Lifestyle: waxing a snow shovel?

Self-tutoring about snow clearing: the tutor mentions an idea he tried.

I’ve never heard of anyone’s waxing a snow shovel. Yet, this morning, the idea came to me.

I was using a deep shovel. When I would throw the snow, about 20% remained embedded within the shovel: it wouldn’t clear. I wondered what to do.

I recalled a story told me many years ago. An outdoorsman came upon some skis, so decided to try them. He was used to waxing toboggans, so did so to the skis.

He found the skis moved far too easily: he quickly gained unsafe speed on the hill. Not being a skier, he couldn’t control it properly and went down. Next he scraped the wax from the skis: much better.

Would wax work as well on the shovel? I dried it then rubbed an old candle in its bed. Trying it out, I noticed an absolute difference: the snow didn’t stick.

The wax needed re-applying every few minutes, yet it helped a lot.

Best of luck with your snow-clearing:)