# Wax Recommendations



## DaveMcI (Aug 19, 2013)

Purl, biodegradable, easy to scrape and brush, and cheap in bulk.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

Fast wax is any wax that is applied to a spotlessly clean structured base.
I clean my bases with a heat gun and a clean piece of rag until the rag stops turning dirty, then I wax with the heat gun by crayoning cheap generic parrafin ski wax that I buy in bulk.
I do the sidewalls too.
No scrape needed.
Buff it with a rotobrush or hand brush.
Very fast
Very cheap
Very effective
No messy scrapings to clean up.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

I went down the rabbit hole with this last spring, I tested many varieties on wax and found expensive waxes perform no better than the cheap wax, 1% wax 99% cleanliness.
I test with a single drop of water like this, note the drop inside the square sits tall and holds a tighter shape than the other drop, thats what you want. When the water drop is allowed to spread out flat that means the base is less hydrophobic and water wants to stick to it which equals slowness.
A nice tight droplet like that will run from end to end of the board if you tilt it without breaking its shape.


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## tbarch (Jan 20, 2015)

Kijima said:


> View attachment 155699
> 
> 
> I went down the rabbit hole with this last spring, I tested many varieties on wax and found expensive waxes perform no better than the cheap wax, 1% wax 99% cleanliness.
> I test with a single drop of water like this, note the drop inside the square sits tall and holds a tighter shape than the other drop, thats what you want. When the water drop is allowed to spread out flat that means the base is less hydrophobic and water wants to stick to it which equals slowness.


Interesting test! Thanks!


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

tbarch said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I’ve been using Hertel racing 739 wax for the past few seasons at this point and it works great - just curious what everyone else is using and how it works?


The long story?

Racewax Red (warm) hydrocarbon to hotscrape
Racewax All-temp hydrocarbon
Racewax All-temp FluoroMax

But, racewax is getting out of the wax making business, so I'll have to substitute to Swix when I exhaust my Racewax hydrocarbons....

Swix BP-88 for storage


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## mjayvee (Nov 18, 2015)

DaveMcI said:


> Purl, biodegradable, easy to scrape and brush, and cheap in bulk.


Purl Wax user here as well. I do hot scrapes like the OG Guch and it saves me time.


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## Manicmouse (Apr 7, 2014)

Cheap, generic, all temp wax here. Still one of the fastest on the flats because most don't wax often enough.


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## dwdesign (Mar 30, 2011)

Hertel 90% of the time. Cheapest bulk bricks of Demon Universal/Spring/Graphite waxes 10% of the time. Base prep (pre waxing) and finishing (post waxing) is key for best results with any priced wax.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Cheap canning paraffin at $5/pound, crayon/no scrape...60mph/100kph+...its fast enough for moi


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

The biggest block I can find helps with crayon method.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Scalpelman said:


> The biggest block I can find helps with crayon method.


Melted about 1.5 pounds into a 5x4x4" block, also put in a few drops of patchouli oil and a tad of graphite powder...hippy speed. Takes maybe 2-3 minutes to wax a board.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Melted about 1.5 pounds into a 5x4x4" block, also put in a few drops of patchouli oil and a tad of graphite powder...hippy speed. Takes maybe 2-3 minutes to wax a board.


Patchouli oil?!!![emoji13] Too bad my wife doesn’t ride, she’d buy that wax! 

Please tell about the graphite.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Scalpelman said:


> Patchouli oil?!!![emoji13] Too bad my wife doesn’t ride, she’d buy that wax!
> 
> Please tell about the graphite.


Well you might need her to use that wax fur yer ride...lol.

Idk if the graphite powder works...but what the hell...it works for little pinewood derby cars...had some left over when my kid was a cub scout and have an old top of the line Option that is quite fast which has graphite, iridium and some other goat turds...so why not. Anyway, my lowly skills don't perceive any speed detriment.


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

mjayvee said:


> Purl Wax user here as well. I do hot scrapes like the OG Guch and it saves me time.


Same here. Purls depending on temp.


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## GWoman (Oct 2, 2017)

Kijima said:


> View attachment 155699
> 
> 
> I went down the rabbit hole with this last spring, I tested many varieties on wax and found expensive waxes perform no better than the cheap wax, 1% wax 99% cleanliness.
> ...


Nice test, thanks!


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## totuqawi (Dec 7, 2020)

very useful topic for a beginner. thanks to all who answered


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## MCrides (Feb 25, 2019)

wrathfuldeity said:


> no scrape


How do you manage no scraping? If I don't scrape like a maniac I end up stickier than before I waxed.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

MCrides said:


> How do you manage no scraping? If I don't scrape like a maniac I end up stickier than before I waxed.


