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Best way to stop edges rusting?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
So, after the last run of the season, what's the best stuff to put on one's edges to stop them going rusty?

General purpose grease?
Vaseline?
Some kind of wax?
WD40?
Furniture polish?
Chip fat?

I know one can use those edge rubbers to remove the rust, but it'd be good to stop it forming in the first place.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Ski wax
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
AL9000 wrote:
Ski wax


But, unlike the ptex base, it doesn't seem to rub off much on the steel. Or is it just that it seems like that to my poor eyesight?

Is this tried & tested then?
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If you wax your skis before putting them away (i.e wax them properly, with an iron rather than just rubbing wax on them) but don't do the final scrape then you'll have a lovely coating of wax on them. Stops edges rusting and stops the base drying out too.
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I just make sure they're dry on the last night before traveling home, make sure they're still dry when I get home and store them in a cupboard in the house. Never used any grease etc...
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@crosbie, Apply it like you're colouring in with crayons. No rust on my edges for 11 months.
But if you find any rust, use a gummy stone to rub it off.
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SnoodlesMcFlude wrote:
If you wax your skis before putting them away (i.e wax them properly, with an iron rather than just rubbing wax on them) but don't do the final scrape then you'll have a lovely coating of wax on them. Stops edges rusting and stops the base drying out too.


^ Do this!
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I agree with @AL9000 Shocked

And with @SnoodlesMcFlude Very Happy
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@achilles, Strewth! Your brain will need washing now Madeye-Smiley
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, an iron seems to be above and beyond the call of duty. I'm looking for something quick and snappy that one can do upon arriving home that isn't much more than than opening the ski bag to let the melted snow evaporate. Getting the skis out to briefly rub something over their edges seems to be a good investment compared to painstakingly burnishing out all the brown rust 9 months later.
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@AL9000, I am taking counselling Toofy Grin
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@AL9000, maybe there's such a thing as a ski wax edge applicator tool? Just swipe up & down, and that ski's done!

I'll give t' ski wax on t' edge a go this season's end then. Ta.
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@crosbie, you need to tune the skis at some point, why not after a trip rather than before the next?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
SnoodlesMcFlude wrote:
@crosbie, you need to tune the skis at some point, why not after a trip rather than before the next?


It's a matter of sanction.

When you arrive home in April with the sun beating down, the last thing you feel like doing is preparing for the next winter's ski season.

Preparing for skiing is something for which sanction will be readily available when the winter's making snow an ever present consideration. snowHead

Of course, prevention is better than cure, but that's not quite as onerous as preparation, eh?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@crosbie, ask for advice, get advice, get others agreeing with advice, choose to argue with advice Laughing NehNeh

It's a matter of laziness and I'm the same, used my skis at the EoSB and tuned them a week before Christmas. Used them at Christmas and they're still in the bag and will likely remain there until next week, at which point I'll need to work on some rust...but that doesn't mean it's the correct way to do things.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Don't bother. Just put them away dry in Spring. Go skiing early the following season. Any surface rust will be gone by the end of the first run on early season ice.
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, I'm not arguing. I'm bargaining!

It's a matter of compromise between doing nothing and dipping ski edges into a bath of molten wax.

I'm leaning toward the wax crayon approach rather than the fanatical electric iron approach.
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@Raceplate, sometimes, it seems that what might start off as a minor surface rust can eventually develop into full on corrosion with pitting that needs an angle grinder to remove (way beyond gummi stone).
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@crosbie, it's not really fanatical though, is it. It's just waxing the base (generally seen as a good idea so that the ski actually glides) but leaving it on the edge until the next season. If you aren't waxing the skis then what's the point in worrying about the edges anyway?
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crosbie wrote:
@AL9000, maybe there's such a thing as a ski wax edge applicator tool? Just swipe up & down, and that ski's done!

I'll give t' ski wax on t' edge a go this season's end then. Ta.


Applicator tool??
That'll be the block of wax. Try it and you'll see how it works. Make sure edges are dry first.

McFlude method is belts n braces, error-free, guaranteed proper job. Highly recommended (I've never done it, but should Little Angel )
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, edging and waxing can be done at the start of each ski trip. However, finding that rust makes this more onerous, inspires simple preventative action at end-of-season.

Hence, I'm looking for the best & easiest material to apply to edges at end-of-season.
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Toko did sell this item decades ago it was like a fat marker pen and the drips are still stuck fast on my sidewalls today .
They stopped selling it probably a health hazard .
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@crosbie, here's a crazy thought. Instead of doing the edge and wax before a trip, do it at the end. Then you don't need to do an preventative action and the skis are good to go next time and you don't find any rust. Your way adds an extra process (i.e treating the edges after each trip and then doing the edge/wax). You don't have to follow the advice (I don't) but it's the correct way to do it and seems weird that you're trying to 'bargain' out of it.

