# wax recycling?



## Guest (Apr 8, 2009)

do you guys reuse wax that you scraped off snowboard? im just curious.


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## mijinkal (Jan 9, 2009)

Sometimes if I'm running low and I won't be able to make it to the shop soon, I'll save it to re-use it. Just make shure it stays clean and it'll be just as good as it was before.


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## absoludicrous (Mar 26, 2009)

no, i never do. it's dirty wax. if i'm out of wax, i'll wait until i can buy some more or pay a shop to do it. i wouldn't recycle it even if i was desperate.


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## jardo56 (Mar 6, 2009)

absoludicrous said:


> no, i never do. it's dirty wax. if i'm out of wax, i'll wait until i can buy some more or pay a shop to do it. i wouldn't recycle it even if i was desperate.


Unless you wax a dirty board, it's not dirty. It's the same wax that was previously attached to your brick. The only difference is that it has been heated to its melting point and then cooled back down to it's solid state. (Which is how they mold the wax into a neat little brick shape with a nice designer logo on it).

I recycled my wax until I accidentally tipped the container I was saving it in and it all fall onto the floor and mixed with some dryer lint. THAT wax... is now dirty.

I was even recycling waxes of different temperature ranges as an experiment in hopes of combining them all into a 'homemade' all temperature wax. That experiment will have to wait.


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

I reuse the wax scraping from excess wax, but not from cleaning the board. I'm a cheapo and I see no reason to waste clean wax.


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## Catman (Mar 16, 2008)

The wax you scrape should be clean if you did your job cleaning the base before starting.That said if you way overheat the wax the first time around I would'nt use it more than once. I did that by mistake and it did'nt seem to last at all.:dunno:


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## absoludicrous (Mar 26, 2009)

why would you need to clean your base if it all comes off when you wax? you guys must ride some super clean snow or something cause i get all kinds of dirt, sap, and crap from the snow. do a hot wax and scrape, and it all comes off. no need to pay extra and waste time using base cleaners that dry out your base.


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

Base cleaners? I just use brushes then apply new wax. When I scrape the new wax, I have leftover that I put into a container and melt into the old brick. I've never used base cleaners on my board.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Is this even a serious question? God people are dumb.


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

Any chance you'll enlighten us? Being stupid and all, I have no idea what you're talking about.


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## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

I think the notion is this:

You hot wax scrape to get all the crap out of your boards base.

Therefore if you wax and scrape you are in essense pulling any dirt you may have had in your base into the new wax...therefore its dirty wax.

I've never reused wax personally, its so cheap. Even with how much i wax my board i only went through like half of a 25 dollar bar of Hertel Hot Sauce wax this season..and that counts waxing a few friends boards...


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## jardo56 (Mar 6, 2009)

arsenic0 said:


> I think the notion is this:
> 
> You hot wax scrape to get all the crap out of your boards base.
> 
> ...


Unless your scraper has some magic little tentacles to pull out what has already soaked into and harden into the pores of the base, I don't see how scraping gets anything out of the base. You are scraping whats ONTOP of the base, not what's in it. If scraping got rid of whats in the base you would have no wax in the base after scraping and the board would be dry!

Regardless, I use base cleaner to get rid of any dirt or dirty wax before I put on new stuff.

There really is a sure fire way of finding out whether or not your wax scrapings are dirty. If you're a nerd or just a chemist like I am you may have some fun doing it. Collect the scrapings, melt them down to their liquid state in a pyrex container floating on top of boiling water. Quickly pour the liquid through a coffee filter before it cools down. If there's dirt in the coffee filter, it was dirty. If not, I'd say it's clean. 

If there is dirt in the coffee filter, heck you've just filtered the wax anyway so might as well wait til it hardens and use it again.


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## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

Sorry i think my point was missed.
You are right, hense why when you REWAX your board you are pulling all/any dirt and crap up out of the pores with the old wax and its globbing up into the new wax your putting on. 

So in essense every wax is a hot wax to some extent, when you melt the wax into your board your melting the old wax back up into the new wax pulling all the gunk out and its now floating around inside the wax you just put on and will be scraping off.

Granted i dont know if it really is that much gunk, but i think thats the thought process.


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## jardo56 (Mar 6, 2009)

I'm quite suspect to that theory. I think most of your old wax comes off while you ride, hence a dry base after several days of riding. Any visible dirt or grime on your board should be wiped off with a base cleaner anyway.

There at least 2 good reasons to recycle wax. One it's cost efficient. You can get over double the amount of use with 1 brick of wax by recycling than if you did not. It just makes sense.

The other reason is that think of all the skis and snowbowards in the world and think of how many times a year they get waxed and the scraping just get tossed. That's a lot of toxic hydrocarbon based products being dumped into our landfills every year. 

