The waxboil method is the most consistent and easiest method currently available to restore Alps (and other) switches. It has been tested on a wide variety of switches at this point, and results have held up in the two years since its discovery. This page is an attempt to create a canonical source of waxboil information in text form.

The method contains two stages:

• Boil stage: plastic parts are boiled in a rolling boil to clean them. This works due to a combination of heat and agitation by a rolling boil, loosening dirt and detritus that would otherwise be very solidly stuck on, especially if a switch was previously factory lubricated.
• Waxboil stage: wax is added to boiled water which melts and creates a film along the surface of the water. Switch parts that require waxing are lowered into and then lifted out of the water in order to create a deposition of wax on them. The closest analog to this process is hydrodipping.