Cue care

C

Ched

"Hey ... I'm back"!
Silver Member
OK .. for 40 years I lived in my own little world. I cleaned my shaft after each shooting with a damp (water) paper towel only .. and buffed with a leather pad. I'd wipe down my butt with soft cotton towel or t-shirt.

NOW .. I've had people tell me I should clean my shaft with rubbing alcohol .. and polish my butt with furniture polish. Some folks say yea .. some say NO.

What say you folks?
(no "butt" jokes ... unless they're really good ones)
 
Ched said:
OK .. for 40 years I lived in my own little world. I cleaned my shaft after each shooting with a damp (water) paper towel only .. and buffed with a leather pad. I'd wipe down my butt with soft cotton towel or t-shirt.

NOW .. I've had people tell me I should clean my shaft with rubbing alcohol .. and polish my butt with furniture polish. Some folks say yea .. some say NO.

What say you folks?
(no "butt" jokes ... unless they're really good ones)
Click to expand...
I don't clean shaft until pretty dirty. Best thing i've found is MagicEraser(or the Walmart generic version) with a couple drops of alcohol. Unreal how much gunk these erasers take off. They also work great taking chalk-blue off a ferrule. And, i'm not going anywhere near the "butt" humor. I'll leave that to funnier AZ's than me.
 
Ched said:
OK .. for 40 years I lived in my own little world. I cleaned my shaft after each shooting with a damp (water) paper towel only .. and buffed with a leather pad. I'd wipe down my butt with soft cotton towel or t-shirt.
Click to expand...

lol maybe it's just me
 
two comments I heard which bothered me.

1. Alcohol would dry out and ruin my shaft.
2. Furniture polish would eat away and ruin the natural finish of my butt
 
Use the 91% rubbing alcohol, the 70% has too much water content, just apply lightly with a clean cloth and then buff with a clean dry cloth. only use higher grade WOOD furniture polish- that would be either a crème or an oil base- not a spray, and you will be just fine.
 
Not sure about using furniture polish as some cue finishes are "automotive finishes".
 
cue care

The shaft is already dried out ...,,,,
You will never get the shaft dryer then what the humidity is where you live .

I use denatured alcohol , it removes some of the chalk and dirt , grim off the shaft .
Pretty tough or imo impossible to get 100% of the chalk dirt out of the maple wood pores using any cleaners .
Part of the dirt grim is oils from your hands ..

For me I don't care if the shaft looks like it been used or not .
I only clean the shaft so I can make the shaft slick , not clean.


My next step after denatured alcohol is I use lighter fluid and lots of it .
I have a lathe and will spin the shaft and wipe the shaft down with a white paper towel soaked with lighter fluid.

Normally I spend about 5 or 10 minutes trying to get as much dirt grim and chalk out of the shafts wood pores using alcohol and lighter fluid .
Their has been some discussion on why lighter fluid does a great job cleaning protecting and making a shaft slick .
Lighter fluid has Paraffin oil in it , not allot but it might be part of the reason it works good .


Then I wax the shaft with some kind of automotive paste wax ,
I have done some testing/ researching or experimenting with different waxes .

All of the Carnauba car paste waxes all seemed to work ........almost equally IMO .

Allot of people in here like Renaissance wax including me .
I also like the Pure Polymer synthetic wax which has the higher melting point and harder surface then any of the natural waxes .
Synthetic waxes dry slower or not at all if put on to thick .
Paste waxes need to be applied in thin coats .........

Natural waxes are Paraffin ,Bees and Carnauba wax .
Carnauba being the hardest and having the highest melting point which is about 185 degrees F

Please note ,, I don't use any sand paper or anything that will remove wood ..

Alcohol , lighter fluid , wax and burnish or buff ..
Good luck .
 
Last edited:
mortuarymike-nv said:
The shaft is already dried out ...,,,,
You will never get the shaft dryer then what the humidity is where you live .

I use denatured alcohol , it removes some of the chalk and dirt , grim off the shaft .
Pretty tough or imo impossible to get 100% of the chalk dirt out of the maple wood pores using any cleaners .
Part of the dirt grim is oils from your hands ..

For me I don't care if the shaft looks like it been used or not .
I only clean the shaft so I can make the shaft slick , not clean.


