More grip to Irish linen?

Kimmo H.

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently acquired a Mezz EC7 B-3 cue with an Irish Linen wrap. The problem is that it is really slippery, where as a older Mezz of a friend of mine has a very nice feeling linen, and so does my HXT cue. They feel comfortable, they have a little give to them, a soft surface on the linen that grips well and does its job with keeping my hand dry.
But the grip on the newer mezz feels hard, its slippery and shiny, doesnt grip much at all. Is there anything I can do to it? Only things that have crossed my mind are some chemicals to soften it or to sand it lightly to bring the fibers up a bit, but dont care to try anything without asking first as it is a bit expensive to experiment with :grin:

Changing the wrap is a bit of a hassle here in finland as there is only one guy that I know of that does cue work like that.

Thank you for any info you can give me :smile:
 
Kim Bye

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The short and cheap answer is: just use your cue more.
That way the grip will loose some of it's starch and become more grippy.
 
M.G.

M.G.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Use gentle (!) soap (natural soap, pure olive oil or somesuch) and soap your hands, now roll the complete linen wrap in your soapy hand.
Take a damp towel and again roll the wrap in the towel to remove soap.
Take fresh towel and press dry (no rubbing - it will get too fuzzy) and leave to dry for 1h.

Enjoy nice grippey wrap :smile:

Don't do that repeatedly though as you will remove the wool fat (Lanolin) and raise too many fibers and it will start feeling fuzzy and itchy.

Cheers!
 
Kimmo H.

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks for the tip :) I'll try that when I get home from work, ill post the result after seeing what happens :grin:
 
E

ElCorazonFrio

Banned
M.G. said:
Use gentle (!) soap (natural soap, pure olive oil or somesuch) and soap your hands, now roll the complete linen wrap in your soapy hand.
Take a damp towel and again roll the wrap in the towel to remove soap.
Take fresh towel and press dry (no rubbing - it will get too fuzzy) and leave to dry for 1h.

Enjoy nice grippey wrap :smile:

Don't do that repeatedly though as you will remove the wool fat (Lanolin) and raise too many fibers and it will start feeling fuzzy and itchy.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Linen wraps are linen and contain no wool or wool fat.
 
Kimmo H.

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Problem solved by simply wiping the wrap with a damp towel, rotating in my hand and then drying immediately. No soap or anything special was needed and now the linen has a much nicer feel to it, it doesnt slip and you can feel the texture of it in your hand.

Thanks for the replies :smile:
 
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jkan101

jkan101

jkan101
Silver Member
ElCorazonFrio said:
I know what lanolin is. I'm not seeing anywhere that there is lanolin in linen wraps.

If you have definite proof, I'd love to see it, but my knowledge of textile linen is that it has no added waxes or oils.
Click to expand...

I really don't have to prove anything to you....if you have installed any Irish linen wraps you know that after you press the wrap you then burnish the wrap which releases the lanonin/wax thru the friction and the heat. Which gives you the shine on the wrap and the feel ...not to mention a little spray starch for that added touch.


Joe
 
Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If the linen strands start to fray any and you feel the strands, you can press the wrap using a flat round glass object like a beer stein. Simply rub the wrap vertically very fast and press hard rotating the cue wrap occasionally to make sure to get the entire surface.

I do this to my wraps all the time and the feel and look improves a lot........a whole bunch.......the wrap should outlive you if cared for.

Matt B.
 
E

ElCorazonFrio

Banned
jkan101 said:
I really don't have to prove anything to you....if you have installed any Irish linen wraps you know that after you press the wrap you then burnish the wrap which releases the lanonin/wax thru the friction and the heat. Which gives you the shine on the wrap and the feel ...not to mention a little spray starch for that added touch.


Joe
Click to expand...

Lanolin and wax are different things.

The wax is much more likely to be beeswax or paraffin based.
 
P

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jkan101 said:
I really don't have to prove anything to you....if you have installed any Irish linen wraps you know that after you press the wrap you then burnish the wrap which releases the lanonin/wax thru the friction and the heat. Which gives you the shine on the wrap and the feel ...not to mention a little spray starch for that added touch.


Joe
Click to expand...

Linen is... linen, not wool.

Dale(who has done a wrap or two)
 
M.G.

M.G.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dear all,

to clear up the confusion:

I was under the impression that the linen yarn was usually treated with a bit of Lanolin to make it more uniform/smooth and shield against dirt etc. And the Irish have an abundance of Lanolin ;)

It came to me later that in this day and age Lanolin might not be desireable anymore and propably other substances are cheaper and more suited.

So cheers and I'm happy the thread creator is happy now :)
M
 
P

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jkan101 said:
I never said it was wool...doen't mean it cant be treated with lanolin, linen is made from flax which is a plant.

Joe
Click to expand...

Guess who knew linen is made from flax?

How many linen wraps have you done really??

Linen may have been treated with lanolin in the 1920s when it was used for fishing line.

Dale(proud owner of several spools of Irish Linen that are dry as a bone)

ps
For those following at home - the absolutely LAST thing you want on a linen wrap is wax)
 
Garo 7

Garo 7

Registered
jkan101 said:
I never said it was wool...doen't mean it cant be treated with lanolin, linen is made from flax which is a plant.

Joe
Click to expand...
I just got a new Mezz: Same damn thing! So useless.

The geniuses at Mezz, for all their brilliance in cue design and construction, somehow decided putting LACQUER (or something) on the linen is a good idea. This is why a new Mezz linen is STUPIDLY SLIPPERY!!!

I have used linen for years. The entire point of it is that it is C-L-O-T-H. Is not as sticky as leather or rubber, or a no wrap handle, but still it's a nice delicate feel. Very tactile in the hand.

By covering it with a ton of lacquer is basically to turn nice cloth into PLASTIC. STUPID. VERY STUPID.

Once this is done to it, it does NOT feel like linen AT ALL.

It may look nice for a long time, and be easy to clean - but players don't buy these expensive cues to sit around looking at them.

Honestly, the old Adams and Helmstetter cues I have bought and played with my whole life always had linen and they felt nothing like this lacquered crap!!! : ( ...
 
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