How To Avoid Wasting Wax On Your Snowboard

For waxing your snowboard, you need to have a good iron. In a pinch, you can use an old iron that you have laying around the house, as long as it doesn't have holes in the bottom. But, if you can afford it, it is best to get a snowboard waxing iron. These irons are calibrated and marked to give you the appropriate heat for the various types of waxes that you need.

Odds are that you will be able to purchase a proper snowboard iron for twenty five dollars or so. If you want to save a bit of money, you can probably find a used one for less. But having a proper iron, specifically made for snowboards, will lessen the chances of you overheating and smoking the wax and possibly ruining the wax on your board.

There are two main ways of applying wax to a snowboard and people have their own preferences. The first way is to hold the wax against the heated iron, letting the wax drip on the base of the board and trying to get an even coverage throughout.

The second way is to take the wax and rub it directly against the board. Then hold the wax to the iron to melt it a bit and rub a second coat of wax on the board. Those who prefer the second way believe that it doesn't waste as much wax and also that there less chance of damaging the base. To find your own preference, try it each way to see which you prefer.

When the board is heated, it becomes more absorptive. This makes it easier for the wax to fill in the tiny pores and crevices within the base of the board.

Now you begin the process of removing the excess wax and getting a smooth surface on the board. Hold your scraper with both and begin to scrape the excess wax from the board. Your strokes should be from back to front.

When your scraping is done, take a hard brush, again scraping from back to front, to smooth the board. And finally, use a soft brush to give it a fine finish.

The last step is polishing your board. To do this you can either use something like high density cork block which works well as a polishing tool. Or you can use something like a Scotch Brite pad.

When choosing a wax scraper, you basically have a choice between metal or plastic. If you have waxed your board before, metal is the obvious choice. It is much easier to scrape wax with metal than with plastic. As a result, your waxing will go much quicker. In addition, metal blades lasts much longer than plastic ones which tend to dull a lot quicker.

For beginners, however, it is probably better to start off with a plastic scraper. You won't damage or gouge your board with a plastic scraper. Whereas, if you are inexperienced, you can easily gouge your board with a metal scraper. Once you become proficient in the waxing process, then you can change over to a metal scraper.

By: Jim Garza

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