So not only are you saving some cash, you limit the amount of crap you dump into the environment. And being a snowboarder or skiier, I would think the environment would be extremely valuable to you!


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Flick Montana said:


> Any chance you'll enlighten us? Being stupid and all, I have no idea what you're talking about.


Only if you go get me Rowdy Roddy Pipers signature since I hear he lives in Aloha as well. And I want it to state, "To Avran the only person to successfully sit through all my movies and still think highly of me" Roddy!


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

I know he lives in Portland, but I didn't know he lived in Aloha. Wasn't he Commander Cash in RoboCop? How can you not respect that. I can't guarantee an autograph, but I'm sure I could get him to give me a black eye.

Also, I should clarify. I rewax my board with the same wax I scraped off. I don't save it for later. I just use it twice. Maybe THAT is why I haven't made it into the Olympics. :dunno:


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

My bad he lives in Hillsboro. Just think of it like this you're using burnt wax on your board.


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## hvalley76 (Oct 17, 2007)

I have come to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum.

Oh and I don't reuse my wax scrapings either. I guess I just always figured they would be dirty. Plus I am too lazy to collect them.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Dude They Live is one of the best underrated John Carpenter movies ever.


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

Duke Nukem stole all his best lines.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Roddy Piper is Duke Nukem!


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## DiamondCarver (Jan 27, 2009)

How exactly do you re-use the excess wax? (how you melt it then form it)


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

Ok, here's my crappy method that you shouldn't do because it's for idiots.

I do the normal thing where I brush my board clean. I drip the wax on and iron it in. I let it cool then I scrape. I leave the scrapings on and spread them out and iron them back in. Let it cool again, then I rescrape and polish it up.

I just always feel like I missed a couple spots so I like to rewax it, but I don't want to use twice the wax I normally would. :dunno:


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## hvalley76 (Oct 17, 2007)

Definitely first class Carpenter work... Snake Plisken style.

oh and my $.02 re. waxing
I melt the wax on the iron and use the iron to work it onto the board evenly instead of dripping it on. I think it helps me to use less and get a more even coat = less scraping.


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## DiamondCarver (Jan 27, 2009)

Flick Montana said:


> Ok, here's my crappy method that you shouldn't do because it's for idiots.
> 
> I do the normal thing where I brush my board clean. I drip the wax on and iron it in. I let it cool then I scrape. I leave the scrapings on and spread them out and iron them back in. Let it cool again, then I rescrape and polish it up.
> 
> I just always feel like I missed a couple spots so I like to rewax it, but I don't want to use twice the wax I normally would. :dunno:


That's genius:thumbsup:


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## jardo56 (Mar 6, 2009)

DiamondCarver said:


> How exactly do you re-use the excess wax? (how you melt it then form it)


Collect LOTS of shavings . Melt it in a pyrex glass measuring cup in a pot of boiling water. Let it cool. Take it out of the measuring cup and you have a disc shaped brick of wax.


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## DiamondCarver (Jan 27, 2009)

jardo56 said:


> Collect LOTS of shavings . Melt it in a pyrex glass measuring cup in a pot of boiling water. Let it cool. Take it out of the measuring cup and you have a disc shaped brick of wax.


What about a plastic measuring cup similar to the pyrex ones? Don't have a glass one, so any other melting container suggestions?


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

You can melt it into some Tupperware if you want.


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## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

You have my word BA if i ever see Rowdy Roddy Piper i will get an autograph.

I had no idea he lived here, then again Hillsboro does have like 45k people now i think...so chances of seeing him are pretty slim..


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## absoludicrous (Mar 26, 2009)

jardo56 said:


> Unless your scraper has some magic little tentacles to pull out what has already soaked into and harden into the pores of the base, I don't see how scraping gets anything out of the base. You are scraping whats ONTOP of the base, not what's in it. If scraping got rid of whats in the base you would have no wax in the base after scraping and the board would be dry!
> 
> Regardless, I use base cleaner to get rid of any dirt or dirty wax before I put on new stuff.
> 
> ...


you don't even need a filter. i see dirt and little crap when i scrape off the wax after. you guys don't ride spring slush? every year i get the same crap on my base and it comes off after a hot wax. yeah maybe if you ride clean pow all the time, it may look like it's clean but i'm pretty sure it has some crap in it. a bar of wax is like 10 bucks and i go through maybe one per season if i'm lucky. you waste more money driving to the mountain, having a beer when riding, or even buying food on the mountain. i just don't get why people say they're too cheap and need to recycle wax. if you divide a bar of wax over a whole season, it'll be a few cents per day on the snow :dunno:


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## Method (Apr 3, 2009)

You either don't wax very much or you don't ride very much. I go through wax pretty quick.


