Cleaning your ski of oils

[Skoot1123]

Perhaps there has been discussion on this before, but since we are now in the dog days of summer I thought it would be prudent to bring this up again. What is the recommended way to clean the ski of dirt, oils, suntan lotion ( NO WAY not suntan lotion!) or other debris that will hinder the surface tension on the bottom of the ski. I have heard various ways to clean: no scrub pad, scrub pad with soap, dish towl with soap, just leave it alone. Thoughts?

 

Personally I have used the soap and a scrub pad. I haven't found that it makes any marks in the bottom of the ski - perhaps some of the ski's are more affected by a scrub pad (fine grain or medium grain) than others. Those that come out of a mold (like my 08 Monza) have the waxes and other lubricants that seep out of the ski. Not only that but the oils from hands and other dirt that it picks up in and out of the boat etc. I have also noticed that once I srub it, it doesn't take long for the "oils" to get back on the ski, even when picking the ski up by the bindings and not touching the bottom of it.

[clemsondave]

Soap and one of your gloves.

[davemac]

The youtube video on ski set up that Rossi recently did, began with him rubbing down the ski with towel and rubbing alcohol....to remove all mold release, etc...

[Than_Bogan]

Does this actually matter? I've never tried cleaning my ski, but it always seemed a little silly to me.

 

Anybody have some sort of evidence that this is actually worth the time?

[davemac]

No evidence, but I've heard of someone waxing the bottom of their ski....w/ catastrophic results. Thus, would assume some degree of accidental oil, wax, or dirt buildup...could have some negative effect. With all the OCD folks around here...why take chances ... especially if just talking about periodically taking 20 seconds to wipe your ski down w/ a rag &rubbing alcohol?

[SkiJay]

There are "soft" scrub pads out there, but I don't trust using a scrub pad of any sort. Even if the scrub pad isn't leaving marks on the base, it may be removing material from the bevels' high points where the pounds-per-square-inch pressure is much greater than on the base while scrubbing. Changing a bevel profile will definitely change how the ski rides ... permanently. It's not worth the risk. Isopropyl alcohol on a rag is safe and will remove any oil, wax or mold-release agents on your ski. Dish soap is a close second for effectiveness.

[Wish]

I washed what appeared to be sticker glue/goo off the side/bottom of my ski under the boots this morning. No idea how it got there. Had to be washed off as it was sticky. I believe will be checking my ski more often and checking the neo-sleeve for goo.

[ntx]

The best way to check if it needs to be cleaned, is to put it in the water. When you pull it out, if the water beads like a waxed car, it needs to be cleaned. If it lays on the ski without beading you are good. Most people carry the ski between the boots and wrap the fingers around the bottom. This is the area that will show signs of oils from your fingers. I use cleanser (ajax or comet) with a sponge. Check your ski the next time you ski. You may be surprised.

[Steven_Haines]

Isopropyl alcohol

[Ryno]

I'm not game to try, but it'd be interesting to see how Rainex on the underside would affect the skis performance. It'd be fast as hell, but would it turn?

[footloose42]

@Brent, Dish soap removes car wax from a car body, so I'd be willing to bet it would remove wax off the bottom of a ski too.

[jackski]

Isoproply achohol will damage the bottom finish paint of the older Goode's. Dish soap and a soft fingernail brush are my fav's.

[Horton]

We did this a lot in the old days. Now I pull a ski out of the box and ski on it. Clean your ski if it makes you feel better but what ever you do not not use an abrasive.

[Skoot1123]

It would be interesting to investigate this from a hydrodynamics standpoint. I'm sure the ski companies already have this type of information, and it probably does vary from ski to ski (depending on what it's made from). Might have to get out my engineering books to look at it more closely.

[footloose42]

@Skoot1123 I feel like the huge variance in the materials found in lake water would make finding a reliable equation to determine the effects of oil on a ski very difficult

[Than_Bogan]

While some sort of equation would be cool, of almost equal value would just be general statements about what matters and to what extent. I'm doubtful that "ordinary" build-up makes any measurable difference to anything, but I'm open to being shown the error of my ways.

[Horton]

My guess is what you eat for lunch and or drink the night before is more critical

[footloose42]

I think we should all wax our eyebrows before each set to ensure minimum drag

[Than_Bogan]

I was hoping my ridiculous goatee would help with drag at the right times. Not sure it's working. Then again I'm not sure it's not...

[Skoot1123]

Close cut haircut last night....reduced drag. Hoping that helps too!

[eleeski]

I'll probably get banned for this. Anybody OCD and gullible enough to do things I do deserves what happens to their skis. First, I scrape with a razor blade then I use carburator cleaner or starting ether to remove the wax from my skis. My skis come out of the mold with lots of wax on them. Of course, those chemicals can remove graphics pretty effectively too. Wax creates real problems when I add bondo or paint so I do need a clean ski at some point.

 

That starting carpet at tournaments is saturated with who knows what. A few practice sets with suntan oil or soap slobber all over your ski will get your tournaments to feel like practice (if you can really feel that difference).

 

I ski in Spandex to minimize drag (no I don't ski in drag in spandex) (actually I had a bee fly up my boardshorts while skiing - spandex assures that that will never happen again). But the low drag might not be the right idea. Don Parsons made a bat wing vest to increase drag - he did put up some good scores with it. @Scoot1123 you should have gotten a mohawk. But @Than - a goatee is probably not going to do anything except make you look like an MIT grad. This is the proper direction for this thread to drift.

 

Eric