Testing Toko Base Performance Liquid Paraffin in cold conditions

Fri, Jan  3, 2020 - By Ian Harvey

It has been cold lately where I have been, so I have been testing cold waxes. The performance of Base Performance Liquid Paraffin has totally surprised me to the point where it is now my new favorite glide wax.

The instructions are to apply and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes and brush out with the special super soft polishing brush. From what I have seen, we can do better. This wax does not act like a liquid if you apply it correctly. If you spray it on a clean and hardened ski base (either a skied on ski that has been brushed out well or a ski that has been waxed with a hard wax such as Base Performance Blue and has been brushed out well) in a room temperature environment (not in the garage) and leave the skis in that room temperature environment overnight and then brush it out with two passes of a copper brush, you will have a superb wax job for cold conditions.

(Note I didn't say you will have great skis, as if the skis or structure aren't right for the conditions, the wax can only be so effective, but the wax job will be excellent).

This is a race worthy wax job. I've tested this three times now: Twice in extremely cold snow (-10f in the shade to 10f in the sun) and once with light snow falling and 20f. All 3 times, my skis were incredible.

I also tested it another time with skis that I knew were poor in fresh cold powder and in those conditions my skis were predictably poor, so the wax (like pretty much any other wax) was not able to overcome skis that are not suited for the conditions. 

The last time I tested this, I had Performance Black on one ski and Performance Black with Base Performance Blue Liquid Paraffin over it on the other. The BPLP Blue over P Black was definitely  better and this is impressive as P Black is very good in that condition tested. This is a race worthy wax despite the actual application and finishing only taking less than a minute. It hardens to the point of it acting like a durable cold condition hot wax and really runs.

I tested Base Performance Red Liquid Paraffin VS High Performance Red Liquid Paraffin in warmer conditions (both over Base Performance Blue Hot Wax) and it was no surprise that the High Performance Liquid Paraffin was better. The Red was still decent though. The Base Performance Blue Liquid Paraffin is outstanding though in cold snow where being hydrophobic is less of a positive. It is really slick and race worthy. We will bring it to US XC Nationals in Houghton, MI and make it available to teams.

Key points to success with Base Performance Liquid Paraffin are

1. Apply on a clean and hardened ski base
2. Let sit overnight in room temperature
3. Brush out with copper brush (2 passes) 

I think the Liquid Paraffin polishing brush will be more appropriate for the Red and Yellow waxes, but it didn't do much to the Blue after it had sat long enough for it to truly harden and bond to the base.

Good luck! Of course I will continue to test the BPLP Red and Yellow as conditions change. We will have warmer weather this coming week.  For those that aren't aware, these are brand new waxes.