How to Tune a Snowboard #3: Waxing

Waxing your snowboard is the best way to protect the base and keep you gliding fast over snow. In this video, we give you a quick, step-by-step guide to waxing your snowboard at home. Shop REI’s selection of snowboard tuning equipment at http://www.rei.com/c/snowboard-tuning-and-tools

Transcript:
Waxing your board regularly is the best way to protect it and keep it performing at it's peak. You'll need clean towels, rubbing alcohol, your favorite wax, a plastic scraper, a set of brushes, and a waxing iron. Because the iron you use at home could burn the wax or your base, it's best to use a specifically designed waxing iron. Place your board on your vice. If you don't have a vice you can use a couple stacks of books to balance it. Make sure your bindings are tucked out of the way. Use rubbing alcohol and a clean towel to prepare the base for wax. If your base is visibly dirty, brush it off with a wire brush before using the alcohol. As always, make sure you brush, wax, and scrape from tip to tail.
Heat up your iron until it's just warm enough to melt the wax. Then drip a zigzag line of wax up and down the board. If the wax begins to smoke the iron is too hot. Let it cool before starting again. Work the wax into the ski from tip to tail, and make sure it reaches the edges. If it doesn't, add more wax. Keeping your air moving at an even speed is key. You should see a trail of molten wax about 3 to 5 inches behind the iron. If you move too fast the wax won't fully penetrate into the base. If you're too slow you could burn or blister the base material. After three or four passes with the iron, you should feel warmth through the top sheet. Let the whole board cool completely back to room temperature.
Once the board is cooled use a plastic scraper at a 45 degree angle to scrape off the excess wax. Use long overlapping strokes with firm, even pressure, and move from side to side to cover the whole base. Because most boards are slightly cupped, you may need to flex the scraper to get to the wax in the middle. You know you're done scraping when you're not getting any more wax shavings. You'll want to remove the wax from the sidewalls and edges as well. Make sure to use the short end of the scraper so you don't dull the scraping ends. Next comes the brushing. The base of your board has tiny channels called structure which move water out as you ride. Brushing clears the wax from the structure. Make several full-length tip to tail passes using your nylon brush. Use good even pressure and keep brushing until you're no longer seeing wax dust coming off.
Finish up with a good polish with your horsehair brush. The more passes you make the better the result. You can't brush too much. To recap, start with a clean base. Spread wax thoroughly over the whole base. Scrape the extra wax off, and finish up with your brushes.