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

[AlpiNord]

So is it penny wise and dollar stoopid (or the other way around) if you pay thousands and thousands of dollars for ski gear, hours and hours of research, perfect access vehicles, tires, passes, outerwear, make bad life decisions, etc to slide on snow and then go half-assed on keeping where the rubber meets the road anything but ideal by going cheap or simply being lazy?
Some random thoughts:
-conventional wisom used to be that it'd take a minimum of 20 wax cycles to 'season' bases to glide at their optimal level. Once you get that optimal glide, your waxing frequency may be able to be reduced.
-proper base structure is part of the mix. Brushing frees the structure of wax increase the glide the first run onward.
-A clothes iron isn't beveled/rounded around the edges like a wax iron IIRC. You could ease the edges with a file, then stone/diamond. Use an IR thermometer to check iron base temps
-rub-ons or liquid waxes generally are easy on, easy off without adding heat. Ironing after application is best. If no iron is available for mid-day adds, you can try letting the bases face the sun to warm, expand and possibly get absorbed. A roto-cork can create friction heat to help increase durability. Use over a harder base wax.
-err towards harder/colder waxes based on the nightime low (snow temp) vs a warner wax base on air temps for increased durability.
-optimal glide does make for easier and better turns.....for those who actually like to make turns and carve
-run-outs, slogs, traversing & cat tracks really benefit by proper waxing.

[EWG]

Those of us who drip and scrape instead of cranyon and no scrape essentially do so becasue we are not convinced that canyoning on only enough wax that you dont need to scrap results in full wax coverage. If you are going so thin that you dont need to scrape then you are probably not fully filling bases in everywhere.

And you may not care. And thats cool. But thats why we choose to drip. And to each their own.

[AlpiNord]

Those of us who drip and scrape instead of cranyon and no scrape essentially do so becasue we are not convinced that canyoning on only enough wax that you dont need to scrap results in full wax coverage. If you are going so thin that you dont need to scrape then you are probably not fully filling bases in everywhere. And you may not care. And thats cool. But thats why we choose to drip. And to each their own.

A tweener approach is to touch the wax to the iron bottom to coat it, then apply to the base. On harder waxes, especially with sharp edged clothes irons, the drips can pop off the base.
To add to above post, sintered bases are basically a zillion faces/facets within peaks and valleys (not pores). You are trying to coat all of these faces/facets and the more waxings, the more these get the wax adhered to them. Start with a soft base prep wax and build up to harder waxes for good 'saturation & coating'.

[californiagrown]

Hot Take: Being overly concerned about waxing your skis is like being overly concerned about your tires rolling resistance while doing bike park laps.

[coldfeet]

flat take: Waxing your skis is like pumping up your bike tires. I don't have strong opinions about how you do it, or whether you should do it before every ride or just once a week or once every two weeks. But if you don't do it ever, the quality of the ride is gonna suffer.

[PB]

If scrapping is what you want to avoid: touch wax bar to iron as mentioned above, crayon on heavily, iron in, let cool. Then re-iron to liquify residual and immediately wipe off still liquid residual. I just use a paper towel, but knock yerself off with fiberlene if you want. Brush as recommended.

[PB]

If scrapping is what you want to avoid: touch wax bar to iron as mentioned above, crayon on heavily, iron in, let cool. Then re-iron to liquify residual and immediately wipe off still liquid residual. I just use a paper towel, but knock yerself off with fiberlene if you want. Brush as recommended. Paste waxes are even easier.

[SKIP IN7RO]

twice the glide

[Dantheman]

flat take: Waxing your skis is like pumping up your bike tires. I don't have strong opinions about how you do it, or whether you should do it before every ride or just once a week or once every two weeks. But if you don't do it ever, the quality of the ride is gonna suffer.

This is solid.

[Full Trucker]

Cold take: Waxing your skis is like pumping up your bikes tires. If you don’t do it regularly, you’ll inevitably have to do it during your ride/ski and the tools and resources available at that time will be inferior.

[TBS]

Update - used the new Swix t77 iron to put storage wax on four pairs.

Hot take (pun intended) - Easy to use and lays down a thinner coat than the old clothes iron. Uses less wax for same job.
4.5 stars

[XXX-er]

was it worth the money for you is the big question so did you enjoy using it ?

[gregL]

<p>
I personally endorse AlpINords tweener approach . . . once you figure out the timing you waste way less wax than dripping.</p>

[TBS]

[quote xxx-er: was it worth the money for you is the big question so did you enjoy using it ?[/quote]

Yeah, I think it was worth the $$$$, just in less wax applied. And easier to use than the clothes iron.

