Waxing irons - dedicated wax iron or just get something from thrift store?

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Searched but didn&#39;t see anything from last ten years.</p>
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My 30yo clothes iron from the thrift store just died about 1/3 of the way thru applying storage wax to the quiver. &nbsp;Trying to decide whether to spend the money on a purpose built iron or just get another one from the thrift store.</p>
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I&#39;m not a waxing fanatic - maybe every 30 days of use during cold times, once a week during corn season. &nbsp;I don&#39;t tune my own skis - neighbor has a Wintersteiger in his garage and gives me a deal.</p>
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So what are the pros and cons of Swix/Toko/etc. irons vs something from the thrift store?</p>
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TIA</p>

For the life of me, i just do not understand how a $60 Swix iron will outperform a $10 thriftstore clothes iron for garage waxing in any meaningful way. Heat the iron up so that it melts the wax, and the wax doesnt smoke. spread/iron in the wax. If you can cook food without burning it, you can wax your skis with a clothes iron. I have the iron cranked to cotton/linen and if it starts getting too hot i just move the iron faster or take the iron off the ski/wax... the concept is the same as just taking the pan off the fucking burner if it gets too hot. Its not rocket science... its the same concept as not letting pasta boil over. Maybe im waxing wrong because the dripping/spreading part of the wax takes like 60-90 seconds for me. how bad can your really fuck and burn something in that time period?

IMO, save $50 and the planet, and buy an iron from the thrift store. Spend the saved $50 on some thriftstore art finds if its burning a hole in your pocket.

I had the 5$ iron from the 2nd hand store, it even came with some wax on it, IME what happens is the temp goes up and down so fiddle constantly with the dial it was either smoking hot or it was cold so maybe you wreck a base which was more likely when i was waxin delicate XC skis?


the con is the cost of course the pro is that it just works WAY better so i enjoy using its like using a good tool every time i plug it in cuz its always very stable


I got tired of thrift store irons so i got the Toko T-12 digital wax iron when i power it on the digital readout tells me room temp and then it reads 270 pretty quick


or I can max it out to 320 for hot gluing climbing skins

I got a cheap toko iron this year after using the thrift store iron for years. I would say the most noticable difference has been how much smoother it distributes wax across the ski. The temp control is also a lot easier to manage since its labeled for an actual temp instead of some random materials, which makes me feel a little better when using the higher cost waxes that i dont want to waste. Maybe wax companies should put that info on the instructions too, "melt wax at 140deg/cotton"

Of note, very few irons designed for clothes go low enough in their settings for performance waxes. Spring waxes are generally around 110C and mid-temp waxes are around 130C

According to Wiki:
Acrylic/Lyrcra/Spandex ~135C
Wool/Poly/Silk ~148C
Rayon ~190C
Cotton ~204C
Linen ~230C

Of course, it depends on if you care or not! But melting at the right temp is what you get with a ski-specific iron.

yeah i forgot about the temp range ^^ thing bubbling an XC base was pretty easy cuz no edges and there were always dead clothes irons lying around in the XC wax hut basement


I think i paid about 120 - 130 for T-12 which I do not really regret paying for what is essentially the best tool



that iron is now the t-14 and it over 200

I lust after the Digi waxers! FWIW have great results with the $50-60 analog SVST/Swix/Toko ones no problem and have waxed 1000s of skis with my current SVST iron

Irons can get nicer as you go up, but the biggest bang for the buck is the price jump between a clothes iron and a base level analogue ski iron. Totally worth the cash - and it&#39;s hardly any cash.

$38 on amazon. It&#39;s worth the $28 over thrift store.
https://www.amazon.com/XCMAN-Snowboa...s%2C143&sr=8-7

After many years of using old clothes irons I broke down and got a basic Swix iron. Much nicer to set a temp and not have to guess if I’ll end up smoking the wax as I get the dial adjusted on the clothes iron. Biggest improvement is a nice beefy solid metal base. Last clothes iron I was using, what ever the non stick coating on the bottom was started failing after years of waxing and stated leaving flakes in my freshly waxed skis.

amazon has a bunch of options (all likely just the same re-branded iron)

having a dial to tune heat and a smooth base is worth the marginal expense over a thrift store iron

Use what Marshall uses because his tune on my skis was the best of my life. Oh— you should probably use whatever wax he recommends, too.

There’s good taco shops near the thrift store. Plus you get to check if they have any old Klipsch bookshelf’s for a garage stereo upgrade…


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I had one of the Amazon specials for years and then just decided to get one of the toko ones with the digital display this year. Wow what an upgrade, it really holds the temp instead of surfing up and down and it's way easier to dial in for harder waxes. Probably cut my waxing time in half.

