Mt. Hood Snow Sports

Contrary to popular belief, waxing your new snowboard is not some capitalistic plot to take your money hatched by your local snowboard shop . . . hot waxing is important! If you take the time to do it well, you will notice a tremendous difference in the performance and life span of your board. Waxing improves glide and protects the base from dirt, tree sap and minor damage. So let’s get started!

YOU WILL NEED:

• DaKine Adjustable Tuning Iron (Or old iron from Thrift Shop)
• Plastic Scraper
• All Temp Ski/Snowboard Wax (Warm Wax for the Summer!)
• Green Buff Pad

FIRST, check to make sure there is no damage to the base of the board. As a rule, waxing is always the last step in a series of repairs. If the damage is really bad or you do not know how to do p-tex repair, bring your snowboard to Daddies Board Shop and let their experienced technicians fix it for you.

SECOND, if your base is full of dirt and grime or sticky with tree sap and old beer, then get some Base Cleaner and it get sparkling clean and dry.

THIRD, the waxing! Turn on your Iron to Medium Heat. Grab that Puck of wax and hold it to the bottom of the Iron (vertically over the board base) and apply by using the drip-method. REMEMBER: You’re going to scrape off most of the wax so DO NOT use too much . . . just enough to cover the base when it is all ironed in. You can always add more if you can’t spread it everywhere from your initial drips.

SO now that the drips are applied, start ironing it in like the Karate Kid, “wax on” circles. Just smear the wax around with the iron until the whole base is covered. You will see a dimple pattern as the base pores open up and soak in the wax. Let the base cool now for about 10 minutes.

FOURTH, TIME TO SCRAPE! Grab that cool scraper that you bought at Daddies and get to work. Scrape the wax off the board in one smooth pull from tip to tail. Hold the scraper at an angle so that it will have sufficient bite (Be careful if you bought a metal scraper for p-tex repair. That motion can dig right into your base!). REMEMBER: Always pull towards you when working with a file or scraper. Scrape the board, taking off most of the wax. The wax that you want is already locked into those cooled pores so the surface wax just slows you down.

FIFTH, ALMOST FINISHED! Grab the Green Buff Pad and start buffing, all in one direction. This will take off any remaining wax and gives your base some structure.

YOU’RE DONE! Don’t worry if it looks a little sloppy at first. There is no way you can damage your board other than by leaving the hot iron on it. DO NOT DO THIS!! Hot Waxing takes 15-25 minutes but the more you do it the faster and more efficient you will get.