What ski wax do you use?

[ski diva]

For those of you who are do-it-yourself-ers, what wax do you use? My husband and I are starting to get into doing our own waxing, and there's a ton of information out there; so much so that it's making my head spin. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for a wax that's good for the conditions we usually encounter here in Vermont -- which means cold temperatures and hard and fast snow. Swix? Toko? Hertel Hot Sauce? Or something else?

 

[mustski]

I like Toko. When it’s cold, I use blue though most of the time the red is my go to. I have also used their liquid paraffin wax and it works surprisingly well.

 

[MissySki]

I use Hertel Hot Sauce, have for years and feel it's a great all around wax in New England. Always good when I’ve brought my skis West too. The big block lasts a long time, so I have always felt it’s a great value. The only time I change or add to that is in the spring when it’s very warm.

 

[3beeches]

Newbie so haven't thought much about wax. How often do you wax? Are there any recommended videos to show the process?

 

[MissySki]

It really varies based on where and what you ski. Someone skiing on rough manmade snow is going to usually need to wax way more often than those on softer snow where it doesn’t rip all of your wax off. With all of the very rough early season snow and mixed in pebbles in Maine right now, I’ve done about once every 4 ski days.. could probably have used it sooner too but I’m a tad lazy on it.. You can tell when your bases start to look dry and whitish, especially around the edges where you probably spend most of your time.

 

[SarahXC]

Back in my Nordic racing days I used Rex, Toko, and Swix. My favorite for the whole family recreational skiing is Purl—big blocks are affordable, it is biodegradable to be easier on water ecosystems and is available in a wide range of temperatures.

 

[Jilly]

This is going to happen much later, but I have a week planned in February and one of the house mates is a rep for Sidecut. We're tuning skis one night. I'm planning a video for us, with his permission. I know there is a recording for the WIS committee of the CSIA they did, but I can't find it. Stay tuned!!

 

[MissySki]

I’m curious how many brushes people here use when waxing skis. I watched a Deb Armstrong video recently where she had one of her race kid students do a tutorial on edge care and waxing. He used all sorts of brushes when waxing his race skis. I only usually use one after scraping, so it got me thinking that perhaps I want another brush or two. I went to Sporthoma last weekend, and decided to ask them about it since they sell a lot of brushes and wax/tuning equipment. Well, the guy who I was speaking to is one of the ski tuners there, and he all but talked me out of buying additional brushes. He asked what type of skis I was tuning, and basically said unless they are race skis I really don’t need to go crazy with brushing. That when you race you want as much wax out of the base structure right off the bat as possible because you are trying to go fast in gates etc. But with any all mountain skis where it isn’t important to immediately come out of the gate fast, it’s really not worth the effort to go too crazy because any residual little bits of wax will come off quickly once you start skiing and won’t be noticeable. It made sense, but I guess I was curious what others do here and their thought on it.

 

[SarahXC]

I agree, unless you are racing no need to go overly crazy with the brushes you’ll just be a tiny bit slower for a few runs. I have a metal and a nylon that get me by for most of the time. DH bought me a rotobrush 3 pack as a gift—rotobrushes are brushes that go on an electric drill. Out of it I mainly use the nylon, I think there’s also a metal and a horsehair. Unless doing a lot of pairs (for the whole family at once) I usually just make a couple passes with the manual brush to smooth out anywhere I got lazy with the scraper.

 

[MissySki]

I agree, unless you are racing no need to go overly crazy with the brushes you’ll just be a tiny bit slower for a few runs. I have a metal and a nylon that get me by for most of the time. DH bought me a rotobrush 3 pack as a gift—rotobrushes are brushes that go on an electric drill. Out of it I mainly use the nylon, I think there’s also a metal and a horsehair. Unless doing a lot of pairs (for the whole family at once) I usually just make a couple passes with the manual brush to smooth out anywhere I got lazy with the scraper.

Thanks for confirming!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I use Swix waxes mainly because they are easy to come by, so I have no idea how they compare to others.

I’m curious how many brushes people here use when waxing skis.

I use 2 brushes--a bronze brush and then I just finish up with a nylon brush.

 

[kmb5662]

I just use Swix universal temp however I've been curious to try Nanox which doesn't require time to cool and set before scraping. I still have enough wax yet but once I start to run low I'll likely pick up some to try. That being said, unless you're racing I don't really think the brand of wax really matters too much and a universal temp wax is usually good for the majority of days except for when it's super warm and sticky or sub zero temps.

 

[contesstant]

IIRC the horse hair brush helps remove static as a finishing brush.
We use Swix all temp. It just works. I guess my husband might know a thing or two. I've used Hertel as well.

 

[tinymoose]

I asked mr. tinymoose and he mostly uses Swix Universal Temp. Things are so variable here in PA, as I'm sure you remember. It can either be an ice rink or spring skiing. lol

 

[Scribble]

I've been using Purl. Most of the time, the purple (universal) or black with graphite. Sometimes the blue when it's going to be very cold. Works well, I crayon it on in layers and don't need to do a lot of scraping.

 

[Iwannaski]

I’ve used MountainFlow eco was (which is supposed to be runoff safe) since we ski near a creek that runs to a river. I actually really like it. I’ve also used a less expensive wax that is easier to scrape, but it’s harder to clean up (lower melt temp, I think)

 

[SkiGAP]

Hertel Hot Sauce here also. scraper, then stiff brush, then soft brush

 

[elemmac]

I’ve used all sorts of different waxes…as long as it’s the right temperature for what I’m skiing, I really can’t notice the difference in brands. I mostly use an all-temp/universal wax, except for the spring, or if we get a REALLY cold spurt.

Re: Brushes. I used to use a metal brush, then nylon brush, and finish it off with a Brillo pad. More recently, I’ve been using a hybrid metal/nylon brush, and calling it good.

 

[MrsPlow]

We use maplus wax - yellow unless it's very cold, in which case red. Brass brush to prepare the bases, scraper then a soft nylon brush. Granted we ski in interior BC and mostly off the groomers, so it's more of a slide assistant/base protector that a performance thing.

 

[leia1979]

I bought a tuning kit from racewax.com. I've only used it once so far, but my skis seemed fine to me. It came with Swix universal wax.