Waxing bowstrings is very important if you want your strings to last a long time. Because it is vital for your bowstrings, you should know how often you need to wax them to keep them from breaking down. 

Here is the short answer:

Generally, you should wax your bow strings about every 100 shots, or for most people, every 2-3 weeks. However, if you are in environments where it is very cold or rainy then you should wax your bowstrings more often as these can lead to the breakdown of your strings.  

With the short answer out of the way, we can look at what affects how often you should wax your strings, what happens if you don’t wax your bow strings, and what the average amount of shots are before you need to wax your strings. 

When you need to wax your strings more often

Without knowing when you would need to wax your strings more often, your strings will start to break down quickly. And when your strings break down, it will shorten the life span of your strings.

Rain and moisture are two things that will dry your strings out quickly. When rain lands on your strings it sucks the wax out of the string drying it out. So after you are hunting or shooting when it is raining, you will want to wax your bow strings that way they don’t break down. 

Cold weather is something that will break down your strings quicker than usual. Cold weather stiffens your bow strings and bow limbs. When your strings unstiffen by being in warm weather, they go through a drastic change that harms your strings.

How many shots before you should wax your strings

For nonextreme conditions like cold or rain, it is still valuable to know when you should touch up your string with more wax. 

From my experience, bow strings will start to dry out after about 100 shots. Generally, a long practice session for most people is 50 arrows, so you should wax your strings every two times you practice. Doing this should keep your strings from breaking down and maximizing their life span. 

What happens if you don’t wax your strings 

Now that we know under which conditions you need to wax your strings more often and how many shots tell you should apply wax, we can see what happens if you don’t wax your strings. 

One destructive effect of not waxing your string is that it will break down and lose its durability. This leads to your strings stretching which diminishes accuracy and takes your bow out of tuning. So if you want your bow to stay in tune, you need to maintain the wax in your strings. 

Another downside to not waxing your strings is they will start to lose strength resulting in them being more dangerous. With the lack of strength in your strings from not waxing them, they will not be able to handle the stress of holding the cams and limbs in place and will break. If your string breaks, it can be extremely damaging and cause serious injury. 

The best string wax

Even though you know what breaks down your strings, you still need to know what string wax is best. So here is my favorite wax from the ones I have tested. 

Boning tex tile bow string wax

Boning is a company that makes great archery equipment, and their string wax is no different. This string wax will keep your string in the best shape possible and is very easy to rub into the string. Overall this is a great wax to use that is sure to work for any setup. 

Conclusion 

As long as, you take care of your strings, your bow will stay in tune and last a long time. However, if you do not take care of your string it can lead to dangerous consequences and a bow that fails to be accurate.