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How to put storage wax on your skis

How to put storage wax on your skis

supplies to put storage wax on your skis

It's that time of year when skis need to go into hibernation.  

I know.  It's sad.

You could be lazy and throw them in the basement for the bases to collect dust and oxidize slowly over the summer, or you can do the right thing and apply storage wax to keep them protected and extend the life and performance of your skis.

You'll need a waxing iron, profile, scraper, wax remover, and a soft glide wax.  Universal or warm waxes work well.  

Step 1: Clean the bases (classic skis)

Scrape all the goop you can off your kick zone.  Apply a little wax remover and use Fiberlene or a cloth to get anything sticky off of there.  You won't be covering this area with glide wax but you don't want it attracting dust (pet hair.. dryer lint.. dead bugs.. etc) while in storage.

Scraping cross country skis

Cleaning grip zone cross country skis

Step 2: Apply your wax

Wax your skis as you usually do and iron it in.  Don't scrape it however.  The idea is the wax seals the bases so nothing can get at them.  Just wax the glide zone(s): tip and tail for classic skis, the entire ski for skate skis.

Applying glide wax to cross country ski

ironing in glide wax on cross country ski

Step 3: Store your skis in a safe place

You can store your skis horizontally or vertically.  Some people use shelf brackets on the wall for this.  Putting them in a ski bag will further protect them, but isn't necessary.

When you're ready to start skiing again, simply scrape off the storage wax and give the bases a good brushing with a copper brush.  Then hot wax your skis for the conditions and you are ready to go!

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Comments

ebsadventure - April 11, 2022

Hi Matt,
Excellent question, as different people do different things when storage waxing their classic skis. None of us apply storage wax over the grip zone. We clean it and leave it, and just iron in base wax on the tips and tails. We have heard of people putting painters tape along the grip zone as dust/contaminant protection, but as this zone is for grip anyway we don’t worry about it too much. You’ll be roughing it up periodically with sandpaper which is enough for your kick wax to adhere to.
If you do apply storage wax to the grip zone, make sure to give it a good soaking with base cleaner in the fall when you scrape everything off.
-the Eb’s team

Matt - April 11, 2022

What are the pros/cons to sealing up the kick zone? Does kick wax care whether it’s applied to an oxidized base, or does it not matter because of sanding that zone / other base prep?

ebsadventure - April 14, 2020

Hi Dave,
Glad we popped up! Happy waxing and thanks for the note :)
- the Eb’s team

Dave Schigol - April 14, 2020

Well…just as I was about to google, ski storage wax, your website came up with Jeff illustrating how it’s done. Hope everyone at Eb’s is staying healthy.

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