snow. This phenomenon occurs because your Snowboard has been in the heated ski storage room overnight and is therefore at room temperature (20~23°C).

When you go on the slopes and place your Ski flat on a fresh layer of snow, a very thin layer melts. Melted snow is of course more than 90% water, and it is only normal for it to freeze due to the difference in ambient temperature.

You already know the result: your sliding ability is greatly reduced due to the rough shape. Our tip? Do not immediately jump onto the slats, but allow your gear to warm up to temperature while standing upright.

Snow condition

Snow is not universal. People have expanded here research to done. In the wax industry we often classify snow in the category of “wet or “dry”, and as you would suspect, there is wax for both variants. As a recreational skier, however, you should not worry about this as it depends on the moment; We rarely see someone on holiday waxing their Snowboard or Ski in the morning to go just that little bit faster. However, in a race... the maintenance man will do a thorough analysis before the race starts.

On the one hand, one will look at the type of snow, but on the other hand also at the temperature of snow and finally also at the air temperature.

Tip from Wax & Board!
Artificial snow in the indoor hall is hard and therefore aggressive for your equipment. If you ski indoors regularly, it is worth asking about indoor wax. Unfortunately, this is a more expensive product, but it is more than worth the investment to protect the base of your Ski or Snowboard, so that it remains in good condition for that trip to the mountains!

Temperature

As indicated above, you must distinguish between snow and ambient temperature (the air) when it comes to temperature. The pros among us use two thermometers, and not only that: the amount of sun, shade and wind is also taken into account to select the correct temperature range.

However, most wax that you can get commercially only has 1 temperature indication. For an amateur it is usually not that important and it is easier to talk about just 1 temperature that we all recognize: the ambient temperature!

There are four categories for this standard wax: warm, cold, medium & universal. To make a clear distinction, a color additive is added, which is unfortunately proprietary. These colors are often yellow, red, blue and white. Thanks to that color code, you don't always have to put your wax back in its original packaging.

In almost every Ski and Snowboard workshop, universal wax will be applied as part of standard maintenance. This has a very wide temperature range; However, it is not really good at anything except to avoid doubt. Do you know today in Belgium what the weather will be like during your ski trip in 3 weeks?

Tip from Wax & Board!
we have wax in stock for every condition. Are you going to shiver in the ice-cold “Little Tibet”, or do you want to board at the end of the season? Then we will be happy to apply the right wax for you! Of course we also have universal wax in stock.

Hydrocarbon

Wax always consists of Hydrocarbons; paraffin, microcrystalline, or synthetic products. Often it concerns these 3 products that are crammed together into 1 blend by the manufacturer with their own secret mixing distribution. A brief overview of what is useful for what;

• You will recognize paraffin from candles, it is super soft and provides minimal friction on snow.
• Microcrystalline is more durable than paraffin and will therefore lose its function less quickly.
• Synthetic products are designed to create strong and durable wax, but often provide more friction than, for example, paraffin.

Molybdenum

Molybdenum is a nice Scrabble word, and just like graphite or fluorine, it is an addition to the base Hydrocarbon wax. Molybdenum and graphite have an almost similar function. Minimize electrostatic energy that is created in cold, dry snow. In addition, they are useful for repelling dirt that is hidden in warm snow by, for example, melt water.

Molybdenum was mainly created as an additive to generate higher speeds, and natural graphite is applied to your Ski or Snowboard that has a black base and can therefore discharge faster and therefore slide better.

Tip from Wax & Board!
After waxing 3 to 4 times with “normal” wax, the black graphite effect of your Ski and Snowboard has completely disappeared. If the underside of your material is pitch black, you can be sure that you will have to apply graphite regularly. This wax is more expensive but worth the money. Would you prefer to apply this yourself? Don't forget to wear a mouth mask as the natural graphite particles are harmful to your respiratory tract!

Fluorine

No, spreading toothpaste on your Snowboard in the absence of liquid wax is a myth. Toothpaste has a coarse structure and that is not what you need.

Fluorine is a water-repellent product. This is useful because the snow just under your ski melts due to friction while skiing. This water layer must be drained, which is possible due to the structure of your base and of course also the layer of wax in the pores of this base. Because Fluorine is water-repellent, this helps to drain water even better. This product is usually already incorporated in a block of wax, but it can also be applied in powder form. However, there are 2 disadvantages to Fluorine; too much is really bad in this case. More Fluorine will make you ski slower and therefore chemical, or Hot Scrape, cleaning is needed frequently to keep the Fluorine level in proportion. The second point is up for debate; Fluorine is not good for the environment even though it is a natural product. There are two camps in this discussion, but the fact remains that Fluorine does not occur naturally on fresh snow. We are not yet sure what impact this will have on the subsurface and therefore on the drinking water.

Glide or Kick Wax

As a skier or snowboarder, the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to maintenance is applying Kick wax. This type of wax is specifically made for the Nordic or Cross-Country skier and is also called Grip wax. As you can already guess, this type of wax has the sole purpose of creating grip. This is necessary to be able to walk on steep, flat and slippery routes. In this case, the Ski is partly provided with Glide wax and partly with Kick wax, where the Kick wax only makes contact with the snow when all your weight is on the camber profile. To apply Kick wax, use special brushes such as cork and fleece.

Powder wax

We rarely see this type of wax in use here in Belgium, but you have probably walked past the powder wax aisle and thought “my god it's expensive!”. This type of wax is almost only used during races because it allows you to better determine the dose of fluorine, for example. Powder wax is also available for extremely cold temperatures, which allows you to dose better, for example by only providing the edges with specific wax.

Liquid or Rub-on-Wax

If we are very honest, liquid wax is the purest wax available. It is quick and easy to apply, does not contain any extra chemical mess - to achieve a solid shape like blocks of wax - and it is the most ecological solution on the market. However, for every advantage there is a disadvantage.

You lose liquid wax so quickly that it is only useful as an interim solution on holiday. Liquid wax is therefore not a substitute for normal maintenance. You often buy this product in a tube that also contains a sponge. With this sponge you can spread the product on your Ski or Snowboard base just before you go on the slopes.

As an alternative, there is also a firmer variant, which can be somewhat compared to butter. Spread this solid Rub-on-Wax over your entire surface and scrape it off with a scraper, then rub it clean with a cloth.

Tip from Wax & Board!
one of the two products actually belongs to your “winter travel essentials kit”. From day 2 or 3, apply this product before you go on the slopes, this way you prevent dehydration and you are assured of good gliding! After the holiday you can bring your Ski or Snowboard in for normal maintenance without any worries.

And now?

As you can notice, the answer to the question “Which wax on my Ski or Snowboard?” not so easy to answer. There are so many different options, and we have listed the most important ones for you here. At Wax & Board we advise all our customers personally, and we are assured that our Hot Wax technique is superior to what the market has to offer.

We would like to give you the following tips:

• Have your ski or snowboard serviced at the end of the season to prevent dehydration during the summer months.
• Not a Racer, or specific temperature requirements? Then use universal wax!
• Racing, skiing in end-of-season snow, or snowboarding in ice-cold temperatures? Ask about our specific wax!
• Do you have a black deposit? Have your Ski or Snowboard regularly charged with black graphite wax!
• Think of nature, and consider using ecological ones wax!