Maintenance of Pool Cues

After long usage, a pool cue too like any other sporting equipment tends to lose its shape and smoothness. Tips become scattered, shafts lose the smoothness and feel. The shine is lost and fingerprints are permanently etched on them. Some parts like butts may become loose and even fall off.

It is absolutely necessary to maintain the shape of the tip and even the roughness so that it holds enough chalk. So the mushrooming of the tip has to be evened out by trimming off the excess flattened leather. Thereafter it can be reshaped by sandpaper or a specially designed tool for this purpose in any preferred shape.

Finally even rougher sandpaper needs to be used to roughen the surface so that it holds chalk. If this exercise is repeated too often the tip size would reduce. So it should only be done before important games or when the tip starts showing visible signs of degenerating.

The Ferrule too develops blue rings over time (since the chalk used is blue).Many people chalk their cues too hard, it is not wrong to chalk cues but if the chalk is not replaced on time this ring develops around the ferrule.

Using chalk heavily also stains the shaft .One needs to use a damp cloth first to wipe the shaft and then use a dry one. In case the stains have not been taken care of in a long time, very fine sandpaper needs to be used.

The cue joint too may get spoilt, due to moisture, especially if it's not sealed well. To solve this problem a joint protector can be used to cover the joints.

The butt does not require too much of care. Wiping occasionally first with a damp cloth followed by a dry cloth should be enough. A little bit of oil from time to time softens it. Butts start rattling if there is a construction problem but it does not really affect the game so can be overlooked.

Certain very basic guidelines need to be followed for the long life of a cue. For instance a cue stick should not be kept on its tip leaning against anything. Also temperature fluctuations have a negative impact on cues so they should ideally be stored in a place where the temperature does not fluctuate much. Moreover while cleaning cues the sandpaper has to be selected carefully to prevent further damage.