Before you start any snowboard servicing it is important to make sure you have a clean base to begin!
We tend to use a Dakine Supertune Base Cleaner when servicing boards in store. This particular type of base cleaner is a highly concentrated citrus oil cleaner that clears off all of your previous wax residue, dirt and other odds and ends a base picks up on. You can use a cloth or even kitchen towel to rub this in. Once you have applied base cleaner and cleaned all of the dirt and old wax off leave your board to dry, and for the excess cleaner to evaporate before moving onto waxing or board repairs.
Now you have prepared your base you are left with a fresh new canvas for applying your new wax. For this you will need a metal/plastic scraper, snowboard wax, wax iron and nylon brush. First of all plug in your iron so it can heat up. The amount and of wax you will require will depend on two things, what type of snowboard base you have and where you will be riding. Most commonly an “all temperature wax” will do the job for most resort riding. If you have a higher quality sintered base be prepared for it to be thirstier in waxing than the lower grade extruded base boards. These will not absorb as much wax and will therefore run slower, and need waxing more often.
To begin hold the iron upside down and at a downwards angle towards your base. Press the wax onto the iron and evenly drip dots of wax all over the base of your board. Once you have evenly spread wax over your base begin at one end of your board and start pressing the wax into your base. Remember to keep the iron moving at all times. As you move from one end of the board to the other make sure there are no uncovered areas of your base. The wax will cool very quickly. Once done leave the board for about 15 minutes to completely dry before removing the excess wax with your wax scraper of choice. Remove any excess wax from the rails, don’t be too fanatical about getting the base super smooth, your first few runs will remove any remaining wax.
You can grab the bits you need for waxing here
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