My next step after denatured alcohol is I use lighter fluid and lots of it .
I have a lathe and will spin the shaft and wipe the shaft down with a white paper towel soaked with lighter fluid.

Normally I spend about 5 or 10 minutes trying to get as much dirt grim and chalk out of the shafts wood pores using alcohol and lighter fluid .
Their has been some discussion on why lighter fluid does a great job cleaning protecting and making a shaft slick .
Lighter fluid has Paraffin oil in it , not allot but it might be part of the reason it works good .


Then I wax the shaft with some kind of automotive paste wax ,
I have done some testing/ researching or experimenting with different waxes .

All of the Carnauba car paste waxes all seemed to work ........almost equally IMO .

Allot of people in here like Renaissance wax including me .
I also like the Pure Polymer synthetic wax which has the higher melting point and harder surface then any of the natural waxes .
Synthetic waxes dry slower or not at all if put on to thick .
Paste waxes need to be applied in thin coats .........

Natural waxes are Paraffin ,Bees and Carnauba wax .
Carnauba being the hardest and having the highest melting point which is about 185 degrees F

Please note ,, I don't use any sand paper or anything that will remove wood ..

Alcohol , lighter fluid , wax and burnish or buff ..
Good luck .
Click to expand...

I thank you sir ... and everyone.
 
Do you feel your current cleaning routine is shortening or lengthening the life of your playing shaft? If it's not broke, why fix it?
 
When I have a shaft that's new or just cleaned, I use wax, and try to get it in the pores first before playing it. Seems to break in faster for me. And easier to clean later...

I also use lighter fluid, but it's cheaper to buy naptha which is essentially the same thing.

I also sometimes use a non-abrasive white pad (used for buffing floors) if the shaft is a little mucky, and always if I buy a used cue/shaft. I like some "mojo" on the shaft, just not someone else's... I won't sand down my shafts to raw, but I will touch them up with some 3000 grit Trizact pad when I want to slick it up some...
 
ctyhntr said:
Do you feel your current cleaning routine is shortening or lengthening the life of your playing shaft? If it's not broke, why fix it?
Click to expand...

That's a VERY good point ... but I'm a person that always likes to learn new things. I'd heard a few things... and thought I'd ask here.
 
I have done all of the above.

I wipe my cue down constantly when I am playing, so mine doesn't get as dirty as those that belong to a lot of other players.

I use alcohol and Magic Eraser when I need to get it really clean looking. Then I use lighter fluid to buff the hell out of it with paper towels. Then I will rub the hell out of it with a piece or regular cardboard. Then I use Renaissance Wax on it.
 
Ched said:
That's a VERY good point ... but I'm a person that always likes to learn new things. I'd heard a few things... and thought I'd ask here.
Click to expand...

I'm like you, Ched. I take a wet cotton towel and wring it out as much as I can to make it just damp. Wipe down the shaft a few times, dry with a dry cloth, then burnish with leather. Maybe the more elaborate methods would make it even better, but I'm happy with it as is. The only difference between us is that I don't do it frequently. Mostly I just use the leather and only when that doesn't work to I hit it with the wet towel.
 
On the shaft, do whatever you want to do, if it makes you happy. I recommend you do nothing, but keep your hands clean and get it nice and slick over years and years. But, do what you want to do. And then, buy more shafts, because you've constantly worn them down.

On the butt, I can't imagine why anyone would put furniture polish over a car finish. A furniture polish is meant to penetrate a bit into a plain wood surface with minimal finish, clean it, and brighten it a little. Your cue likely has a car finish on it. If you want to brighten your car, do you put furniture polish on it? I don't think so. If you want to brighten a cue that has the modern two step car finish, put a car finish on it. Otherwise, leave it alone.

To be honest, I would recommend you leave it alone, or do a professional refinish.

All the best,
WW
 
I only use a microfibre cloth to clean my shaft after playing (sometimes between games). The shaft keeps clean and smooth. Nothing more.
 
I don't really do anything to the shaft other than an occasional burnish with a paper bag or a coarse paper towel from the halls bathroom. The guy who put on my tip used Butchers wax on my shaft and a year later it's still smooth as can be. It looks a little dark/dirty, but I like my shaft that way....well seasoned.

As for the butt, I keep a soft cotton rag in my case and wipe it down before putting it back in my case everytime. I have sweat hands so this helps keep it clean and nice.
 
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