It's probably overkill but sure is nice. If anyone wants my old analog iron I'd be happy to send it for shipping.

If you can find a vintage iron with no steam holes and a heavy metal base, that’s pretty killer.

But most irons you see at the thrift store are cheapo shit with Teflon coating and thin metal base that won’t hold temp. Dedicated wax iron is definitely better than those.

Yeah i heard that ^^ tip and my 5$ thrift store unit was a very old non-steam AND the temp range was still not right and it still temp surfed


Yeah paying 200 for a Toko T14 seems excessive but its like the best tool for the job you can buy


Check out the price of tools some of the TGR resident tool junkies buy

Best bang for the buck right now is probably the Swix T77, not often you see a thick base on an entry level iron. Just bought one for my son: https://www.evo.com/tools/swix-t77-1...-t77-110v-.jpg

IME IMO you wana go for a real wax iron not necesarily digital just cuz of the temp range and temp surfing thing especialy if you are doing a lot of XC skis


I never fubared an alpine cuz the P-tex is pretty thick but I did wank up a classic xc ski by slightly bubbling the ptex right behind the wax pocket

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

...dripping...

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Unless it's super hard wax for really cold temps, don't drip, just crayon it on then iron. Don't even need to scrape, zero mess. I was skeptical when I read about doing this but it works. Puts the perfect amount of wax on the ski and nothing else.

Q&DT all day

I recently bought some wax online and their video instructions said to heat the wax quickly on the iron, crayon it on, then iron. They claim you’ll use less wax that way

Thanks for all the input
Great point Marshall about the temps of clothes irons
Just pulled the trigger on the Swix iron that GregL posted. Better price than Amazon. Now I can put storage wax on the remaining 3.5 pairs.

And yeah, warming and crayoning the wax onto the base is the way. Much less effort - just iron in and rotobrush - and way less wax used

Thanks again

The real ski wax irons have a much thicker base than any clothes iron, and that really helps them maintain a steady temp.

I've been using a simple Toko iron for years. I wouldn't go back to a clothes iron.

On the flip side, an old clothes iron is more likely to be flat.

I had a ski wax iron that was intentionally concave to spread the molten wax towards the center or something. Sucked. Just wasted wax leaving thick spots so I sanded it down to flat.

Then I got a toko iron and while I think the base is supposed to be flat…it wasn’t really and you could feel it going metal on metal on the edges sometimes. Out comes the sand paper again.

When I hot glue skins with goldlabel I max the iron to 320F and it maintains the temp really well of course some people just smear a little glue and don't use any heat

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Originally Posted by singlesline

and while I think the base is supposed to be flat…it wasn’t really and you could feel it going metal on metal on the edges sometimes. Out comes the sand paper again.

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Nails on chalkboard = iron on edges. Ergghhhh

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4 out of 5 dentists recommend Star or Holmenkol for the nice cork handle

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Originally Posted by gregL

Best bang for the buck right now is probably the Swix T77, not often you see a thick base on an entry level iron. Just bought one for my son: https://www.evo.com/tools/swix-t77-1...-t77-110v-.jpg

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That is a sweet deal on a simple iron.
It never ceases to amaze me how committed some mags are to their ski program, yet consistently try to do everything as cheaply as possible.
Spend the money on a decent iron, buy some quality wax and don&#39;t be afraid to put on too much. You can afford a little more wax loss, jfc. I&#39;m sure you&#39;ve got a few minutes to scrape.

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Originally Posted by half-fast

I recently bought some wax online and their video instructions said to heat the wax quickly on the iron, crayon it on, then iron. They claim you&rsquo;ll use less wax that way

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Interesting that the wax company suggests an approach that insures that you use less product.

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Originally Posted by singlesline

On the flip side, an old clothes iron is more likely to be flat. I had a ski wax iron that was intentionally concave to spread the molten wax towards the center or something. Sucked. Just wasted wax leaving thick spots so I sanded it down to flat. Then I got a toko iron and while I think the base is supposed to be flat&hellip;it wasn&rsquo;t really and you could feel it going metal on metal on the edges sometimes. Out comes the sand paper again.

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I too have had an iron or two that didn&#39;t seem flat. Never heard of a concave base but I could see that as a thing. Any chance your bases were just edge high? yeah, the sound of a burr under your iron is spine crunching. A good tuner rarely encounters this.

Sez guy who places the tips to the right on the bench, laps

anybody try to re-use wax scrapings ? I assume we wana hot wax ?

