Cleaning Shafts... Alcohol any negative effects?

Havoc,

I have used the procedure described above (denatured alcohol) on my Predator shaft several times over the past few years. I haven't noticed any problems with the shaft from this method of cleaning.

A powdered cleaner? It doesn't have cleanser (bleach) in it does it? That's the stuff you have to worry about doing long-term damage to a shaft with repeated usage, from what I've read. Plus, if the cleaner is abrasive, it'll tend to sand the shaft as it cleans it. By far, the Magic Eraser is the easiest, cleanest, safest, and cheapest effective method to clean a shaft, IMO.
 
ragbug74 said:
Just a note that I don't think anyone else has mentioned in this thread. When I use the Magic Eraser to clean a shaft, I use denatured alcohol instead of water or other water-based cleaners. From what I've been told and have experienced in my shop is that the water content of denatured alcohol is pretty low, so it doesn't raise the grain as much as other products. After I clean with the Magic Eraser, I make sure to hit it with some light (1000 grit or finer) sandpaper on the lathe to remove anything left behind by the Magic Eraser/denatured alcohol. After that, it's a quick burnish with a piece of leather.

I usually don't like to put a wax on the shaft as it eventually becomes gummy and attracts more dirt. I'm going to give the SlipStic product a try since it receives such great reviews around here. I do wax my ferrules to seal them and help keep them clean. The wax I use is Butchers White Bowling Alley Paste Wax. I saw somewhere that this is the wax 'ol Gus used to use in his shop so I figured if it's good enough for him......
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I've used Magic Eraser with a little SlipStik cleaner (the cleaner, not the conditioner) and it seems to do a great job. The first time I used Magic Eraser I used water, and too much. It really soaked my cue.
 
I use denatured alcohol and have for over 20 years. No warped anything. I also use it to wipe down the whole cue including the wrap in the correct direction. Water/cleaner lifts the fibres on a wrap so that's no good. A few drops of denatured alcohol on magic eraser works well as posted above.(On wood).

I just replaced my last quart that, at the time cost $2 at ACE. I was supprised to see it at 4 bucks now, but still pretty cheap maintence if you ask me. Well that and I don't like super slick shafts, although a little bump with 1500 and 2000 thousand gets them that way. Just my hand oils keep the shaft where I like it, glossy but not real slick.

If tung oil or similar completely sealed the grain that would be sweet although blued shafts are not a problem for me. I think part of what happens shafts get sanded with to coarse of paper, they get wet cleaning, taking out dings etc. If there not resealed well then chalk gets back in the grain/sand marks etc. I look at it like this, In the end it's going to turn blue no matter how perfect of a job I do. If I was overly concerned I'd have dinky little shafts like I see on the cues in the for sale forum. Well I'm not so my 13.25 shafts are still over 13mm after 13 years. Use extremely light abrasives and keep them about a mile from a cue. LOL

Rod
 
Rich93 said:
I've used Magic Eraser with a little SlipStik cleaner (the cleaner, not the conditioner) and it seems to do a great job. The first time I used Magic Eraser I used water, and too much. It really soaked my cue.
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Yes, the SlipStic Cleaner (blue bottle) will not raise the grain, washes Mr. Clean Magic Eraser fibers left behind and completely dissipates. Use it with MR. Clean Magic wipes instead of water or alcohol. It should take very little cleaner doing it this way. You can even wash the shaft down with this cleaner afterwards if you like.

The cleaner in the blue bottle is different than the one used in the new SlipStic Cleaner-Conditioner package.

The blue bottle is almost like using lighter fluid except that it is super distilled heptanes, very very clean. Exxon makes this product for us. It is flammable though.

The cleaner in the combined SlipStic Cleaner-Conditioner is different, it is a partially florinated polymer base that also dissipates quickly leaving only the conditioner behind. This one is not flammable and you will start seeing more cleaners in the future like this one.

Special note: Even though the Conditioner was meant for wooden shafts it will work on no-wooden shafts though will only last for a week or so. However, we have been getting lots of emails and calls over the past year from players using the blue bottle cleaner stating that is works better than anything else they have ever used for non-wood shafts (laminated too). Just pour it on a towel and wipe the shaft and in seconds the shaft is clean, dry and smooth. So for non-wooden shafts, the cleaner alone is all that is needed.

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Magic Eraser

Magic Eraser is truly a miracle for getting a cue to look clean. What I do is cut one pad into 1/3ds. Dampen one of the sections by wringing it out until no more water comes out of it (I think it is important that the ME be damp and not wet.) and then gently fold it around the cue and move it over the shaft. I then take a paper towel to remove the fibers. I let the shaft dry out for an hour or so and then burnish it with leather before using a Dr. Cue glass rod fairly vigorously and the shaft looks and feels like new.I do this whenever the cue starts to look pretty dirty which depends on how much I am playing. Each section lasts for about 5 or 6 times and there doesn't seem to be any ill effects.
 
