Moisture in wrap "appeared"...Help...

tank69

tank69

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I took a cue to build a shaft for it on Tuesday. It's in my basement with all the cues and shafts that I have. On Saturday, I was moving a few cues around and noticed some moisture on a wrapless. Odd, since February, not a problem, so I look at the ceiling, nothing. Then I noticed the customer cue, Irish linen, and it's sweating...the wrap is soaked. Now I'm scouring the ceiling for leaks, not a one. No other cue has any moisture at all on it and the one that did, was beside the one that is sweating.

So I wipe the wrap to where it's damp, not soaked like before. Put it in a rack where I know it's dry and when I checked it today, the wrap is soaked again....no other cue in the rack had any moisture.

It's rained off and on here the past month with major humidity changes. All the cues have had no issues, no moisture. I bring this one into my home and it looks like a sponge in four days. Has anyone ever seen this happen or can explain what happened? I'm gonna have to remove the wrap, however, the customer wanted the wrap to be saved. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated.
 
I've had this happen, and attributed it to sweat built up in the wrap. My hands sweat a lot. I solved the problem by washing the wrap with dish soap and warm water, then gently blow-drying it dry.

I was a little nervous about this the first time I tried it, but it worked great for me. I passed it on to a buddy who had the same problem, and it worked well for him too.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
I haven't seen it before, but I believe it.
Sounds like the wrap soaked up moisture when it was raining.
As the humidity dropped in the house, the wrap may be sweating it back out, trying to equalize?
Makes sense to me, clean and press once it drys out
 
67Tbird...thanks...I'll try that.

Darcy, that was my first thought...and I have three other cues with Irish linen in the same area and none are sweating/moist. They have been there a while, but again, not a hint of moisture. Odd to say the least! Thanks!
 
One more thing, just drying the wrap won't work if it's anything like mine, because of the oil content.

The dish soap will pull it to the top so you can towel it off. It might take a few cycles.

I'm fairly experienced with removing oily substances from porous surfaces. If you don't wish to use soap and water, another option would be to lay the entire butt in cat litter, in the same conditions that made it sweat. The moisture will be drawn into the litter, along with most of the oil.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
I once had a cue that had electrical tape under the linen.
It kept gumying up.
I am suspicious what's under wraps now. Lol
You might have double stack linen.
 
Hi,

Try cleaning the wrap with Oxyclean and re burnish it.

When it is dry try using reasansance wax to seal it. Renasanase wax is a microcrystalline product and is not a wax like carnauba type wax. It does not get dirty and will seal the wrap with a beautiful finish that in no way feels waxy in any way.

After you put the stuff on wipe it off with a paper towel while spinning then burnish it with an index card at high speed. I think you will like the end result. It won't draw any moisture again.

Rick
 
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tank69 said:
I took a cue to build a shaft for it on Tuesday. It's in my basement with all the cues and shafts that I have. On Saturday, I was moving a few cues around and noticed some moisture on a wrapless. Odd, since February, not a problem, so I look at the ceiling, nothing. Then I noticed the customer cue, Irish linen, and it's sweating...the wrap is soaked. Now I'm scouring the ceiling for leaks, not a one. No other cue has any moisture at all on it and the one that did, was beside the one that is sweating.

So I wipe the wrap to where it's damp, not soaked like before. Put it in a rack where I know it's dry and when I checked it today, the wrap is soaked again....no other cue in the rack had any moisture.

It's rained off and on here the past month with major humidity changes. All the cues have had no issues, no moisture. I bring this one into my home and it looks like a sponge in four days. Has anyone ever seen this happen or can explain what happened? I'm gonna have to remove the wrap, however, the customer wanted the wrap to be saved. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have to admit that in my mind none of the "evidence" fits the "crime". Like how did the unwrapped cue next to the wrapped cue get wet? The wrapped cue didn't squirt moisture over there. Very weird indeed.
But you have the cue so you can build a new shaft and I agree, I like to have the butt so I can make sure everything matches up and rolls straight before I hand it back to the customer.
But why do you have to replace the wrap? Did it get loose and unravel or what?
If you do have to replace the wrap, so much for any profit in this repair, huh? I hate it when that happens - but that's the risk we take when we take someone's cue into our custody.
Which brings up another thought - I'm always amazed at how easily some players will hand over their prized cue to you because you simply said "Oh yeah, I can fix that" and they haven't ever seen any of your work. Scary sometimes :eek:
Enough waxing philosophical here. Getting back to the events that have transpired, something just doesn't seem right. How old is your house? Could it be haunted?:grin-square:
Good luck!!
:thumbup:
Gary
 