OTOH, if I start waxing more because it’s fun, then the wax savings go away.

[Marshal Olson]

FWIW - I don't think it's less wax applied per se, but rather you get much better wax penetration into the base when ironing at the correct temp, hence less wax to scrape off the top.

[XXX-er]

If I really want to use less wax the easiest thing is to just not wax but I do want good wax penetration ^^ so I look to use an iron speed that leaves a wet trail of wax following the iron by a few inches is just right

but as i posted before i do not want to burn or bubble a base which I have done with a clothes iron becuz of it having thewrong temp rang poor temp control

I think worth it measn maybe the end loser enjoys using it more

like the tool junkies we have here enjoy using their better tools

[Marshal Olson]

Well... its 91F outside, and I am waxing a bunch of skis every day, so figured it would be a good moment for some proper nerding out.

Of note, the below numbers reference (1) wax with extremely high penetration, (2) bases with extremely high absorption, and (3) these are all brand new skis and havent had wax built up in them already

On average, a single normal-sized (110mm wide, 187cm long) ski takes ~4g of wax to fully saturate the base. Scraping takes off ~1g of wax, so the ski is absorbing ~3g of wax. This contrasts with the crayon method, which absorbs ~1.5g on wax on average and doesn&#39;t really need scraping, just a quick brush.

If anyone wants me to measure something else like this, LMK!

[XXX-er]

IME at least with xc skis where it is really apparent if I don&#39;t wax cuz I will be working harder

a new ski needed a lot more waxing and after an hr the bases were white and needed waxing again so i won&#39;t go out again without waxing

whereas an often waxed ski can go a few days with out waxing and still not show the white

so the more i wax the longer I can go between hot waxing and I usually don&#39;t bother with crayoning

[EWG]

Well... its 91F outside, and I am waxing a bunch of skis every day, so figured it would be a good moment for some proper nerding out. Of note, the below numbers reference (1) wax with extremely high penetration, (2) bases with extremely high absorption, and (3) these are all brand new skis and havent had wax built up in them already On average, a single normal-sized (110mm wide, 187cm long) ski takes ~4g of wax to fully saturate the base. Scraping takes off ~1g of wax, so the ski is absorbing ~3g of wax. This contrasts with the crayon method, which absorbs ~1.5g on wax on average and doesn&#39;t really need scraping, just a quick brush. If anyone wants me to measure something else like this, LMK!

This is pretty interesting info. Thanks.

[Dantheman]

Science! That actually makes a lot of sense for fresh bases. It would be super interesting to repeat with mature bases.

[singlesline]

Science! That actually makes a lot of sense for fresh bases. It would be super interesting to repeat with mature bases.

For science, I'd like to see something like:

1. Take a used ski had at least a few wax cycles and days on snow.
2. Give it a fresh wax and take the measurements.
3. Ski it 1 day, fresh wax + measure
4. Ski it 2 days, fresh wax + measure
5. Ski it 3 days, fresh wax + measure

Would be interesting to see how fast wax is being used and if there's an inflection point where the ski becomes "empty" and stops shedding wax.

[Marshal Olson]

@singlesline - I had a similar thought -- essentially &quot;what is the most optimized frequency for waxing&quot; -- but got lost in the nuance about how to really test it. With the variables of (1) wax (2) base material (3) snow type/conditions would make for a tough test to get useful takeaways from since some waxes do not penetrate, some bases do not absord, and snow conditions really matter too.

I think I am mostly at the following:
(1) If a ski is starting to feel slow, time to wax it
(2) If temps get warm (ie, rain/snow mix or 45F+), add spring wax
(3) If temps get cold (ie daily high less than ~5F air temp), add cold wax
(4) If a ski has seen some hot waxes already, a quick crayon is better than not waxing

[XXX-er]

you are selling these skis and will never see them again I would just wax them and leave lots on the bases

so people can say oh look they have been waxed

[Marshal Olson]

I’m with you, haha.More my thinking is that lots of the ski prep is subjective, so just trying to see what is actually measurable and verifiable for normal skiers

[XXX-er]

well what ever you wax with is not gona be the right wax for where ever those skis get sold any way but at least maybe you thru on some warm red and called er good and customer has a nice warm felling inside

The only wax I can say I REALLY feel is this expensive chunk of tribloc the ski store owner sold me with which i won my class the DH, in the spring at zero on some women&#39;s FIS GS skis I got for 199$ cuz they quit making that size of turn