Interesting thread. I think i'll pick up some Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have been using Shark oil for cleaning and Q-Slik burnishing sheets for smoothing and I like the feel of how it leaves the wood, but it doesn't get the blue out of the grain.

As an interesting observation, I have a Palmer cue from 1965 and when I played pool for hours every day, that was my playing cue. I have 4 original shafts and there is no trace of blue on any of them! I never cleaned them at all in those days either. When they needed attention, I used fine grades of wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper.

I have been told by some cuemakers that it is hard to get good maple for shafts and I tend to believe it. I shoot with a Pechauer these days and it didn't take long for the shaft to have a distinct blue color. It is a nice shaft with tight grain but definitely more porous!

Just my opinion FWIW

Peter
 
Peter E said:
Interesting thread. I think i'll pick up some Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have been using Shark oil for cleaning and Q-Slik burnishing sheets for smoothing and I like the feel of how it leaves the wood, but it doesn't get the blue out of the grain.

As an interesting observation, I have a Palmer cue from 1965 and when I played pool for hours every day, that was my playing cue. I have 4 original shafts and there is no trace of blue on any of them! I never cleaned them at all in those days either. When they needed attention, I used fine grades of wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper.

I have been told by some cuemakers that it is hard to get good maple for shafts and I tend to believe it. I shoot with a Pechauer these days and it didn't take long for the shaft to have a distinct blue color. It is a nice shaft with tight grain but definitely more porous!

Just my opinion FWIW

Peter
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Your right about the shafts, hard rock maple shafts generally take a very long time before they get blue, if at all. The softer the shaft the faster this happens. Magic wipes will get this off and no more abrasives needed. Abrasives are the more "primitive" methods and many cleaners rely on them for the cleaning power.

Magic Eraser works by the tiny fibers getting into places that otherwise you could not get to. The seemingly detergent wash that comes out of the wipe when wet is probably for show, psychological effects as people get a sense that something's happening. The wetness is only to wash away the dirt picked up and the fibers are the magic.


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I see that SlipStick is made by Dupont. Jeff Gordons uses all Dupont products on his car so it must be good stuff. :p

Too bad pool can't get a sponsor like Dupont.
 
TheBook said:
I see that SlipStick is made by Dupont. Jeff Gordons uses all Dupont products on his car so it must be good stuff. :p

Too bad pool can't get a sponsor like Dupont.
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Flashy logos on pool cues would look horrid!:p
 
cajunbarboxplyr said:
Jsut make sure to use the 99% and not the 50%...
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Alsohol come in Isopropal & Denatured, and from 33-99%

Also Ethel Alcohol that you can Drink or make Killer Punch from.

The hight the Percentage, the less H2O in it and the FASTER it Dries....
:)
 
There is a lot of different views in this post, some of the advise is not very good though. Being a customer service rep. there are some things that I would not recommend.

1. magic eraser- does clean a shaft well but also takes a tremendous amount of material off of the shaft at the same time. Should be fine used in moderation but just remember that it is an abrasive and will take down the diameter of your shaft. I Highly recommend not using water with it. Water on your shaft is never good in any amount even just a damp eraser or cloth does a lot more damage than you can imagine. We actually took a shaft here and literally pored alcohol on it every day for a week and it had no side effects on the shaft other than a little raised grain.

If you want keep your shaft clean, the trick is to prevent the chalk from being absorbed in the first place. Wiping down your shaft, often, at the table will help a lot. A good burnishing will also help to seal the pores of the shaft, this will make it more difficult for chalk to penetrate the pores. We use a carnauba wax here at the factory as well to finish the shafts with.
 
rocky said:
There is a lot of different views in this post, some of the advise is not very good though. Being a customer service rep. there are some things that I would not recommend.

1. magic eraser- does clean a shaft well but also takes a tremendous amount of material off of the shaft at the same time. Should be fine used in moderation but just remember that it is an abrasive and will take down the diameter of your shaft. I Highly recommend not using water with it. Water on your shaft is never good in any amount even just a damp eraser or cloth does a lot more damage than you can imagine. We actually took a shaft here and literally pored alcohol on it every day for a week and it had no side effects on the shaft other than a little raised grain.

If you want keep your shaft clean, the trick is to prevent the chalk from being absorbed in the first place. Wiping down your shaft, often, at the table will help a lot. A good burnishing will also help to seal the pores of the shaft, this will make it more difficult for chalk to penetrate the pores. We use a carnauba wax here at the factory as well to finish the shafts with.
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The fibers in Magic Eraser are soft polymers. If you use it dry, yes it will remove wood just as anything else that is coarse which is why they do not recommend on metal finishes. The fibers react differently on damp bare wood than on painted wood. These fibers are very small and very gentle to wood as they travel over DAMP wood. Yes water is not good for wood and yes alcohol dries out wood and sucks out protective oils.