GBCues said:
I have to admit that in my mind none of the "evidence" fits the "crime". Like how did the unwrapped cue next to the wrapped cue get wet? The wrapped cue didn't squirt moisture over there. Very weird indeed.
But you have the cue so you can build a new shaft and I agree, I like to have the butt so I can make sure everything matches up and rolls straight before I hand it back to the customer.
But why do you have to replace the wrap? Did it get loose and unravel or what?
If you do have to replace the wrap, so much for any profit in this repair, huh? I hate it when that happens - but that's the risk we take when we take someone's cue into our custody.
Which brings up another thought - I'm always amazed at how easily some players will hand over their prized cue to you because you simply said "Oh yeah, I can fix that" and they haven't ever seen any of your work. Scary sometimes :eek:
Enough waxing philosophical here. Getting back to the events that have transpired, something just doesn't seem right. How old is your house? Could it be haunted?:grin-square:
Good luck!!
:thumbup:
Gary
Click to expand...

I didn't explain it as well as I should have about the other cue with some moisture on it. I had 4-5 cues on my table all laying on a towel...the wrapless that was wet was the one right beside the one with the wrap. I noticed some moisture on it first and then realized it was against the one with the wet wrap.. So no, moisture didn't "jump" around.

I was under the impression I would not be able to save the wrap. However, I'm going to try.

As far as people "blindly" handing over their cues, they know me, they've seen what I can do and I've been honest in what I can't do.
 
This is a common occurrence here in Florida during our summer rainy season. Back in my 20's money was tight and I could only afford to run the A/C at bed time. My player at the time was an old Schon R1 with linen wrap. Many times I had to dry the wrap with a hair dryer before heading out to play. Even stored in the case it would draw moisture into the wrap to the point where it looked and felt wet.
 
The problem is the salt contained in the owner's sweat. We sweat salt water, not oil.
Once the wrap is saturated with sweat (salt water) and the H2O eventually evaporates, the salt remains.
The salt will continue to attract moisture from the environment, in this case your basement.
The salt has probably already destroyed the linen. I doubt you'll save it.
When you take it off, it will come off in shreds & pieces. There is no saving it.

KJ
 
I would buy one of those handy dandy thermostat's that has humidity read out on it. At least you can get an idea of your basement humidity levels. If you are storing in a case, then suggestion would be to get some moisture packets that you may see in shipped boxes. Another thought would be to wrap a paper towel around the affected area for a day or two. Then apply some 100% rubbing alcohol in small amounts and repeat to the paper towel for a day. Repeat over as the alcohol will vaporize the moisture. I am surprised that now one mentioned that in earlier posts or did I miss that read.

Just some thoughts.
 
KJ Cues said:
The problem is the salt contained in the owner's sweat. We sweat salt water, not oil.
Once the wrap is saturated with sweat (salt water) and the H2O eventually evaporates, the salt remains.
The salt will continue to attract moisture from the environment, in this case your basement.
The salt has probably already destroyed the linen. I doubt you'll save it.
When you take it off, it will come off in shreds & pieces. There is no saving it.

KJ
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. I was thinking oil because that's certainly how my wrap felt when it was soaked. However, dish soap and water have always brought mine back for me.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
KJ Cues said:
The problem is the salt contained in the owner's sweat. We sweat salt water, not oil.
Once the wrap is saturated with sweat (salt water) and the H2O eventually evaporates, the salt remains.
The salt will continue to attract moisture from the environment, in this case your basement.
The salt has probably already destroyed the linen. I doubt you'll save it.
When you take it off, it will come off in shreds & pieces. There is no saving it.

KJ
Click to expand...

This sounds a lot like an anatomy/physiology class.
 
Let me update quickly!

I keep my humidors down stairs in the finished part of the "basement". My shop is in the back, closed off to the finished portion. My humidors were registering 80% humidity..YIKES, I check them daily so no damage. So I opened the lids and when I checked that evening, only down to 75%. I moved them to where my lathe is and 75% humidity was on the low end of the measurement...so it's humid!

Now here's the kicker!

I talk to my buddy and tell him what's going on with his cue and he says, just as nonchalantly as possible, "oh yeah, that happens all the time..it'll dry out eventually". He proceeds to tell me it's happened at few pool rooms and he's OK with it, just let it dry out. That would have been some good info to know before going into this, but at least I know it's not my problem.
 
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