When should I consider stripping my kick wax and starting fresh again?

[fisheater]

Those were great responses from both @greatgt and @Stephen . Although they took different tones, they kind of took you from early experience to doing this for 30 plus years in successive posts. It really is pretty cool. Well at least to me

[lowangle al]

This is my new cork/ scraper combo

It has a beveled edge and does a MUCH better job than the swim one.

[lowangle al]

Swix

[Stephen]

Damn spell check…

[mca80]

Is a solvent, even citrus-based like goo gone, bad for the base? I would think it might either dry it out or somehow degrade the material, no? I am very new to waxing but with a month on Nansens I had to go higher than blue extra once then temps dropped. I scraped then skiied briefly around the property then scraped again and it was all set to add green for the day and worked fine.

Also, being a newbie I have a related question, specifically for @lilcliffy but if anyone else can chime in, great. Ironing in polar over the whole ski--how often does this need to be done? Just one layer? And what should be done with the kick zone before doing this? Thanks.

[havuja]

About scrapers, I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/Hultafors-380070 ... op?ie=UTF8,
slighty dull. Much easier/faster than any dedicated scraper I've tried. Many racing ski shop guys seem to use ordinary Mora, I prefer the chisel knife. And yes, it is possible to damage the ski so it is up to user to keep it safe.

[Stephen]

@mca80

I have seen some concern about using solvents to remove wax from ski bases.

Ski bases are made from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE).
There are very few chemicals that will degrade this plastic.
Short-term exposure should have little to no effect.
Especially anything that is safe to use.
See:
http://kmac-plastics.net/data/technical/uhmwpe.htm

Best (least risk) bet is something like SWIX Base Cleaner:
https://www.swixsport.com/us/ski-wax/cl ... 5952532349

[mca80]

@mca80

I have seen some concern about using solvents to remove wax from ski bases.

Ski bases are made from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE).
There are very few chemicals that will degrade this plastic.
Short-term exposure should have little to no effect.
Especially anything that is safe to use.
See:
http://kmac-plastics.net/data/technical/uhmwpe.htm

Best (least risk) bet is something like SWIX Base Cleaner:
https://www.swixsport.com/us/ski-wax/cl ... 5952532349

Thanks. So at the end of season I should clean the base and then wax with what for storage? It's only been a month on wax but going with wax has totally changed my appreciation for this activity.

[Smitty]

Thanks. So at the end of season I should clean the base and then wax with what for storage? It's only been a month on wax but going with wax has totally changed my appreciation for this activity.

You have a couple options, depending on how you end up setting your skis up.

1. If at the end of the season you are set up with polar tip-to-tail, you will not need to do much: Strip and clean up your kick zone if you have late season schmag hung up in your kick wax. Touch up your tip-tp-tail Polar (with cork or iron, whatever your preference) and voila. You are ready to apply wax of the day underfoot with the first snow the following season.

2. If you iron in conventional hard glide wax to tips and tails during the season: Strip and clean up your kick zone of any late season schmag. Then iron on a liberal coating of warm temp glide or base prep wax (Swix CH10 or BP99 for example) to your tips and tails (NOT underfoot). Do not scrape. Leave them with the heavy, even coating of soft glide wax. In the fall, give em a scrape and buff, apply wax of the day underfoot, and you're off.

In either case you don't necessarily need to worry about the underfoot wax pocket at all. Especially in option 2 - if you apply the storage wax underfoot, it will inhibit wax retention the following season. You can just leave it - if that part of the base is not pristine, it's okay. Retention is more important than glide in that zone. If you're really concerned, cork in a bit of polar to that section for summer storage.

3. I once asked this question to a very accomplished Nordic tourer and ski mountaineer. His recommendation for summer storage: "Complete and utter neglect. That time of year my mind goes from skiing to climbing, I worry about it when the snow flies next season!". I am a bit more OCD with my gear, so I prefer options 1 or 2. But option 3 works just fine for some folks.

[fisheater]

@Smitty once the season starts, my skis always are waxed and ready to go. When the snow melts it’s time to go fishing! BTW red/silver scrapes off easier after drying over a long summer.
I remember reading @greatgt about his first ski of the season. He commented that the wax of the day worked great for kick and glide, whatever that was left from last spring’s skiing! I’m a bit OCD for that, my skis get fresh wax for the start of the season