Care of Irish Linen

[NaturalEnglish]

I have always had cues with leather wraps. I decided to try a cue with Irish linen this time. Where I hold the cue...the wrap is starting to feel rough. Sort of like the grain is raising up. Small hard bumps. How can I remove or eliminate those bumps?

I have seen some cues wish linen wraps that are coated over with a sealer. Sort of defeats the purpose/feel of the wrap but I am sure the maintenance is lower because the linen is buried!

Any tips or suggestion on the care and feeding of an Irish linen wrap would be appeciated.

TIA

 

[cuejoey]

linen wrap will wear with alot of use..if you like the linen feel then you don't want to seal it..just send it off and get a new linen wrap on it...

 

[manwon]

I have always had cues with leather wraps. I decided to try a cue with Irish linen this time. Where I hold the cue...the wrap is starting to feel rough. Sort of like the grain is raising up. Small hard bumps. How can I remove or eliminate those bumps?

I have seen some cues wish linen wraps that are coated over with a sealer. Sort of defeats the purpose/feel of the wrap but I am sure the maintenance is lower because the linen is buried!

Any tips or suggestion on the care and feeding of an Irish linen wrap would be appeciated.

TIA

Take the cue to a cue repairman or a cue maker and have the wrap re-pressed and Starched. Irish Linen can be pressed until it is almost smooth, and by adding starch or another substance you can help to water proof the cloth from the mositure of your hands.

Now if you are one of those people with very very moist hands linen may not be for you.

Hane a nice day

Manwon

 

[SCCues]

I have always had cues with leather wraps. I decided to try a cue with Irish linen this time. Where I hold the cue...the wrap is starting to feel rough. Sort of like the grain is raising up. Small hard bumps. How can I remove or eliminate those bumps?

I have seen some cues wish linen wraps that are coated over with a sealer. Sort of defeats the purpose/feel of the wrap but I am sure the maintenance is lower because the linen is buried!

Any tips or suggestion on the care and feeding of an Irish linen wrap would be appeciated.

TIA

I do cue repairs and i've installed many linen wraps on different cues. I would suggest that you have your wrap repressed and like another poster suggested maybe some liquid starch applied while it's being repressed.

 

[Pushout]

You don't say how long you've had\played with the cue with the linen wrap. I have a Dan Dishaw that I had a linen wrap put on in place of the leather in '94 or '95 and after almost daily play, the pressed linen is still smooth. Could be your wrap was simply wound on without pressing. Used to be, pressing was expected automatically. Not so today. I've seen a LOT of linen wraps that were NOT pressed. I think that not pressing the wrap would allow it to wear much faster than if it were pressed.

 

[Varney Cues]

A quick do it yourself fix it to take folded up piece of wax paper and rub the area that bothers you. Rub it a bit until it becomes warm and then the linen should lay back down and feel somewhat normal again. Of course it is much better to have your cue repair guy repress it on a lathe.

 

[NaturalEnglish]

The linen is about 3 months old with light usage. Its on a Lucasi cue. I have a home made drill motor based spinner for doing shaft polishing etc. Can I use it to repress the linen? What is the proceedure?

 

[Varney Cues]

The linen is about 3 months old with light usage. Its on a Lucasi cue. I have a home made drill motor based spinner for doing shaft polishing etc. Can I use it to repress the linen? What is the proceedure?

If you can spin the butt...then...take two blocks of wood & connect them with a hinge. Scallop out a small area from both sides so you have an area to clamp around the cue. Now you can use the folded piece of wax paper around the wrap and clamp down with blocks. Use enough pressure that the linen heats up a bit. You can also use spray starch with good results.

 

[NaturalEnglish]

What if I just hold the wax paper on the butt like a shoe shine man or same as you would hold fine sand paper if cleaning up a chaft. ie loop around the butt.

Do you use BOTH starch then wax paper to smooth...or just one of them? I heard the wax makes the linen look good...but gets dirty quicker?

If you just use spray starch alone...what do you use to smooth the linen with?

Thanks for the info!

 

[Varney Cues]

What if I just hold the wax paper on the butt like a shoe shine man or same as you would hold fine sand paper if cleaning up a chaft. ie loop around the butt.

Do you use BOTH starch then wax paper to smooth...or just one of them? I heard the wax makes the linen look good...but gets dirty quicker?

If you just use spray starch alone...what do you use to smooth the linen with?

Thanks for the info!

You are only going to get the best results using the blocks (linen press). I'd use only the starch or wax paper...no need for both. Without the linen press you simply won't be able to get enough clamping power to press the linen as needed. You also won't be able to get enough wax off the paper to cause the linen to get anymore dirty than normal. You'll need the homemade press or buy one from Unique or Porper to get a top quality job using starch. Or save yourself the headache and send it to me...for $10 I'll make the linen like new.