I used the old GE clothes iron from my grandparents basement for years starting out. It was before the steam holes and solid plates. Then I got a second clothes iron in a Ebay purchase for a second Sunbeam backup (I purchased the ebay auction mostly for all the other ski wax stuff that came with the deal)... When they both failed, I could only find the steam irons with holes- maybe not a big deal for others- either have the wax fill in the openings or try some filling in with JB Weld or something. The figuring the smoking point or if a cotton or wool setting was needed was a bit of an issue and there would be wider swings depending on if using a warmer wax or colder...I picked up a slightly used Swix iron- either Ebay or maybe even someone on here and used that. Now that I am not racing, I got lazy and was using more of the liquid wax the last year....

I haven’t waxed my skis in seven years. Rawdogging the base all conditions

That is a sweet deal on a simple iron.
It never ceases to amaze me how committed some mags are to their ski program, yet consistently try to do everything as cheaply as possible.
Spend the money on a decent iron, buy some quality wax and don&#39;t be afraid to put on too much. You can afford a little more wax loss, jfc.

This. 1000 times this.

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

Unless it&#39;s super hard wax for really cold temps, don&#39;t drip, just crayon it on then iron. Don&#39;t even need to scrape, zero mess. I was skeptical when I read about doing this but it works. Puts the perfect amount of wax on the ski and nothing else.

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Yep, agreed thats the way to do it. I only do a &quot;real&quot; waxing once every couple years for a ski if im feeling real motivated, its ashy as hell, and I have some time to kill. Otherwise, rub the wax directly on, then crank the thriftstore iron and rub it around in little circles to melt the wax in. do that up, and then down the skis, give it a halfassed scrape when the wax is still a little soft, make sure theres no wax on the edges and its good enough. The first lap on snow will scrape any excess off. My bench is in an awkward spot so its quite nice having next to zero shavings after my waxing.

To each their own for sure, but ive never had an issue with smoking/burning wax and i am certainly not some tuning savant.

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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

That is a sweet deal on a simple iron. It never ceases to amaze me how committed some mags are to their ski program, yet consistently try to do everything as cheaply as possible.

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Eh, spend the money where you see it matters most. Personally, for where i ski and how i ski, i just dont see much benefit in a well tuned/waxed base. When i travel otherplaces that actaully have groomers and flatter areas/runouts i could see the benefit of a fast, well taken care-of base. But, at my home mountain (alpental) i am very rarely in a position where its the glide of the ski that is slowing my down... its pretty much always my cajones or my leg muscles that are the limiting factor.
I would 1000x rather have a dialed edge tuning/sharpening setup before i dropped money to upgrade my thriftstore clothes iron to a $100+ ski waxing iron. YMMV.

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Originally Posted by waxman

That is a sweet deal on a simple iron.
It never ceases to amaze me how committed some mags are to their ski program, yet consistently try to do everything as cheaply as possible.
Spend the money on a decent iron, buy some quality wax and don't be afraid to put on too much. You can afford a little more wax loss, jfc.

This. 1000 times this.

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Meh… there’s declining benefit doing anything more than just slathering universal on once a year…

If you’re skiing for a stopwatch, skiing in extreme temps, or skiing one pair an extreme amount… sure… otherwise it’s hobby maintenance.


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I have a swix iron that I bought used in 2008. Its thermostat works much better compared to the cheaper irons that I used before.

However, I generally only wax for very wet snow. Being a California skier, I rarely ski on very cold snow. For the past 3-ish years, I’ve been mostly following the prescription from the skivisions guy: work out hardened digs on the edges, light touch-up/refresh of base structure and flattening, polish/sharpen edges. It usually takes a few minutes per ski and is much faster than waxing. I’ve only found a big benefit with waxing (in addition to the base structure/edge work) when in rain or wet spring snow (yellow wax).

I used to wax the night before every alpine sesh but I am not so anal anymore my money guy never ever waxed cuz with the going downhill he was always faster than all of us


At the xc area skiing people often waxed at the beginning of every sesh cuz no downhills


I wanted wax for the local citezen DH so i asked buddy at the LBS who had been in every race for > 30yrs what wax and sold me a little chunk of triblock for 70 $ I was a little skeptical but on the other hand i won my class and went the fastest I ever went in that event, most of the chunk is leftover and so i still use it for cruising the hill at just below zero and it sure makes the redsters fast and fun so there is somthing to be said for FAST well waxed skis

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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

I too have had an iron or two that didn&#39;t seem flat. Never heard of a concave base but I could see that as a thing. Any chance your bases were just edge high? yeah, the sound of a burr under your iron is spine crunching. A good tuner rarely encounters this.

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I'm sure it was catching burrs/bad spots on the edge, but the iron base was definitely not entirely flat--a few passes on a sheet of sandpaper confirms that quickly.


