Are you ready to wax your skis yourself? Make sure you have the right materials on hand:
If you're waxing your (touring) skis yourself, it's essential to do so in a well-ventilated space. Protect your floor with a mat or tarp for when you spill wax. Lay your skis down stable, steady and level with the bottom facing up. You can use a stand or holder for this, but something else works as long as the skis are stable and secure. Also, make sure the binding stoppers are folded down so they won't get in the way. You can use special stopper holders, but als an elastic band will do.
Start by cleaning your (touring) skis. This can be done with a wax remover or using 'hot wax.' We'll use the latter in this explanation.
Begin with a copper brush to open and clean the pores of the base (bottom of your ski). Brush from the front to the back.
Heat the waxing iron to the required temperature. The temperature depends on the type of wax and can be found on the packaging. Melt the wax and drip it over the base of your skis. Spread the wax evenly using the waxing iron.
Notice the wax starting to dry? Grab the scraper and scrape off the wax. This removes dirt that was trapped in the pores.
If you want to do more than just waxing, and also want to tune your skis, now is the time to do it. See our article on tuning your skis yourself. If you're not tuning your skis, proceed to step 2.
Note: If you've tuned your skis, start again from step 1 before waxing.
Once again, open the pores of the base (bottom of skis) with the copper brush. Move from the front to the back of the ski.
Set the waxing iron to the correct temperature. Check the ski wax packaging for the right temperature. Once the waxing iron is at the right temperature, melt the wax with the iron over the ski base. Drip the wax evenly over the ski. Once enough wax is on, use the waxing iron to spread the ski wax.
Now, move the waxing iron twice over the entire length of the ski, from the front to the back. Then, set the ski aside for an hour to dry.
Remove excess ski wax with a scraper. Do this again from the front to the back of your ski. Hold the scraper at a 45-degree angle. Scrape until a thin layer of wax remains. Don't forget to make the steel edges wax-free. Many scrapers have a special notch for this.
Finish waxing your skis with a nylon brush and a horsehair brush. Start with the nylon brush and move it over the base from the front to the back of your ski. Repeat this with the horsehair brush until your skis have a nice shiny and oily finish.
Repeat the above steps for extra glide. Moreover, it extends the life of the wax to repeat the steps.
Your skis or touring skis are now waxed and ready for the next descent in the snow!
