How to Wax Nordic Skis

How to Wax Nordic (Cross Country) Skis

A guide to waxing Nordic skis for the racer or the recreational skier. Steps are shown with optional tips and explanations included. Bonus material included on how to have optimal skis.

Table of Contents

Overview Chart to Waxing Nordic Skis

Hot Wax

Liquid Wax

Step 8 (Optional): Adding Hand Structure

Kick Wax

Overview Chart to Waxing Nordic Skis

Glide Waxing

Glide vs Kick:

Glide wax goes on the part of your ski that always makes contact with the snow, it is essential to making fast skis. Both skate and classic skis require glide wax. See Figure 1 for details on where to use glide wax.

Glide wax is hydrophobic (repels water) which keeps friction low between the ski and the snow.

Kick wax goes only on classic skis in the middle of the ski in the kick zone to provide grip against the snow. Refer to the kick waxing section for more details.

Liquid wax vs. Hot Wax

Hot Wax Benefits: known to last longer than spray-on wax, a tried and true method. Additionally, ironing the ski takes out any previous hand structure.

Liquid Wax Benefits: easy application, just as fast. As of 2024 much of the wax used on the World Cup is liquid wax.

Hot Wax

Step 1. Brush skis with metal brush

When using a metal(steel, brass, bronze, or copper) brush use a directional brush and only brush from tip to tail of your ski in one long fluid motion.

i. This cleans the ski base by getting any dirt out and opens “pores” of the ski to accept wax better.

Step 2 (Optional): Apply Glide Cleaner

Place a paper towel or a specific wax cleaning towel on top of the glide wax cleaning bottle and flip the bottle quickly to saturate the towel.
Rub the towel along the ski base to cover with a thin layer of glide cleaner.

i. Tip: if the towel comes back dirty, repeat Steps 1 and 2.

Step 3: Iron on Wax

When using hot wax, there are two methods of application:

i. The drip method: melt wax by placing the wax block on the heated iron and let melted wax drip onto the ski.

ii. The crayon method: melt wax by tapping the wax block on the iron, then quickly rub across the ski. This will apply like a crayon and will need to be repeated many times to fully cover the ski in wax.

Run the iron over the ski to melt the wax into the ski base fully.

i. Tips: Make sure to keep the iron moving so as not to burn the ski base. Avoid having more than an inch trail of liquid melted wax behind the iron.

Step 4. Wait

i. For hot wax, it is essential to wait until your ski bases reach room temperature to protect your bases. The waiting period varies based on room temperature (approximately 8 minutes).

Step 5: Scrape

Use a groove scraper in the groove of the ski.

i. Tip: Make sure the groove scraper stays in the groove.

Use the short end of the scraper to lightly scrape the edges of your ski.
Use the long edge of the scraper to scrape from tip to tail in long fluid motions and angle the top of the scraper towards the tail to prevent accidentally having the scraper dig into the skis.

i. You know that you’re done scraping when all the surface wax is off the base.

Step 6: Brush

1. Begin brushing ski with a clean metal brush.

i. When using a metal brush use a directional brush and only brush from tip to tail of your ski in one long fluid motion.

ii. Ideally, this would be different from the brush used to clean the skis.

2. (Optional) Brush skis with a horsehair brush.

i. The barbed ends of the horsehair work especially well for pulling hard (cold) wax out of the ski base. This step is recommended for any green waxes.

3. Brush skis with a white nylon brush.

i. Tip: Metal brushes should be directional and always brushed in the same direction, but nylon or horsehair brushes can be scrubbed back and forth.

4. (Optional) Brush skis with a blue fine nylon brush.

i. This is a polishing brush and is used as the last step.

ii. The ski is completely brushed when it looks polished and shiny. The base structure should be cleaned out with no wax visible.

Step 7 (Optional): Adding Hand Structure

Decide whether you want to add a hand structure to your ski.

i. A structure tool temporarily imprints grooves onto the ski base. This directs water away from the ski base preventing a suction effect between the ski and the snow.

ii. Hand structure is very important when humidity is high and the snow is saturated with water.

iii. The more water is in the snow the coarser the structure should be.

iv. Another important consideration is that a coarser structure picks up more dirt. In a longer race, this dirt accumulation will eventually slow down the ski.

