PFAS in Ski Wax, the One Category Where the Sport Banned the Chemistry

Almost every category on this site ends the same way, with manufacturers declining to say what a coating is and our model marking them down for it. Ski wax is different. The governing body of the sport outlawed fluorinated wax, built a test for it, and much of the industry reformulated in public.

We graded 203 ski and snowboard waxes. 161 of them land in our Excellent band, and none lands in our Bad band. The two lowest grades belong to SWIX CeraF fluorocarbon products at 30, and one of those is listed by its seller as rare and discontinued, which is what a banned racing product looks like on the resale market.

Summary comparison table

Product	PFAS grade	Formulation as recorded
Maplus Arctic Base Fluor Free 1 kg	Excellent, 100/100	Ski wax base, fluorine-free formulation
Swix UR6 Blue Bio Training Wax	Excellent, 100/100	Bio-based paraffin blend, Swix company PFAS statement
Purl Eco Ski and Snowboard Wax	Excellent, 100/100	Hydrocarbon wax blend
mountainFLOW Hot Wax	Excellent, 100/100	Hydrocarbon wax blend
Burton Fast Wax	Excellent, 85/100	Hydrocarbon wax blend
Rex Klister	Excellent, 85/100	Hydrocarbon wax blend
Holmenkol Natural Ski Wax Bar	Excellent, 85/100	Natural wax blend
Hertel Super HotSauce All-Temp Wax	Excellent, 85/100	Hydrocarbon wax
Demon Team Wax Universal Snowboard Wax	Excellent, 85/100	Hydrocarbon paraffin wax blend
Dakine Indy Hot Wax	Excellent, 85/100	Hydrocarbon-based wax
GlideMAX Quick Rub-On Wax	Good, 50/100	Hydrocarbon wax blend, composition unspecified
Dominator Elite NS3 Glide Wax	Good, 50/100	Glide wax, composition unspecified
Solda HC1 Ski Wax	Poor, 40/100	Hydrocarbon wax with a fluorocarbon DWR treatment
Gallium Giga-Speed Ski Wax Set	Poor, 40/100	Hydrocarbon wax with unspecified fluorinated glide additives
Toko 250g Universal Ski Wax	Poor, 40/100	Hydrocarbon wax with unspecified glide agents
Dominator Elite OS2P Glide Wax	Poor, 35/100	Glide wax, coating composition unspecified
SWIX CeraF Solid Set Nordic Wax Bundle	Poor, 30/100	Fluorinated wax blend
SWIX CeraF FC8XWS 20g Fluorocarbon Powder Wax	Poor, 30/100	Fluorocarbon powder wax

How we graded these

Every grade here is a model-based estimate built from publicly available product information and manufacturer disclosures, not a lab test performed by our team. A high score means lower concern based on reviewed sources, never PFAS-free and never safe. Across all 203 waxes the spread is 23 at 100, 133 at 85, five at 75, three at 65, 15 at 50, 21 at 40, one at 35 and two at 30. On 16 September 2026 we corrected fourteen plain waxes whose records had skipped the penalty for a brand saying nothing about PFAS, which every other silent brand carries. They moved from 100 to 85. On 17 September 2026 plain Swix waxes moved from 85 to 100, because Swix says it stopped selling PFAS-containing waxes by the 2021-2022 season, a company statement we record as a brand claim, unverified. Look up any specific wax in our PFAS product finder.

What the sport actually did

According to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, FIS announced in 2019 that it would outlaw fluorinated ski waxes. FIS says it was not until March 2023 that a full ban was declared, for the 2023/24 season, and it attributes the delay to testing capability.

The test FIS settled on is Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, using Bruker Alpha II machines, and FIS describes testing at its top-tier events, the FIS World Cup and FIS World Ski Championships, as well as the FIS Junior World Ski Championships. The International Biathlon Union adopted the same ban.

Two things about that are worth being precise on. It is a competition rule, not a consumer safety regulation, and it does not by itself stop anyone selling or buying fluorinated wax for recreational use. And four years passed between the announcement and the enforcement, because a rule you cannot test is not a rule. We are describing what the governing body did, not making a health finding of our own.

Why most wax grades well, and what actually moves it

It would be tidy to say ski wax scores well because the brands disclose. That is only partly true, so here is what our scoring actually does.

A plain paraffin or hydrocarbon wax is recorded as a base material with no inherent PFAS use, and wax starts from a low baseline in our model. The 126 waxes at 85 are that kind of plain wax from brands that say nothing about PFAS, which costs fifteen points. That is where most of the waxes on the shelf sit.