Nothing beats a leather burnish on bare wood, this process closes the pores. Anything that is used to fill the pores will pop out as the wood *breaths along with grit that is captured as players play, and this stuff is a nuisance. It is unnatural to the wood and will get rejected.

What company do you rep for?

(edited) *Wood is dead and does not really breath, we say it does because it changes with swings in humidity. Alcohol dissolves oils and dries out the wood so as we wipe with alcohol we are pulling the oils from the wood onto the towel we wipe with. Just as water expands the wood, alcohol causes the wood to shrink. The wood will replenish itself over time by absorbing any moistures in the air. Repeated changes in moisture (humidity swings are worst) is what causes wood to crack/warp and oils accomodate space that would otherwise be moisture. Overuse, not soaking, of alcohol will cause excessive drying. Yes, as mentioned before most shafts will not have a problem. To test this out I recommend you soak 100 shafts or more at the same time, let them completely dry, expose them to humidity, expose them to dry air and then soak them again in alcohol again. Do this 50 times minimum. If all works well then I will accept that alcohol will ussually not affect the shaft.
 
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rocky said:
There is a lot of different views in this post, some of the advise is not very good though. Being a customer service rep. there are some things that I would not recommend.

1. magic eraser- does clean a shaft well but also takes a tremendous amount of material off of the shaft at the same time. Should be fine used in moderation but just remember that it is an abrasive and will take down the diameter of your shaft. I Highly recommend not using water with it. Water on your shaft is never good in any amount even just a damp eraser or cloth does a lot more damage than you can imagine. We actually took a shaft here and literally pored alcohol on it every day for a week and it had no side effects on the shaft other than a little raised grain.

If you want keep your shaft clean, the trick is to prevent the chalk from being absorbed in the first place. Wiping down your shaft, often, at the table will help a lot. A good burnishing will also help to seal the pores of the shaft, this will make it more difficult for chalk to penetrate the pores. We use a carnauba wax here at the factory as well to finish the shafts with.
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Rocky,

Thanks for that post. Any advice as to which or what kind of alcohol would be best. I take it the stuff with the least amount of water would be the best.

Thanks
 
I was once concerned about magic eraser thinking there must be chemicals to enable it to clean so well. Though so many players were bragging about it that I decided to look deeper into it some time ago. I found out there were no harsh chemicals, none. I then thought that it must be abrasive. This too is untrue. It is non-abrasive which is really positive. So how does it work then?

In dry form the eraser is somewhat abrasive, until moistened. Once wet the fibers become soft and supple due to the fine structure of the foam created by foaming the resin. The particles are very tiny, so tiny that they can get around and under the tiniest particles. These fibers then hinge on each other and pull particles away. No other cleaning method is as effective without the use of abrasives. The foam is only to get the fibers soft and that is all, it is non damaging. It does have a bit of alcohol in it, but so little it will not make a difference. So this is the magic.

The Eraser does wear away and many of the fibers do stay on the surface cleaned, though harmless it is a good idea to rinse off.

(edit to add the following) Some have compared the fibers to bubbles in a bath tub as they interconnect, only super tiny.
 
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rocky said:
Water on your shaft is never good in any amount even just a damp eraser or cloth does a lot more damage than you can imagine.
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I typically use a slightly damp terry cloth towel. I'm a little unsure of what kind of damage this does. Could anyone elaborate?

I'm looking for the best method of cleaning shafts. But there seems to be no consensus on the best way. Currently I'm using McDermott shaft cleaner which seems to work well. Then I burnish with Q-smooth (green sheets). I plan to try magic eraser and denatured alcohol instead of the water-damp terry cloth, based on what I've read in this thread.
 
I am the customer service manager for Predator Products. Denatured alcohol is the best but I have not seen any damage from Isopropyl alcohol.
 
I have been using the Magic eraser with lighter fluid for about 2 years now. No ill effects.
After I clean, I burnish with leather. That's it.
 
Wow!! I haven't been around for a couple days (working on boats, selling and getting ready for summer etc..) This thread really has A LOT of great input in it!!

I've been using the Alcohol on one of my Schon shafts, and haven't noticed any "ill effects" yet, but I'm going to really go over that shaft tonight and see if there's anything weird going on there that would tell me to maybe stop using it.

My house for some reason and a very... I mean VERY high humidity % in the pool room. I can't figure it out, but I think it's becuase there's a large sliding glass door (usually open) and a lawn about 10' from the pool table. It's so bad that the wrap on my cue will actually "sweat" from time to time.. I'm concerned the alcohol, and huge humidity swings might end badly for me.

RD
 
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