If you decide to add a hand structure, brush with a nylon brush after.

Liquid Wax

Step 1. Brush skis with metal brush

When using a metal(steel, brass, bronze, or copper) brush use a directional brush and only brush from tip to tail of your ski in one long fluid motion.

i. This cleans the ski base by getting any dirt out and opens “pores” of the ski to accept wax better.

Step 2: Apply Glide Cleaner

Place a paper towel or a specific wax cleaning towel on top of the glide wax cleaning bottle and flip the bottle quickly to saturate the towel.
Rub the towel along the ski base to cover with a thin layer of glide cleaner.

i. Tip: if the towel comes back dirty, repeat Steps 1 and 2.

Step 3: Wait

Wait at least 5 minutes for the glide cleaner to dry and soak in.

i. Note: glide cleaner acts as a base hardener too which is why the ski has wax on it after the glide cleaner dries.

Step 4: Brush

Brush the glide cleaner off the ski with a white nylon brush.

Step 5: Spray/Rub on Wax

When using Liquid Wax there are 2 different application methods.

Spray wax: spray small patches along the ski, then spread the wax to the rest of the ski with your finger.

Foam application: rub the ski down with the foam applicator tip until you can see the dried liquid wax along the entire ski.

Step 6: Wait

Wait for at least 20 minutes so that the wax can dry and properly soak into the base.

Step 7: Brush

Brush the ski out with a white nylon brush.
(Optional) Brush out with a blue fine nylon brush.

i. This is a polishing brush and is used as the last step.

ii. The ski is completely brushed when it looks polished and shiny. The base structure should be cleaned out with no wax visible.

Step 8 (Optional): Adding Hand Structure

Decide whether you want to add a hand structure to your ski.

i. A structure tool temporarily imprints grooves onto the ski base. This directs water away from the ski base preventing a suction effect between the ski and the snow.

ii. Hand structure is very important when humidity is high and the snow is saturated with water.

iii. The more water is in the snow the coarser the structure should be.

iv. Another important consideration is that a coarser structure picks up more dirt. In a longer race, this dirt accumulation will eventually slow down the ski.

If you decide to add a hand structure, brush with a nylon brush after.

Kick Wax

Classic skis are the only skis that need kick wax, which is applied in the kick zones in the center camber of the ski under the binding (see Figure 1). There are 3 types (Fish Scale, Skins, and Waxable). Waxable skis are the only ones that need kick wax.

* Kick zones are roughly the back of your binding to a few inches past the front of your binding. If you don’t know where your kick zone is, bring your ski to your local ski store to get your zones marked.

Step 1: (Optional) Choose Your Binder

The purpose of the binder is to provide a good surface for the kick wax to stay on and to increase the longevity of the subsequent layers of kick wax.

There are two types of binder you can use on your kick zone

Klister Binder: Using a base klister as a binder is very durable, even if all your kick wax wears off, the binder is less likely to wear off. Note: liquid base klister is very thin and easy to apply.

i. Klister Binder is ideal for long races.

Hard Wax Binder: Base kick wax can be ironed in to create a binder.

i. Hard Wax Binder is ideal for snow conditions where any klister will cause icing or drag.

Binder is applied the same way you would apply normal kick wax or klister. However, base kick wax and klister (but not liquid klister) are typically ironed into the base with a separate kick-only iron.

Step 2: Apply Kick Wax

Rub kick wax onto the kick zone in a thin layer.

i. Keep in mind that during the next step you may smear some wax past where you rub it on.

ii. For sticky (warm) waxes, you can twist the wax on in spots along the kick zone to prevent over-applying wax.

iii. A few thin, even layers are better than one large, uneven layer of kick wax. Uneven layers potentially cause more drag.

Step 3: Cork in Kick Wax

Cork in kick wax until wax is evenly distributed and smoothed out.

i. Corking generates heat which helps adhere the kick wax to the other wax or the ski base.

ii. Corking should make the layer of kick wax thin so the wax doesn’t drag when skiing.

Step 4: Repeat

Repeat steps 2 and 3 as needed until you have sufficient layers to get good kick and continue to get good kick for the duration of your ski.

i. Figuring out how much wax is needed will take trial and error, but start with a few thin layers (roughly 3 layers).

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