Summer Ski Storage
While many of you will be skiing for 1-2 more months, some of you are putting your skis away for the season now. Taking the time to prep them properly for summer storage will allow the skis to be race-ready next fall.
Fresh Base Stonegrinding
We encourage you to have your race skis stoneground to expose fresh base material before prepping them with summer storage wax. Exposing fresh base material allows the bases to absorb the summer storage wax and to be fresh and ready to go next fall at first snow.
Summer Ski Prep
Cleaning your ski bases and proper base wax saturation are perhaps two of the best ways to protect your ski bases during the summer. Store skis properly and you’ll be ready to go come early winter.
CLEANING
The first step is to clean your ski bases, both the kick and the glide zones. For your kick zones, clean with Swix wax remover / base cleaner (I0064). Scrub clean with Fibertex (T0266), wipe clean and let air dry. You are finished with the Kick Zones.
BASE CLEANING FOR FLUOR USERS
If you are an avid user of our Cera Nova Category 1 waxes: HF, HFBW, FC Cera F powders, turbo solids and liquids, you may be a perfect candidate for Swix’s I0084 Cleaner for Fluor Glide Wax & Base Conditioner. Swix has found that fluor bonding has left an impenetrable wax layer that prevents the “hot scrape cleaning method” to be 100% effective. The I0084 liquid separates the fluor molecules thus allowing you to wipe clean the base surface. This is done without damaging the base in a chemical or mechanical manner. The I0084 should be applied to the glide zone, lightly scrubbed with Fibertex (T0264), and then wiped free with Fiberlene (T0151). Let dry. The base is now ready to be cleaned as above using the Hot Scrape Method. Swix is experiencing much use of the I0084 with the advent of our new generation Cera F waxes with increased durability, namely the HF Black Wolf line, the FC78 SuperCera and the new FC8x.
BASE SATURATION
Now that bases are clean, it is time to saturate the pores of the glide zones with glide wax. Our goal here is to fill the pores with a wax that will prevent the base material from drying out and oxidizing. This wax will also protect the base from dust and other contaminates as well as disruptive contact. Use BasePrep99 – a very soft warm wax excellent for easy saturation & protection.
APPLICATION: Apply wax & iron in. The temperature of the waxing iron should be regulated to be hot enough to give immediate melting of the wax. Follow wax temp instructions. Start at the ski tip and move the iron in one continuous motion toward the tail. This technique prevents overheating the base. Do 2-3 passes. Let ski cool down approx. 10 minutes. Apply more wax, iron in, and wait 10 minutes. Repeat until base is completely covered & saturated. No scraping in between. I usually take 3 steps here.
STORAGE: Store skis in a cool dry environment where there is little fluctuation in temperature. Avoid direct sunlight. Keep skis in ski ties (or tape) on tips & tails. DO NOT BIND SKIS CLOSED w/ CAMBER COMPRESSED.
