 Poster: A snowHead
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Wax irons cost way too much.
I'd like to buy an older style flat bottomed iron...but they are just not on sale anymore.
So could I use a cheapie steam iron...but obviously without any steam?!
Would the holes clog up and act a a wax reseviour/puddle.
Anybody got experience of this?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd recommend buying one of those small travel irons - no steam issues + you can take it with you to save cash on waxing in resort
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Don't use a steam iron, go find a small travel iron, they're usually not steam and they're cheap and just about the perfect size
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I use an old steam iron with out any problems, as mentioned above not ideal for carrying around and you need to be careful not to turn heat up too high. p.s not much good for ironing clothes after waxing!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'm told that travel irons don't get hot enough. Amazon sell non-steam irons though, and I got one on ebay very recently.
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I found a supplier of the old fashioned sort, £20 and will be with me on friday (just in time, removal blokes come on tuesday).
So what temperature setting should I use: Linen, Cotton, Wool, Sythetics etc ??
Just out of curiosity...why not a steam iron? Surely if you don't have any water in it it is just as dry as a dry iron...it does have holes though, are they a problem?
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rungsp, go ahead and use the steam iron until you get something better. Some things I've noticed:
- Use the lowest possible heat setting that melts the wax. This will vary depending on the wax you're using
- As you melt the wax on the iron to drip it onto the base hold the iron holes-down so that the wax still flows along the bottom of the base by surface adhesion but not into the holes.
- As you're ironing the ski surface itself, keep using the lowest heat setting possible. This might get frustrating and will take longer than with a proper wax iron, but keep at it until the whole base is liquid, not just the bit behind the iron itself.
- Avoid teflon-base steam irons- the coating gets scratched up on the steel edges and it gets messy when bits flake off.
- There will be some wax in the steam holes no matter how careful you are. As you finish the skis, iron out as much of it as you can onto some newsprint.
- The temperature on a lot of travel irons tends to oscillate wildly because the thermal inertia of the iron is so small and the heating element capacity is so tiny. If you're careful enough with the setting not to burn the wax, expect the process to take noticeably longer than with a larger iron.
- With a steam iron, it is very inconvenient to use prep wax then a cold-temp wax because the bits of prep wax tend to smoke and burn as you turn the heat up to cold-temp melting ranges. One goes through a lot of newspaper cleaning the iron in between.
- Do not use a steam iron on XC skis, esp. edgeless ones! The thermal oscillations are just too large, and there is a sizeable risk of destroying the adhesive keeping the bases on the skis.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Get yourself the non steam iron for £20. That's what i use, and on a synthetics setting.
The iron needs to be hot enough to melt the wax onto your ski and solidify fairly instantly on contact with the base. If the wax starts to smoke and/or the wax stays liquid for a while once on the ski, then your setting is too high.
You then iron the wax over the whole base until completely covered. Leave to dry for at least half an hour (but it's best left for hours if not over night) before you can scrape it all off.
There is a good book on Amazon on "Careing for your skis".
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rungsp,
I use a travel iron and it works great - about £12 from Argos!
marc gledhill,
I can assure you, they do!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I would recommend buying a genuine ski wax iron I have bought 2 travel (mini) irons off ebay one with thermo setting other not, and neither got hot enough really.
They heat up you spread a marble of wax and they are cold again n u have to wait for like 5 mins for it to reheat, for one single ski it would take hours im not kidding.
Also my one blew up on me today after one succesful wax use lol shorted out the house!
So yeah this is a genuine ski iron I am about to buy for around £30. http://www.xc-elitesports.com/product_info.html?products_id=360¤cy=GBP
Hope this helps 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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A Full Steam Iron is the best, hottest setting and full steam, apply the wax without steam, then turn it right up and hit the steam hard as you reiron the base. 
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rungsp, I am a fully paid up skinflint (well I would be)
But a regular irons thermostat is too rubbish to be worth it- the temperature drops too quickly and kmakes the whole job a pian in the back bottom.
Get a proper wax iron first time to avoid the false economy I made (I now have a waxed up TESCOs cheap pro- and a wax iron- and I wasted hours trying to wax 5 pairs of skis with the regular iron).
Of course if you get a free iron / have an old one (try free cycle) then it costs nothing but your time.
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You know it makes sense.
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rungsp, Buy a Tesco's cheapy iron, and start at a lowish setting until you work out how the wax melts onto the ski, then into the skibase. It's not too dark an art!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Found a website yesterday - skibrum - £20 for a flat based non-steam, temp adjustable iron.
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Poster: A snowHead
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skimastaaah, +1 to that. They are less than £4. Holes do not block up as the wax cannot set in them. Set the temp as required and stick some tape over the dial. Spend you money on a decent vice and other tools first.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Seven year bump. Nice.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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No travel iron's as others have said, no guts
Flat n smooth is good, but a cheep steam iron - mine was £3 at tesco, 150 pairs waxed so far, smokes a bit when I switch it on. Not going to get another till this one won't heat or bursts into flames.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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skimastaaah, +1 to that. They are less than £4. Holes do not block up as the wax cannot set in them. Set the temp as required and stick some tape over the dial. Spend you money on a decent vice and other tools first.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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comprex,
What should you do with the XC skis? Mrs M's favourites are edgeless. I have only ever used Toko express liquid wax on them so far, but I think that they might deserve a bit of pampering now.
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Perhaps a little OT, but has anybody else watched the videos on SCGB on ski waxing with a domestic iron. Does that bloke actually have any idea what he is doing?
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| musher wrote: |
| Perhaps a little OT, but has anybody else watched the videos on SCGB on ski waxing with a domestic iron. Does that bloke actually have any idea what he is doing? |
No
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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cheap iron is fine. You are only melting the wax. As above, lowest setting to melt the wax. Its the scraping off and brushing that should make all the difference.
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ed123, rungsp, Some of the advice here is DANGEROUS and I not exaggerating.
'it smokes a bit' can be extremely dangerous for the waxer and any kids around if you are using fluorinated wax. The wax then gives off fluorine, which is very toxic when inhaled and will lead to lung damage.
You CAN use a non-specialised iron but it will not control the temp as well as a specialist one such as a toko t8 (47gbp) - the resulting spikes and dips in temp mean the real problems which are outlined in many of the threads above.
I used a travel iron as a stop gap but you really have to know what you are doing - and I mean really know - to avoid risks to your health and or to your skis.
Always crayon on wax before starting to apply wax, many novices leave this out and using a cheap iron at the same time as failing to do this can lead quickly to base damage.
Jon Coster's course is invaluable.
Christmas is coming - get your loved ones to buy you a proper iron and learn to use it well.
Use hydrocarbon waxes and save the environment and your lungs.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| valais2 wrote: |
| a specialist one such as a toko t8 (47gbp) |
The ones I linked to are rather less than that....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Have I really been waxing for seven years already?
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Don't wax your skis and save the effort. 
Also wow, yeah didn't notice the date on the OP!
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FAQ
minor embarrassing incident years ago when learning 
