Winter Camping

Waxing The Base Of A Snowboard Properly

If you have the pleasure of owning your own snowboard, you’ll want to make sure it gets the best treatment. part of the care responsibilities is waxing the base frequently. The reason you wax the board is not to increase grip like on surfboards, but instead to make the board more slippery and faster on the slopes. The wax actually seeps into the board’s base when applied. When you ride on the snow the wax actually causes a melting effect, so essentially you end up planing on a micro-thin water layer. here’s the best way to achieve a perfectly waxed board

clean off previous wax layer. You need to make sure the board is clean and the base is exposed before you apply new wax. To do this, use a plastic scraper and use long sweeping movements to take off the wax. You may want to use a hair-dryer to soften the wax and base cleaner which you can get from a snowboards store. Don’t be tempted to use a metal tool though as you can scratch the base layer.

Iron the wax on. Take an iron and set the temperature so that it just melts the new wax slowly. Set the iron heat to ‘cotton’ as this is usually the ideal level. Touch the wax against the irons base when you have the optimum heat and drip it around the bottom side of board. Then place the iron directly on the boards and smooth out all the wax so there is a thin coating all over.

Finishing. When the wax has had 30 mins to cool down, you need to finish the base. This means you need to buff the wax with a rag until you get a shine from it. Finally texture the wax and remove any prominent areas by brushing it down with a hard-bristled brush, before buffing it for a final time. Now your ready for a little extreme sports action