The concave iron was a Wintersteiger--in this listing: https://shop.sportsbasement.com/prod...eiger-wax-iron

they describe it as "Unique curved plate to "cup" wax as you iron and prevent wax loss."
Maybe it prevents wax from dripping off the edges of the ski, but I'd rather lose a couple drips of wax than have the wax be twice as thick on the middle of the ski...

And because of course there is, here is a a SkiTalk thread about "tuning" your wax irons that came up when I was searching for a link to the concave Wintersteiger: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/tune...ng-irons.6493/

If your hill has flats then wax is key and Squaw is pretty flat in many sections. Rubezahl at TSV comes to mind also. The Village is fall line to the lot. My bc skis are always waxed for the same reason.

I just use a regular old iron. If and when it dies I will buy a wax specific iron, but it's still going 20+ yrs.

I tune my skis a lot by most of your standards. Becuase I ski the village daily averaging about 15-30k per. The comments about where, how and when you ski, is spot on methinks. For sure many places dont need much, or often.

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Originally Posted by mcski

I haven&rsquo;t waxed my skis in seven years. Rawdogging the base all conditions

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Contrarily, I get a kick out of this...and it always amazes me how slick some dry-as-a-bone skis are.

[ QUOTE=californiagrown;7222587]Eh, spend the money where you see it matters most. Personally, for where i ski and how i ski, i just dont see much benefit in a well tuned/waxed base. When i travel otherplaces that actaully have groomers and flatter areas/runouts i could see the benefit of a fast, well taken care-of base. But, at my home mountain (alpental) i am very rarely in a position where its the glide of the ski that is slowing my down... its pretty much always my cajones or my leg muscles that are the limiting factor. I would 1000x rather have a dialed edge tuning/sharpening setup before i dropped money to upgrade my thriftstore clothes iron to a $100+ ski waxing iron. YMMV.[/QUOTE]

$55 is not $100+. And point taken regarding where, etc. ////Slippery skis lessen the workload on your legs. Dragging skis make it a job, for obvious reasons.

Id think at Alpy, storms lean towards wetter snow, dont your skis get sticky or glopped up sometimes?

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Originally Posted by nickwm21

Meh&hellip; there&rsquo;s declining benefit doing anything more than just slathering universal on once a year&hellip; If you&rsquo;re skiing for a stopwatch, skiing in extreme temps, or skiing one pair an extreme amount&hellip; sure&hellip; otherwise it&rsquo;s hobby maintenance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Interesting take, hobby maintenance...I get serious temp swings at the vill, universal just doesnt cut it and def not once a year.
I gots many skis but generally ski 2 pair, DDs and a wider storm ski. The dailies get fresh wax about every 4-5 ski days.

If Im smoking the ganjalas while tuning, I guess its hobby level then. So yeah, I&#39;m a chronic hobby tuner fosho.

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Originally Posted by singlesline

I&#39;m sure it was catching burrs/bad spots on the edge, but the iron base was definitely not entirely flat--a few passes on a sheet of sandpaper confirms that quickly. The concave iron was a Wintersteiger--in this listing: https://shop.sportsbasement.com/prod...eiger-wax-iron they describe it as &quot;Unique curved plate to &quot;cup&quot; wax as you iron and prevent wax loss.&quot; Maybe it prevents wax from dripping off the edges of the ski, but I&#39;d rather lose a couple drips of wax than have the wax be twice as thick on the middle of the ski... And because of course there is, here is a a SkiTalk thread about &quot;tuning&quot; your wax irons that came up when I was searching for a link to the concave Wintersteiger: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/tune...ng-irons.6493/

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Ok, this is as rich as it gets.

Last year I kinda went off in the volkl thread about unflat fresh boards. Turns out I had just bought that exact iron and, without a true bar to hand, I assumed it was the skis being edge high.
Eventually pulled out the old Demon mini-iron and realized it was that other iron and way less so the bases.

Got.Damn.It.

I still have it if anyone wants it. Tune it per whatevs and go.

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Originally Posted by jackstraw

If your hill has flats then wax is key and Squaw is pretty flat in many sections. Rubezahl at TSV comes to mind also. The Village is fall line to the lot. My bc skis are always waxed for the same reason. I just use a regular old iron. If and when it dies I will buy a wax specific iron, but it&#39;s still going 20+ yrs.

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Theres the key, if it works and aint jankin you up, then thats the one for youts.

Honest to God, man, even at the vill, ya cant be slow, even on a cattrack. They took out the Z below Gannett and now its a veritable racetrack to Thunder. Soon, someones gonna miss the turn and sky offa that thing cuz its so fast now.