What is no-wax chemistry?

 What is no-wax chemistry?

 

The most of no-fluor wax systems (base waxes, powders, liquids, speeders etc.) are still based on waxes (different types, blends of waxes enriched with different additives).

 

All wax-based products rely especially on the mechanical retention in the ski base, especially in amorphous regions of the ski base. Chemical bonds of wax-based products are normally too weak.

 

Mechanical retention in the ski base has its limits which cannot be overcome.

 

That’s the reason why several ski wax manufacturers approached the no-wax way.

 

How it works?

 

No-wax chemistry products contain normally 3 different components. First component is an etching agent which is used to etch / change the surface of the ski base slightly in order to prepare it for absorbing gliding agents. Second component is a binder / carrier which is normally a polymer with low-melting temperature which is filled with the respective gliding agents. Binders are needed because the gliding agents normally do not stick to UHMWPE even if etched slightly. Third component are gliding agents themselves which are very often nano-particles of different substances.

 

After application the ski base surface is etched slightly, the binder filled with gliding agents is entering the slightly disordered ski base surface and unneeded substances evaporate as a result of which the no-wax product will change the status from liquid to solid. Finished. Ski base is coated with a polymer-like agent continuously.

 

 

What is crucial to achieve a reliable kick? Part IV.: correctly choosen kick waxes

Kick ski waxes are not easily to be used, for this reason they are often replaced by different alternatives as e.g. mohair skis, wax tapes, no wax skis with nano-structure etc.

We recommend to use kick waxes if snow conditions are stable and predictable, for example when they do not change for longer time (e.g. several days).

Under stable and predictable snow and weather conditions kick ski waxes can be used safely and reliably without any big issues.

If you are not experienced enough DO NOT USE kick ski waxes in case of snow fall, close to zero degrees, any time when snow or weather conditions change fast.

General advice how to use kick waxes:

• apply kick waxes in kick zone only
• NEVER combine kick waxes with alternatives
• always start with a colder / harder wax applied in a thin layer
• hard kick waxes need to be rubbed by a cork
• before you “go” to a warmer / softer wax, try to apply more thin layers of a colder / harder wax
• do not apply more than ca. 4 thin layers
• hard waxes are dedicated for crystalline snow conditons or snow conditions where the snow crystalls did not lose their forms and shapes completely
• clisters are dedicated for transformed snow conditions or snow conditions where original snow crystalls have transformed to more or less oval cornes of different size
• you can put clisters on hard waxes but not vice versa

How does the wax stick to the ski base? - part I.

It is common knowledge that ski bases are waxed. Many wax manufacturers offer liquid waxes where the wax is dissolved in a rapidly evaporating agent. With a sponge you just apply liquid solution of wax and solvent on the ski base and after the solvent evaporation your ski is ready to be used with improved gliding features!

Is it really true?

To answer this question, we need to understand how the wax sticks to the ski base. Does it stick by chemical bonds or by mechanical retention?

The way how waxes stick to the ski base depends especially on the type and features of the ski base. Cheaper extruded ski base types do not have NANO fibril structure to retain waxes mechanically, thus they need to stick to the ski base by chemical bonds only.

 

Chemical bonds are – however – very weak, thus the abrasion resistance of such a wax layer is very low. In other words: a wax layer – especially liquid wax layer – applied on the cheaper extruded ski base will wear off in several hundred meters or max. kilometers depending on snow conditions.

 

More expensive sintered ski base types have NANO fibril structure on the very top surface to retain waxes mechanically, thus waxes are mixed with the base material to a new layer consisting of both wax and ski base material.

 

Mechanically retained wax molecules are protected against abrasion forces, thus their life time is relatively good. Mechanical retention is – however – supported by heat, thus hot wax application is recommended here. Cold liquid wax application will hardy penetrate deep enough.

Conclusions

Waxes stick to cheap extruded ski base types by weak chemical bonds only with very low life time of wax coating. Waxes stick to more expensive sintered ski base types by mechanical retention with good life time. Liquid wax application seems to be waste of money in both cases.

How deep can waxes penetrate into the ski base?

Waxes penetrate into the ski-base, however, the penetration depth is very small, according to many different research studies the penetration depth is max. 1 microns, 1.000 nano-meters.

Regardless of research study results the value of max. 1 microns, 1.000 nano-meters for wax penetration into the ski base material seems to be very realistic.