Best and easiest is to do what I said, anything else is a halfway house so just go with Al's approach of rubbing a bit of wax on...hell you may as well use candle wax.
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Rust is oxidisation, so remove the oxygen.

Make sure your edges are dry by rubbing vigorously (fnaar) with a warm towel, then tightly wrap in cling film.
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crosbie wrote:
@Raceplate, sometimes, it seems that what might start off as a minor surface rust can eventually develop into full on corrosion with pitting that needs an angle grinder to remove (way beyond gummi stone).

Well it will if you just leave them in a damp environment forever. Or you could just use them for, er, skiing. They're skis. They're much tougher than most people think. And the rebound'll be dead by the time they've done 30 weeks on snow, probably sooner. Which is much quicker than the edges will rust away. So put a storage wax on in the summer if you're feeling precious but really, who cares?
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Agree with others. Thick layer of wax at the season. I don't see your logic for not doing it like this at the end of the season as not only stops edges rusting but also stops base drying out over summer. Plus you are going to have to do it anyway at the start of the season if you don't do it at the end.
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marodo2712 wrote:
Rust is oxidisation, so remove the oxygen.

Make sure your edges are dry by rubbing vigorously (fnaar) with a warm towel, then tightly wrap in cling film.


Any moisture left in the bindings will then seep out and leave the edges looking like the chassis on a Morris Minor........ Very Happy
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This may be heresy but does it really matter? Take ‘em skiing and the rust is gone after one run. Is there any lasting damage to a bit of rust?
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@crosbie, wipe on some zardox not wax , it is teflon and won't harm the base wax, is easy to apply and you won't have to remove like a thick coat of wax when you want to ski next.

regular (non flouro) wax absorbs water and you can still get rust even with a thick layer
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I used lipsalve last year, easy and worked perfectly as boards and skis stored in a shed.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
+1 for notwax. I live at the beach and everything rusts due to sea air. Notwax sorts it.
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crosbie wrote:
@SnoodlesMcFlude, an iron seems to be above and beyond the call of duty. I'm looking for something quick and snappy that one can do upon arriving home that isn't much more than than opening the ski bag to let the melted snow evaporate.

If that's all you're doing, I'm not surprised your skis are rusty! Snow gets into the bindings and then melts, and the water sits in any gaps. It will stay in the bag unless you dry it out properly. Take the skis out and stand them up somewhere warmish for a couple of days to thoroughly dry the bindings before you put them away. If you're keeping them in the bag, turn that inside out and hang it up. Chuck a few silica gel sachets in the bag when it goes away if you've got any to hand.

I don't do anything specific with my skis over the summer. They might get a wax, if I remember, but they are stored standing in an unheated but dry room. There is no rust.
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@Scarlet, +1
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Standing the skis upside down for a while can help shift any water sitting in there too.

@Hurtle, I think some of the posters above may be looking for an “engineering solution”, or even an over-engineered solution when it can all be much simpler.
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@Scarlet, indeed. And ditto to the upside-down as well.
The way that the bindings retain water puts me off skiing on the last day of the holiday/travel day, as everything in my board bag is wet and the ski edges have already rusted by the time I get home!
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I just make sure they are totally dry after the trip (usually standing in the hallway for a day or two, upside down too as said above) and store them somewhere dry. Not had any rust issues like that.

Only time I’ve had rusting was skiing in the morning and flying home with skis later. I hate that, even doing my best to dry off everything.
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Quick and easy = ACF50. It's the best rust preventer out there.
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Sonny wrote:
Quick and easy = ACF50. It's the best rust preventer out there.

I wouldn't feel confident about using any oil based or other material which has the effect of dissolving or interacting with the wax in the base. Indeed, leaving my scraper covered with a film of cooking oil overnight is how I clean off the wax after servicing my skis. I wonder if WD40 or similar sprays work as well - I might have to experiment.

Hurtle wrote:
The way that the bindings retain water puts me off skiing on the last day of the holiday/travel day, as everything in my board bag is wet and the ski edges have already rusted by the time I get home!

Yes me too, though I find little or no rust if I dry skis and bindings carefully and surround the skis with my non-cotton fleece robe to allow water vapour away and into all my other clothes in the bag, and keep a gap between the skis, and then unpack immediately on return which I'm sure you do too.

I nearly cried on return from my first ski trip with my first brand new skis which I had wrapped carefully in plastic to keep my clothes dry rolling eyes Laughing
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I take an old towel with me to dry them, then zardox. No rust
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Yup, Zardoz is great. Just wipe over. I'd still prefer a layer of wax for summer storage though, mainly for the bases.
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