Twenty-three waxes go further, with a fluorine-free or PFAS-free statement behind them. Six carry their own product statement, including Maplus Arctic Base Fluor Free, Purl Eco and Star NF Non-Fluoro glide wax. The other seventeen are plain Swix waxes, such as Swix UR6 Blue Bio Training Wax, covered by Swix's company statement. Our model records all of those as brand claims, unverified, and they are the only waxes at 100. A plain wax like Burton Fast Wax that makes no such statement grades 85. The fifteen points are the statement, not a tested difference in the wax, but a statement on the label is something you can hold a manufacturer to, and silence is not.

The grades fall where something else is recorded. Seventeen waxes at 50 have a proprietary coating whose composition is not given. Twenty-one at 40 are recorded with a water-repellent treatment or glide additive, several of them explicitly fluorinated. And the two at 30 are the only products where a fluoropolymer itself is identified.

Swix sits at both ends

The clearest single illustration is one brand. SWIX's CeraF line is its fluorocarbon racing range, and both CeraF products here grade 30, the lowest in the category, with a fluoropolymer identified. At the other end, Swix says it stopped selling PFAS-containing waxes by the 2021-2022 season, and its plain waxes, including UR6 Blue Bio Training Wax, grade 100 on that statement. The statement does not lift the CeraF records, because a fluoropolymer is identified in them, and four other Swix listings sit at 40 where our records describe a fluorocarbon or possibly fluorinated additive or treatment.

That is what the ban looks like from inside a single catalog. The CeraF FC8XWS powder is listed as rare and discontinued, and that description is doing specific work. When a racing product is banned, remaining stock becomes a collectible and sells to people chasing the old performance.

What to avoid

• Anything sold as a fluoro, fluorocarbon or CeraF wax. Those are the lowest grades here and the records name the chemistry.
• Old racing stock marked rare or discontinued. That description is often the ban talking.
• A glide wax that describes its additives only as unspecified. That phrase is attached to most of the 40s.
• Assuming a hydrocarbon base means no fluorine. Several of the 40s are hydrocarbon waxes carrying a separate fluorinated treatment or additive.
• Melting and scraping wax in an unventilated room, whatever it is made of. Hot wax fumes are the exposure route our grade does not measure.

The same fluorinated water repellency runs through winter kit. Our hiking pants guide covers a GORE-TEX garment recorded as polytetrafluoroethylene, ski and snowboard jackets covers the shells, and the PFAS hazard page explains why these coatings draw scrutiny.

Our pick

Based on available materials and data, we would choose Maplus Arctic Base Fluor Free, one of 23 waxes at 100 out of 100, all backed by a fluorine-free or PFAS-free statement from the brand. We pick it from those because the manufacturer puts the absence of fluorine in the product name, which is the most useful thing a label can do for a reader trying to avoid it, and the claim is still unverified by us. Plain hydrocarbon waxes at 85 such as Burton Fast Wax or Demon Team Wax are reasonable choices too, so this is a category with real options. A grade of 100 is the top of our scale and means lower estimated concern based on reviewed sources, not a laboratory result and not a claim that anything here is PFAS-free or safe.

FAQ

Is fluorinated ski wax banned?

In competition, yes. According to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, FIS announced in 2019 that it would outlaw fluorinated ski waxes and declared the full ban in March 2023 for the 2023/24 season, with the International Biathlon Union doing the same. It is a rule for sanctioned competition rather than a general consumer sales ban.

How do officials test skis for fluorinated wax?

FIS says it uses Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy with Bruker Alpha II machines, and describes testing at the FIS World Cup, FIS World Ski Championships and FIS Junior World Ski Championships. Developing a workable test is the reason FIS gives for the gap between announcing the ban and enforcing it.

Why do most ski waxes score so high on this site?

Because most are recorded as plain paraffin or hydrocarbon wax with nothing added, which our model treats as a base material with no inherent PFAS use. Whether the brand says anything about PFAS moves a plain wax between 100 and 85. Grades drop to 50 and below only where a proprietary coating, a water-repellent treatment or additive, or a fluoropolymer is recorded.

Does a fluor-free label change the grade?

Yes, by fifteen points. The 23 plain waxes backed by a fluorine-free or PFAS-free statement, on the product or, for Swix, from the company, are the only ones at 100, and plain waxes that make no statement sit at 85. Our model records the claim as unverified, so the gap reflects the statement rather than a tested difference in the wax. It is still worth having on a label, because it is a specific promise rather than an absence of information.