Curious as to how folks prep their new skis before skiing. Always wax them at least 4-6 times to get full saturation. Have also tried hotboxing and infra-red though I am told that some brands like Stockli recommend against these. Currently in the process of prepping four new skis for the season. At present each has 4-6 coats of wax hand ironed in and have been scraped and buffed.
Typically we wax our skis once a week but we also ski at least 1-2 full days each week. Will never go more than 3 days of skiing without a wax and also re-wax if there is a big change in temps. By the end of the season bases are always super saturated, just want to make sure our new skis are in the best possible shape these season, so appreciate any advice or input.
You're on the right track. Getting your base good and saturated on a new pair is always good (can't say I'm always motivated enough to do this).
Before you apply your base coats, do a few hot-scrapes. You will be amazed at how much crap comes out of the base. Use a soft wax for this. Also use a cheap wax for this, as you just end up scraping most of it off anyway. They make expensive products designed for this, but unless you're doing worldcup races it doesn't really matter. Once your bases no longer secrete blackness, you're ready for saturation.
If you're not feeling too lazy (it doesn't sound like you're that type anyway) always scrape before going out. If you ski your last layer of wax off it just rips the rest out of the base quicker. Brushing is always a nice touch as well.
At the end of the day being good with waxing your planks makes a big difference in how this slide. That being said, if you don't do it religiously you'll still have a good time out there.