Don't put too much on. An easy way to do this is after you iron in the wax, go at it one more time, but with Swix Fiberlene in between the base and the iron to absorb excess wax.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

MCrides said:


> How do you manage no scraping? If I don't scrape like a maniac I end up stickier than before I waxed.


I still scrape and brush with crayon method but there isn’t much wax coming off. So much less waste than drip wax.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Yup, I need more sleep. I'm over thinking y'all are waxing with Crayola's over here like, wut, no. 

OBJ Universal. That's all.


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## DaveMcI (Aug 19, 2013)

Wow, ojb is still kicking? That's some shit! 
Kijima! How do u clean the base? Hot Wax or chemicals or dawn or power washer or street sweeper maybe. I some times use a lil parmigiano and gasoline.HOW YA DOIN


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## drblast (Feb 28, 2017)

Hertel Hot Sauce because it's cheap and works great. I think it's the best mph/$ value out there. Wax every time, only use a little, kinda scrape it off, done. Any more effort than that and I wouldn't wax as often.

I'm not sure what drag races you guys are entering where the type of wax matters but then again, it doesn't ever get really cold in the PNW so all temp works almost always.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

DaveMcI said:


> Wow, ojb is still kicking? That's some shit!
> Kijima! How do u clean the base? Hot Wax or chemicals or dawn or power washer or street sweeper maybe. I some times use a lil parmigiano and gasoline.HOW YA DOIN


I clean the base by crayoning a small amount of wax on to the base, heating it with a heat gun in one hand and wiping the molten wax off with a rag in the other hand. You will be shocked how much black shit the rag picks up, when the rag stays clean you have finished the most important part of waxing a board. 
It's the same principal as hot scraping but faster, more effective as you can really target areas that need extra attention and it requires no scraping.
When Im finished with that I immediately crayon again and melt it in with the heat gun again, let it cool and rotobrush.

Wax is not fast, the plastic on our bases is fast but not when its dirty, when its dirty it becomes a magnet for more dirt and that is what makes a board slow.
When we wax we change the surface tension of the plastic which is in a constant state of depreciation as we ride.
Dry snow is easy because it doesn't melt so easily but wet snow melts rapidly as we pass over it making hydrophobic bases a real necessity. I can ride nearly all of January without waxing, but in March Im waxing every night.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

Learn to eagle eye oil and grease drops in the snow under lift lines. Especially where you get on and off the lift. 
Avoid that shit. The outside seat on a chair is best cause you can go wide around most of the oil. The inside is usually where most of the oil is.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

These are the tools I use for waxing. Note one dirty rag and one clean rag. 
The wax cost about $100 and will last me my lifetime.


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## DaveMcI (Aug 19, 2013)

I like it. Anything with guns is my jam. We all apreciate the wisdom. A clean base is a happy base, that's what my commander used to say.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

drblast said:


> Hertel Hot Sauce because it's cheap and works great. I think it's the best mph/$ value out there. Wax every time, only use a little, kinda scrape it off, done. Any more effort than that and I wouldn't wax as often.
> 
> I'm not sure what drag races you guys are entering where the type of wax matters but then again, it doesn't ever get really cold in the PNW so all temp works almost always.


Hertel, the company is for sale, as the owner plans to retire soon. If there are no takers, it will probably shut down.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

DaveMcI said:


> I like it. Anything with guns is my jam. We all apreciate the wisdom. A clean base is a happy base, that's what my commander used to say.


Absolutely. I’m so tired of ironing. Crayoning and heat gunning will be my new beer drinking jam.


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

Usually Swix for different temperatures. With an iron.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

I’ve used obj for as long as I can remember. They’re local and make a great product.it’s also great they’re snowboarding focused and driven


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## DaveMcI (Aug 19, 2013)

Where is obj from?


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

Near Bellingham WA. Iirc they started in Tacoma


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## Paxford (Jan 7, 2019)

Kijima said:


> I clean the base by crayoning a small amount of wax on to the base, heating it with a heat gun in one hand and wiping the molten wax off with a rag in the other hand. You will be shocked how much black shit the rag picks up, when the rag stays clean you have finished the most important part of waxing a board.
> It's the same principal as hot scraping but faster, more effective as you can really target areas that need extra attention and it requires no scraping.
> When Im finished with that I immediately crayon again and melt it in with the heat gun again, let it cool and rotobrush.
> 
> ...


And here I thought that black shit was my sintered base melting after my first try with a heat gun. Feeling a little better now.


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

Don't forget to wear a glove on your wax wiping hand or your little fingies might get bbq'd


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## Kijima (Mar 3, 2019)

The run I was on today usually requires a bit of skating to get to the lift but my board was gliding right past everyone right up to the gate. 
Stone structure + this waxing method really is fast.


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