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## B.Gilly (Jul 23, 2008)

absoludicrous said:


> you don't even need a filter. i see dirt and little crap when i scrape off the wax after. you guys don't ride spring slush? every year i get the same crap on my base and it comes off after a hot wax. yeah maybe if you ride clean pow all the time, it may look like it's clean but i'm pretty sure it has some crap in it. a bar of wax is like 10 bucks and i go through maybe one per season if i'm lucky. you waste more money driving to the mountain, having a beer when riding, or even buying food on the mountain. i just don't get why people say they're too cheap and need to recycle wax. if you divide a bar of wax over a whole season, it'll be a few cents per day on the snow :dunno:


So you put clean wax on a dirty board. Seems reusing wax would not make a difference then.

I do pretty much the same thing as what Flick Montana does so guess I am an idiot also. Works well for me.


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## absoludicrous (Mar 26, 2009)

Method said:


> You either don't wax very much or you don't ride very much. I go through wax pretty quick.


maybe you put too much wax on your boards? :dunno: i don't wax as often as i should, but my bar has lasted me all season. but then again, my bar isn't small either. even if you do wax way more than me, it's really not that much as far as cost. if you can't afford wax, maybe you should find another hobby.


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## absoludicrous (Mar 26, 2009)

B.Gilly said:


> So you put clean wax on a dirty board. Seems reusing wax would not make a difference then.
> 
> I do pretty much the same thing as what Flick Montana does so guess I am an idiot also. Works well for me.


ok so you clean your base with cleaner before every waxing right? so you're using up cleaner. that costs money too. so what's the difference between buying new wax and buying new base cleaner? costs about the same either way. so the saving money argument is thrown out the window since you're still spending it on something.

and why do i need to clean my board if the wax job cleans it up for me? if it gets THAT dirty, i will use my base cleaner, but that's only happened to me twice. every other time a hot wax will take everything off. or do you also believe that i need a special scraper with tentacles to remove the dirt off my board?


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't reuse my scrapings, but to get into a fight over whether to do so or not is as pointless as every sissy 'net fight (and I should know, I've been in a couple slap-fests). Whatever your decision, your choice is only affecting your own board. 

You reuse them and your board goes down the hill, you don't reuse them and your board goes down the hill. Everyone wins.

I crayon the living hell out of my base, every square centimeter. Then I can drip VERY sparingly and still be assured of complete coverage and being able to do it fast. You'll be amazed how fast the scraping goes and how little wax you'll scrape off.

As for base cleaner:
Orange Oil cleaner = Much cheaper than 'official' base cleaner and works just as well when you mix it with a scotchbrite pad and elbow grease. Just keep scrubbing, when it dries you'll swear you just ruined your board it'll look so wax free. Wipe it down twice with water to get the cleaner out, dry thoroughly, and the base will be the cleanest it's been since it was fabricated.


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## B.Gilly (Jul 23, 2008)

absoludicrous said:


> ok so you clean your base with cleaner before every waxing right? so you're using up cleaner. that costs money too. so what's the difference between buying new wax and buying new base cleaner? costs about the same either way. so the saving money argument is thrown out the window since you're still spending it on something.
> 
> and why do i need to clean my board if the wax job cleans it up for me? if it gets THAT dirty, i will use my base cleaner, but that's only happened to me twice. every other time a hot wax will take everything off. or do you also believe that i need a special scraper with tentacles to remove the dirt off my board?


Never have used base cleaner no need for me. But I do wax very often. I probably should have explained my method a bit more but is close to flicks way just reversed. Seems to even clean out my spring crud. For me if my board has dirt on it why does it matter if I use wax that has a bit of dirt in it.:dunno:

I crayon and use my shaving from the last wax job I did. Melt it all in and hot scrape. Then I use the drip method and wait till it is all cooled and then scrape. 

Never once did I say anything about saving money. I personally am not a penny pincher. But I hate using chemicals on my boards. Just a personal preference for me.

Everyone has their own way of doing stuff. Their is always a few roads you can take that will take you to the same destination.


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## Method (Apr 3, 2009)

absoludicrous said:


> maybe you put too much wax on your boards? :dunno: i don't wax as often as i should, but my bar has lasted me all season. but then again, my bar isn't small either. even if you do wax way more than me, it's really not that much as far as cost. if you can't afford wax, maybe you should find another hobby.


I never said I can't afford wax, Sorry I joined this conversation late and haven't made it abundantly clear that I don't re-use wax or have a problem paying for it. I was mainly just commenting on the fact that you said you only use one (I believe it was) block a season. I usually go through three or four.

I usually wax the japanese way, which is by basically crayoning it on than melting it in, that seems to save more wax to me.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2009)

Heres my guess: Like in a photo copy each time you re use the wax may diminish in proformance? (Like how the quality of the photocopy will deteriote after repeated use/photo copying)



> You reuse them and your board goes down the hill, you don't reuse them and your board goes down the hill. Everyone wins.


Genious. :thumbsup:


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