A proper wax

So - you've been wondering how to give your board a proper wax. Look no further. Here are the steps necessary for that perfect wax.

1. Clean

First off you should clean your board nicely with some rubbing alcohol or windex. The last thing you want to do is trap any dirt in the hot wax.

2. Drip

Lay down some newspaper to catch dripping wax, or go to your friends garage so you can just sweep out all of the extra wax into his front yard - your choice. Then put your board base-up on some saw horses. Plug in your iron and set it to a medium heat. Make sure that the iron is not so hot that the wax starts to burn and smoke. If it is burning your wax, imagine what it could do to your snowboard. Hold the iron perpendicular to your snowboard with the pointed side down. If you hold the pointed side up you will find a good amount of wax accumulates at the bottom of the iron (wasted wax and time)
Press the wax bar against the hot iron and hold it there. As the wax drips, move the iron up and down the base of your board until you have 3 or 4 stripes of dripped wax a couple of inches apart. Always start out using less wax then you think you will use. You should be able to get about 3 layers per 1"x1"x3" bar of wax. Once you have done this, set the
wax aside - be careful not to set it anywhere dirty. The last thing you want is wax that has junk clinging to it.

3. Iron

Now iron in all that wax until the base of your board is fully covered. Keep the iron moving; leaving it in one area for too long can damage the snowboard. Make sure that you pay special attention to the edges - you don't want to neglect wax the entire board. This is something that some people try to blaze through. You need to take your time so that the entire base up to the edges has a nice layer of hot wax. You will also need to pay special attention to directly under your bindings. The screws and slots that affix your bindings to your board will heat up at a different rate then the rest of your board. You should make sure that all of the wax is melted evenly before moving to a different spot. If it is not, the wax will not bind properly.


4. Scrape

This is the fun part. Depending on how many coats of wax you would like to apply, you should turn your iron off, or set it to the side. You will need to wait 15 to 20 minutes for the wax to set and cool. Don't try to rush this, or you will just end up ruining the wax that you just layed down. This is a good time to meditate and recharge - for the scraping
will take some serious patience and time to do right. Now grab the scraper and scrape off any excess wax in a nose to tail motion. You should scrape away until hardly any wax comes away from the board. Feel the base to check for any high spots. You want your base to be as level as possible to avoid any extra friction.


5. Buff

After scraping, rub the base with a scotchbrite pad in a nose to tail motion just like you did with the scraper to take off the last of the wax and give your board a finishing touch. Don't rush this. You are trying to create as smooth and even of a surface as possible. If you have taken your time, when you look at the base of the board you should barely be
able to tell that there is anything on it. The wax is translucent, and with no uneven marks or scratches, you should have a hard time seeing it. Now, grab your buddies and hit the steeps.