never use a base cleaner on your snow board

Lol... I can't believe people are treating their snowboard base like it was skin... It's inert. There are no pores like skin or wood. You can't moisturise it, and you can't chemically dessicate it. Do you want some Jergens Age Defying for your base too? haha!

The purpose of base cleaner is to unbond contaminants and wax from the base surface that mild soap and water cannot. Just use real base cleaner and a brush: plastic, fine brass, or silicone bristles, it won't matter. Citrus cleaner is a popular cheap alternative, albeit with a few unnecessary additives (dye, scenting agents, sometimes varnish/polish compounds).

Isopropyl alcohol and chlorinated brake cleaner are two other very strong alternative cleaners, but they vaporise extremely fast because they are almost pure solvent with no oil/slicking additives. If you're not quick, they can just dehydrate the contaminants completely while evaporating, rather than washing them out.

Originally posted by sdip12 I also had a question about scraping it off, is there a point where you are scraping off to much? i mean i know you cant scrape to much but how do you know when it is a good time to stop scraping?

When the base surface is perceivably even and little or no wax is being removed by your scraper is when you are done scraping. This, of course, depends on how true your scraper is... a good scraper will be nearest to true straight and stay like that for many uses. If not, or if you are a perfectionist, you may be able to send it to a professional machinist to grind to perfect straight again-- an odd request, but usually the case for metal scrapers.

Originally posted by robnezz23 Originally posted by scorpio67 please read the following if you want the longest life of your board and the beast performance.....read "HOT WAX AND BASE CLEANING"....TRUST ME ON THIS ...ITS WORTH THE READ   http://www.tognar.com/waxing_tips_ski_snowboard.html Dang how did this thread get buried and I never saw it till now.  There are some old skool Sierra members at the beginning of this thread.

Same here. I haven't ever seen this thread before. So apparently you're not supposed to use base cleaner because it damaages your snowboard.

Good Stuff!!!!

I always use the toko wax remover to clea n the base of my snowboard before i have it waxed...

and i have never had any type of problem...

I still think that whole base cleaner thing is a wive's tale.

http://www.slidewright.com/weblog/ski-snowboard/waxing-ski-snowboard/base-cleaning-hot-scrape-or-cleaner/

I use citrus base cleaner all the time on my snowboards. Don't have a problem whatsoever with waxing afterwards.

Here's a couple of my boards after using citrus cleaner and waxing. I even dripped the citrus cleaner directly on the base and immediately wiped.




They rode great and didn't dry out for a couple of sessions on man-made crud.

Great Link. I didn't realize waxing was so much of a science. I picked up a few good tips though to wax my board.

I use the hot wax cleaning method when I was snowboards.  To conserve wax I just rub the block of wax on the iron and crayon it on the base to give it a real thin layer.  After that heat it up and scrap it off.  The only time I use cleaners is when I make repairs.

Thanks for the tips guys!!

I always use a base cleaner if it needs it.  I've never had it dry out my board or do anything negative to it.  I use One Ball Jay biogreen citrus.

that is a hell of a find.  def going to rethink using the base cleaner and the scraper sharpening tips were cool.  thanks for sharing this.  

Originally posted by canadianbacon You just need to make sure your not letting the base cleaner dry out your base

And you how you propose to do that?  Bend the laws of physics?  Besides, trying to rid your base of all "contaminants" is some crazy OCD stuff.  Are you the kind of person who washes their hands a hundred times a day?  News for you... it actually harms your body.  And trying to clean your board of all contaminents will harm your base, plain and simple.  All you need to do is wipe the board with a wet towel to get rid of 90% of the crunk and then the hot wax will take care of the rest.

you could remove it with the hot wax method where you drip and remove right away. waste a whole lot of wax though 

the base cleaner can be used, but dont use it unless the base is really dirty or required. it dries out the base if you use it too much. but if you gotta use it, use it 

what canadianbacon said, its a citrus base cleaner that you want to clean the board not excatly a oil remover NOR dish washing detergent 

Originally posted by aecho1231 i wouldnt recommend using dish washing detergent. go to your local auto zone place, and get oil remover/greese wash.

no you don't use any of that, you buy a citrus based base cleaner from your local snowboard shop

the title of this article is wrong

from the article itself:

"BASE CLEANER TIP
A leading p-tex manufacturer advises that to help minimize any chance of reduced wax absorption after cleaning ski or snowboard bases, wax solvents should not be poured directly on a base, but rather sprayed or dripped onto a clean, lint-free cloth or piece of fiberlene or base tex paper, and the base cleaned with the cloth."

lol, pretty decent overview of waxing though, but this is too much for an average consumer, this really does mean much to anyone, unless your actually competing

cool lots of good tips

Waxing your board is for cheaters! Just ride edge to edge all the time and you avoid the need to wax your board :)

What do you use, like what type of cleaner. Goo gone, Mean Green,etc.

Great knowledge to have, Thanks!

unfortunately, base cleaner* may be the only option that will get all that stubborn spring dirt off your base...or at least the only real option for us basic, non-pro snowboarders 

that dirt impregnated wax is hard to get off, but don't be tempted to just pour base cleaner on the base and walk away - don't let it sit!  Instead, pour it on a cloth and just keep rubbing the base just until the dirt is gone...then hot wax immediately

you may want to wait until the season is over to use any base cleaner... that way, after cleaning, you can just melt a fat storage layer of wax on there for summer



*(or any all purpose orange/citrus based house cleaner)

windex??!!!...just buy some Simple Green

i have heard you can use windex as a substitute for a base cleaner.  Any thoughts on this?

^ good to here that they are dependable. Gonna have to grab it for like 12 bucks now :D