How to Wax a Snowboard: 6 Quick & Easy Steps

Knowing how to wax a snowboard is just as important, whether you're a Burton Global Team rider or a weekend warrior. Because keeping your board in good shape will help it ride smoother and faster and prolong its useful life at the same time.

When to Wax a Snowboard
How to Tell if Your Snowboard Needs Wax
How does wax work?
How to Wax a Snowboard: 6 Quick & Easy Steps
Tips & Tricks

But Just How Often Should I Wax My Snowboard?

This mostly comes down to personal preference, but at a minimum, we recommend tuning your snowboard after every three uses and at the beginning and end of the season. With that said, if you’re downhill racing you will probably want to wax more often and if you’re hitting urban you could probably get away with tuning less often.

Another factor to consider is the weather. Waxes are primarily designed to be most effective within specific temperature ranges so if you’re anticipating a big warm front and you’re currently rocking a cold-weather wax you may want to consider a quick tune (or vice versa). Read The Essential Guide to Snowboard Wax Types and learn how to select the best wax for the conditions at your local ski resort.

How to Tell if Your Snowboard Needs Wax

Knowing how to tell if your snowboard needs wax is pretty simple: if you can't remember the last time you waxed, it's probably time to wax your snowboard. Want a more scientific approach? If the base of your snowboard begins to take on a cloudy appearance, especially around the nose and tail contact points, or along the edges, it's probably time to pull out the waxing kit and get to work.

How Does Snowboard Wax Work?

There’s a lot of science that goes into modern snowboard waxes, but the main thing to remember is that, when riding down the mountain, a snowboard essentially melts the snow and glides over top of that thin layer of water.

Science Alert: Snowboard wax works to optimize the thin layer of water between a snowboard and the snow to reduce the overall static friction coefficient.

How to Wax a Snowboard: 6 Quick & Easy Steps

Waxing a snowboard is a fairly straightforward process that can be accomplished in 6 quick and easy steps. Here are the tools you will need and the steps we recommend on how to wax a snowboard at home in about 45 minutes.

The Tools:

File Guide (or Edge Tuning Tool)
File
Scraper
Iron
Snowboard Wax
A Scouring Pad like Scotchbrite (or a Wax Brush)
Tuning Vises

The 6 Steps:

Clean up the edges
Prepare for tuning
Apply wax
Iron out the wax
Scrape the wax off
Buff smooth

Step 1: Clean Up the Edges

The first step in waxing a snowboard is getting the edges dialed in. Securely position your board in your tuning vises and make sure there’s no wiggle or wobble that would cause any issues.

Then run the fileguide along the edges (from nose to tail) using long, smooth strokes. Focus on getting rid of any rust, uneven edges, or gouges. Note that this is also the perfect opportunity to do any detuning you might want. Detuning is mostly rider preference, but the more you detune your edges, the less catchy they’ll be (this is common for park riders).

Step 2: Prepare for Tuning

Next, wipe down the base using a clean rag and some citrus-based cleaner to remove any contaminates, impurities, and edge shavings. This is an important step that is often overlooked but can significantly improve a snowboard base’s ability to absorb wax.

Step 3: Apply Wax

We recommend a wax-specific iron to better control the melting temperature, but we all started as broke snowboard bums using thrift store clothing irons and can vouch for the fact that they work in a pinch. Note that most waxes will list a recommended iron temperature on the packaging but if you’re unsure it’s best to start on a medium heat setting.

Holding the iron at a slight angle about four inches above the snowboard, press a piece of wax against the bottom of the iron and let it drip onto the base. Move from tip to tail, dripping wax evenly to cover most of the base.

Step 4: Iron Out the Wax

Place the iron directly onto the base of the snowboard and begin spreading out the wax with smooth consistent strokes. Continue spreading out the wax until the entire base is covered, from edge to edge and nose to tail. If you find areas that are uncovered or extremely dry you can add a few more drips of wax as needed. Never hold the iron in one place for too long to avoid damaging the base of the board.

Once the base is covered completely, let the wax dry and cool a bit (slightly warm to the touch is best).

Step 5: Scrape the Wax Off

Double-check that your board is still secure in the tuning vises, and then proceed to begin scraping off the wax layer. Working from nose to tail, press firmly at a slight angle and scrape in overlapping, continuous strokes until there is no visible wax remaining. Don’t forget to remove any wax that may have covered the edges (some scrapers include a notch for this).

Pro tip: There are different ways to hold and use a scraper; try pushing and pulling at different angles to find a comfortable process that works for you.

Step 6: Buff Smooth

And finally, finish off your tune with a scouring pad or wax brush. If using a scouring pad, start with a rougher pad first and finish with a smoother pad, buffing from nose to tail. If using a wax brush, 15-20 strokes from nose to tail is usually sufficient.

While this last step is optional, we highly recommend buffing out your wax to maximize performance of the tune.

Video: How to Wax a Snowboard

How to Wax a Snowboard FAQs

Let's address a few important questions and answers that the Burton Guides receive regularly regarding how to wax a snowboard.

Q: How do you wax a snowboard at home?
A: Anyone can wax a snowboard at home, but you may need some specialized equipment to get a high-quality finish. Rub-on snowboard wax is the easiest to apply at home, requiring only a rag and solid surface to work on. Alternatively, hot waxing can be done at home with a few specialized tools (an iron, a scraper, and brushes) in under thirty minutes.

Q: How do you wax a snowboard without an iron?
A: If you don't have a waxing iron and want to tune your snowboard, rub-on wax is a great alternative. Rub-on wax can be quickly and easily applied at home or on the mountain. Rub-on wax usually comes with an applicator sponge, but a clean rag can also be used to apply it. Make sure to follow the manufacturer's directions for the best results.

Q: How long does it take to wax a snowboard?
A: Properly waxing a snowboard should take between thirty minutes and one hour, depending on how experienced you are and how much time you want to put into the process. Generally speaking, the steps to wax your snowboard are: clean your base, apply hot wax, let it cool, scrape, and then buff.

How to Wax a Snowboard: Tips & Tricks

Once you tune a few times this process will become second nature, but here’s a few things we’ve learned over the years that are helpful for first time tuners:

Make sure to wax somewhere with good ventilation. Melting wax can give off fumes that, while not necessarily toxic, are probably not great to breathe.
The right iron temperature makes a huge difference. You want your iron to be just hot enough to melt the wax but not too hot to cause smoke. If your melting wax is producing smoke, your iron is too hot.
A sharp scraper is crucial. The sharper your scraper is the easier it will be to scrape wax off. In fact, most regular snowboard tuners get a new scraper every season. A dull scraper makes the scraping step much harder and take a lot longer.
Don’t overdo the wax. All the wax you drip onto your board has to be scraped off. Getting as efficient as possible with applying wax will save you time in scraping and save you money on expensive wax.
You can recycle wax scrapings. If you scrape over a box or something else to capture scrapings, you can reuse those scrapings for additional tunes to cut costs and reduce your environmental impact.

Looking to get started with home tuning? Burton offers a complete line of tuning products to help get your board dialed.