• the top surface of the ski base is created by NANO fibre-like structure where wax molecules are accommodated in free cavities, the normal length of the NANO fibres or depth of the NANO fibre-like structure is ca. 250 nano-meters
• in this “open” top surface there is enough free space to accommodate wax molecules
• inside the NANO fibre-like structure which depth is ca. 250 nano-meters are cavities and free spaces in the size of a few tens of nano-meters whereas the size of individual wax molecules is amounting to a few of nano-meters
• in this “open” top surface the most of wax molecules are accommodated
• some wax molecules can also penetrate a bit deeper into the ski base but only in so called amorphous regions inside the bulk polymer, crystalline regions cannot be entered by wax molecules
• below the open top fibre-like structure, i.e. in the bulk polymer the free cavities are - however - much smaller (typical range for UHMWPE is 5 to 20 nano-meters)
• at the same time the very top surface of the ski base consists of crystalline regions and amorphous regions separated by transitional regions, waxes and additives contained in waxes can be absorbed in amorphous regions only, crystalline regions are not accessible for waxes and additives.

Most of wax molecules are accommodated in the open top surface which is not much deeper than 250 nano-meters. Wax molecules can be retained between the NANO hairs. Wax molecules and NANO hairs of the polymer create the so called gliding surface.

 

What are the main weaknesses of waxes? Part no. II – wax softness

Waxes are normally soft, much softer than the material of the ski base. Even if ski wax manufacturers try to mix hard waxes for abrasive and aggressive snow conditions, waxes are normally softer than the ski base itself.

 

If softer waxes are mixed with the ski base material in the top surface of the ski base creating the mixture called gliding surface, the result is always softer surface of the ski base or softening of the ski base surface by adding the wax.

 

The hardest waxes offered currently on the ski wax market like Toko X-Cold Powder / Blue X-Cold, Holmenkol Ultra Base Cold, Swix CHX4 / HSX4 / PS4 (cold powder blue/green series), Maplus Race Base Cold – reach the hardness 40 to 50 shore D which is still below the hardness of the ski base which is normally 65 shore D.

 

If we consider that the wax absorbing capacity in cavities inside molecular structure of a ski base is ca. 5 to 30 % of the thin top layer of the ski base, we can say that on the surface amounting to max. 255 cm2 and min. 38 cm2 of the total 765 cm2 the hardness is reduced by ca. 23 to 38 per cent.

 

If we consider that especially the hardness is the most important factor influencing the gliding qualities or friction especially in cold, hard and abrasive snow conditions, then it could mean that wax application under these conditions is contra-effective.

 

Fortunately for ski wax manufacturers, the question is not as straightforward as it might seem at first glance. It is true that the application of soft waxes reduces the entire hardness at least in the extent where wax molecules are accommodated inside the ski base material. On the other side ski base is protected and intermolecular bonds between ski base surface and snow surface can be blocked thanks to wax application.

 

We need to apply waxes also under cold, hard and abrasive snow conditions to protect the ski base and block intermolecular bonds. At the same time wax application will always decrease the ski base hardness. Especially the hardness is the most important factor influencing the gliding in cold and hard snow conditions.

What are the main weaknesses of waxes? Part no. I - wax bonding to ski base

Ski waxes are for sure the most popular and most common agents to optimize gliding features for particular snow and weather conditions.

For each snow condition and for any temperature range there will be many different waxing options to be used.

What are - however - the main weaknesses of waxes especially in competition ski service?

The main weakness of ski waxes is the way how they connect with ski base.

Even if this statement sounds very theoretically, the consequences are practical and enormous.

Ski base consists of PE molecular chains enriched with different additives in NANO level. PE molecular chains create on the ski base surface a fiber-like structure with many small cavities and free spaces. If we consider that the normal length of NANO-fibers on the ski base surface is amounting to ca. 150 to 350 nanometers, the size of cavities can be estimated in the range of a few tens of nanometers. This is enough free space to accommodate wax molecules, especially if they are highly-mobile due to liquid state by ironing.

Fiber-like structure on the ski base surface and wax molecules accommodated in the free cavities inside the fiber-like structure create a new gliding surface on the top of the ski base which is a mixture of the fiber-like structure and wax molecules.

Already this new gliding surface is more a mosaic consisting of different PE-stones, wax-stones and additive-stones. Imagine what will happen if a second / third / forth etc. wax layer is ironed on the mosaic-like gliding surface... The diversity and variability of the gliding mosaic will be increased dramatically.

After wax application - especially if more wax layers are applied - a unique and original surface is created on the top of ski base. This gliding mosaic-like surface is so unique that it cannot be repeated twice. Most probably on each ski of one ski pair a different mosaic-like gliding surface is created. This is very probably the reason why competition ski service is more magic and spells than science! Results can be hardly repeated!