Initial Base Preparation
Important safety note: Many of the things described below are dangerous. Waxing irons are hot and will burn you. Wax smoke is harmful to your health. Metal edges are extremely sharp throughout their preparation (far, far sharper than you realize) and it's easy to cut yourself, driving fine metal shavings deep into the wound, requiring proper cleaning and stitching by a qualified doctor, plus a Tetanus vaccination. You use the information contained here at your own risk. Happy Monkey Snowboards, Inc., cannot be held responsible if you injure yourself or damage your equipment by following these tips. Proceed at your own risk.
Having a properly prepared base is the first step in the process. Getting a nice stone grind, removing oxidation, and cleaning all need to be done before you wax the board, not after.
Base Structure
Most snowboards have perfectly smooth bases when you buy them. A smooth base looks nice, but it has a tendency to act like a big suction cup against the snow. Adding fine grooves, or structure, along the length of the base helps prevent this. The grooves can be different sizes and are laid down in different patterns depending on the likely snow conditions. This can be done by hand with sandpaper or special hand tools, but it's best done by a professional at a quality snowboard shop with a precision stone grinding machine. There they can impart a fine, medium, or coarse structure in a variety of different patterns to suit the typical snow conditions for your area. A decent base structure combined with a proper wax job will give you unparalleled glide.
If you live in the Seattle area, we highly recommend World Cup Skier Service in Bellevue. These guys are fantastic. They have top quality machines and the experience and care needed to do this the right way.
Removing Oxidation
If your base has a white, furry look to it, then the base is oxidized. The oxidation will prevent good wax absorption, so it must be removed. Keeping the base properly waxed will prevent oxidation in future. If the oxidation is minor then you can remove it by brushing it briskly with a bronze brush. If there is a lot of it, or if the bronze brush doesn't work well, then you'll need to take the board to a good shop and have it stone ground to remove the oxidized material.
Cleaning the base
The
base needs to be cleaned before waxing if it's dirty. It should be free from as
much dirt, road grime, or tree sap as possible. You don't want to wax a bunch of
dirt into the base... that's not usually too helpful. This usually isn't too
much of a problem in the winter, but in the spring when the snow is melting it
becomes an issue. Dirt, tree sap, etc. are captured with the layers of snowfall
over the winter. As the snow melts, this stuff tends to float to the top and get
all over your board.
Using your scraper over the base sometimes helps, but if there is a lot of visible dirt then you need to use a base cleaner. Citrus-based cleaners are the best, but if you have a petroleum-base cleaner, you can use that too. Using cleaners, even citrus-based ones, will have a tendency to "dry out" the base by removing not only the dirt, but much of the good wax still left in the base, so use them sparingly.