Hey all....I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but hopefully informative.
I've been using the Swix method of scrapeless waxing lately, for the later part of last season, and this season too. For description of the method, see page 5 of the tech manual:
http://www.swixsport.com/dav/31b9fbec65.pdf, Fiberlene method.
This has been a huge time saver, as I have 7 pairs of skis to keep humming, and with a business and two active teenage daughters on the go, any time saver is gold in my books. I'd guess it has cut my time spent waxing almost in half. Gotta like that!
However....it wasn't a full two-thumbs-up. I found that by following what Swix recommends (ie. crayoning softened wax on, then running the iron with Fiberlene over the ski in a single pass), the wax didn't last as long as a traditional hot wax and scrape. With the latter, the wax would hold for about 3 ski days before I'd reapply. But with the Fiberlene method, the bases would look dry after only 1 or 2 days out. No time saving there, as I'd have to wax more frequently.
Also, at the start of the iron-in pass with Fiberlene, for say the first 10 inches or so at the ski's tip, the paper would absorb almost all the wax at the start of the pass and leave almost nothing behind. I guess the new dry paper would just suck up all the wax, but as the iron progressed along the ski and the paper became saturated with wax, it would then leave a nice thin layer.
So to improve the durability and get around the dry patch problem, I've modified the Swix method slightly, and am doing something similar to what John described in his original post; sort of a combination traditional hot wax / Fiberlene method:
1) Drip molten wax onto bases (sparingly, not an excessive amount, but enough to cover with a thin uniform layer; practice will tell you how much to drip on); then iron in
without using Fiberlene, making three complete passes up and down the ski to really get the PTEX warm and absorb the wax.
2) Do a single slow pass (20 seconds from tip to tail) with the iron with a piece of Fiberlene between iron and base; this evens out the wax, picks up dirt (a lot!), and takes up excess wax. I use a double layer of the paper, because a single layer is too thin and I end up just ripping it.
3) Take the now-saturated piece of Fiberlene and do a brief short pass over the tip again to deposit a thin layer where the paper left the base dry.
4) Remove paper and discard; do a final pass with the iron to even out the wax (this is probably overkill, but it makes it feel like a more thorough job).
5) Let cool and brush briefly with the appropriate brush to open up some structure; the first couple of runs will take off whatever excess wax is left on there, but the brush grooves will still give decent glide.
6) Go skiing!!!
I'm finding that this has really improved how long a coat of wax lasts, and am now back to waxing after every third day. While this modified method adds a bit of time (maybe a minute per ski) over what Swix recommends, there is still far less time involved than the traditional method, and almost no mess to clean up -- just a few granules of wax from the brush, but no scrapings. Nice! Uses much less wax, too.
As an aside, it's amazing how much dirt the paper picks up out the bases. The leading edge of the paper is typically black with dirt, esp. when we've been out in soft spring snow.
Next up -- rotobrushes! Gotta make this task even quicker. Time to go shopping....
Cheers, and I hope you all find this helpful.
Svend