silicone spray on skis? - Page 2

I only use it on the topsheets.

Lemon Pledge! Works great, but of course it doesn't last as long as wax. Sure is easy and quick. Great to just keep in your ski bag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidding 

Well, I would expect that you are going to find wax is best, but I have not tried silicon.  Since your going to experiment, might as well make it interesting.

 

As a suggestion, you could wax one of your skis (as your control/benchmark/baseline) and then experiment with the other and see how they feel in various conditions when skied (documenting those conditions).

 

If you want to go crazy, you could try:

 

1.  Silicon - as you suggested.

2.  Armour All or similar - vinyl or rubber protectant, restorer

3.  PAM - cooking spray

4.  parafin wax

5.  Turtlewax - car wax rub on stuff

6.  Nu Finish - non-wax "space age polymer" stuff for cars, plastics, boats

 

 

 

Shouldn't we add KY jelly to the list?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howard9999 

Does anyone have any opinions about the effectiveness, or maybe drawbacks, of spraying ski bottoms with silicone spray?  any solid knowledge?

 

XC skiers often used silicon--I think the old Maxiglide spary was silicon based, the new pastes are Jojoba oil and telfon liquids; Zardoz was/is a teflon liquid rub on. I've used the gamut; for my p-tex non-waxless bases I prefer hot wax and I carry an F4 rub-on.  I have used Armor-all and Rain-X and Silicon spray on the topsheets to prevent snow build up.  In my experience, the universal hot waxes last longer and do better than the liquid and paste silicon/telfon rub-ons.  I sometimes would have to reapply Maxiglide or Zardoz several times in a day; hot wax every 2-3 days of bc use.  If you use silicon, teflon, etc on your bases you may have difficulty getting a good hot wax application until the other stuff is long gone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Carey 

 

XC skiers often used silicon--I think the old Maxiglide spary was silicon based, the new pastes are Jojoba oil and telfon liquids; Zardoz was/is a teflon liquid rub on. I've used the gamut; for my p-tex non-waxless bases I prefer hot wax and I carry an F4 rub-on.  I have used Armor-all and Rain-X and Silicon spray on the topsheets to prevent snow build up.  In my experience, the universal hot waxes last longer and do better than the liquid and paste silicon/telfon rub-ons.  I sometimes would have to reapply Maxiglide or Zardoz several times in a day; hot wax every 2-3 days of bc use.  If you use silicon, teflon, etc on your bases you may have difficulty getting a good hot wax application until the other stuff is long gone.

I used to use a liquid (don't know if it was silicone or something else) on my xcountry skis with fishscale bases (do they still make those?)--you couldn't really wax them properly because of the bottoms.  It didnt last long. Before that I used pine tar, then wax. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldgoat 

 

 

...xcountry skis with fishscale bases (do they still make those?)...

Bigger and better than ever.

For sticky wet warm snow conditions, especially powder snow that has been "turned" by the sun's evil rays, I have tried:

WD-40

Silicone spray

PAM

Rain-X

Ivory soap

Zardoz

Swix CH-10

Holmenkol black Glacier Wax

Swix LF-10

Creating aggressive linear grooves with a riller bar

Of the first six, the fastest glide was Rain-X, for about 100 yards. Of the first five, all significantly improved glide, but again for about 100 yards. Zardoz was the longest lasting, noticeably faster for about "half a run".

Swix 'yellow' improves glide, but it's all over when the skis contact dirty snow. Once that dirt mixes with the wax, you might as well have used Elmer's.

The black glacier wax so far is the best option. It is not nearly as affected by dirt as is CH-10 and LF-10, and so far is the go-to wax for late season conditions.

Aggressive linear structure noticeably improves glide, but just as noticeably impedes turning. More applicable to Cross-Country than Alpine.

Conclusion: Slippery sprays work, but not for long. Half a run, maybe. Glacier wax works best so far. I would like to try Swix HF-10, but I could also buy a bottle of Scotch from the exclusive locked liquor cabinet for what that stuff costs.

What about petroleum jelly?  Rub in some Vaseline - It's been used for decades to improve glide.

I just use coconut oil. it smells great and reminds me of tropical sun, bikinis and palm trees. It's a good focus when you ski the trees.  Who uses Butter ?

An extra shot of lemon pledge at the start gate... doesn't last long but gets you p to speed quick!