Base preparation | Brushes for the care of the ski base

Ski surface care with the electric base brush RB120
 

Sharp edges do not only guarantee a lot of fun, they are also essential for safety on the slopes. However, it is not enough to just take care of the edges; another extremely important part of ski preparation is the care of the ski surface. Good care and preparation of the ski surface goes hand in hand with ski edge grinding - one builds on the other, and they only work together. So how do you keep the surface in good shape and what should you pay attention to when choosing the tools and materials?
 

In order to prepare a ski surface from the ground up for use on the slope, you mainly work with base brushes. They can be distinguished in three different ways: Bristle material, type and application. Which brush should be used when can be explained with the help of a concrete example. In this example, the care of the covering is described from beginning to end.
The respective brushes are linked in the text. Here you can find an overview of all brushes:

OVERVIEW BRUSHES

Step 1: Cleaning the surface and exposing the surface structure

The first step to a perfectly prepared ski surface is cleaning. This is done with metal brushes - bronze is the preferred brush material. When brushing out the ski surface, old wax, chips, dust from ski edge grinding and other dirt that has accumulated are removed from the surface. Thanks to its solid structure, the brush is able to penetrate the surface structure deeply, exposing it and refreshing the ski surface. The skis are now ready for waxing and the next step.

Tip: Wipe your skis with a cloth after using the bronze brush, so you can be sure that any remaining dirt particles have been completely removed and are not pressed back into the surface together with the new wax layer.
 

Step 2: Deep cleaning of the coating structure after waxing

When waxing the skis, care should be taken not to apply too much wax. This would make the next step unnecessarily difficult. The excess wax is brushed off of the ski surface in the "deep cleaning" process. For this purpose, a nylon brush is used, that partially exposes the coating structure of the ski and - as already mentioned - removes excess wax from the ski coating. With its rather soft texture, the nylon brush is ideal for brushing out the ski surface after waxing as well as for performing light work. After the described process, the ski base should only have a fine, smooth wax film and any unevenness should have disappeared. The right amount of wax is essential for comfort and safety on the slopes. Both too much and too little wax on the surface prevents the ski from gliding on the snow. The consequences are a considerable loss of speed and the ski can stick on the slope - in the worst case this can even lead to falling.

Tip: If you don't want to invest too much energy and time in brushing, have a look at the shop under ski brushing! Here you can find all manual brushes and our newest product, the motorized rotobrush. With a removable handle which can be mounted on a simple cordless screwdriver, it is far ahead of conventional brushes, especially when it comes to saving time.

Step 3: Finish

In the third and last step of the base tuning, the ski base gets the final touch with a so-called "finish". An even finer and softer horsehair brush is used to polish the surface. The ski surface is now well-prepared and professionally cared-for.

Tip: The horsehair coating brush is particularly suitable for brushing out hard waxes (e.g. cold snow wax). A large selection of ski wax for every condition as well as other professional and useful tools for surface care can also be found in the raze-cat shop under surface preparation.