Sticky Shaft and Hand solution?

I carry a small (travel sized) plastic bottle of hand sanitizer and a small towel. Whenever my hands feel sticky, dirty or greasy I use a small amount of the hand sanitizer rubbing it all over my hands, then wipe it off and dry with the towel. I then quickly wipe down the shaft with the towel, and I'm good to go.

Try it, I think you'll like it.

i have an do samething it works for me too hope this helps
 
Does the hand sanitizer leave a chemical film on your hands or on the shaft?
 
I also wash my hands as needed, and use a damp paper towel for my shaft (which isn't needed often since I keep it clean to begin with).
 
Does the hand sanitizer leave a chemical film on your hands or on the shaft?

No. Hand sanitizer is composed mainly of ethyl alcohol (65% to 70%) and water, in a gel base. This allows it to evaporate / dry very quickly.

It leaves my hands feeling very smooth and very dry, same thing for the cue shaft. In fact, since most of the sanitizer has evaporated from the towel after I've dried my hands, very little of it actually gets on the shaft, and that little bit dries in next to no time.

I wash my hands very vell before I start playing and use the sanitizer to quickly fix my hands as needed. This allows me to avoid having to take a bathroom break in the middle of a match.

Give it a try Jim! You just might like the results. :smile:
 
That is a commonly believed myth. The fact is, you cannot open and/close your pores by using cold and/or hot water.

Opening and closing your pores would require constriction of muscles. There is only one muscle in your pores. It is attached to the end of your hair strands and when it pulls your hair, it makes the hair stand up and you get a goose bump. Cold or hot water might make you get goose bumps, but it won't and can't close or open skin pores.

Ask any dermatologist worth his weight in Master chalk.


Thats pretty interesting, thanks for the info. IMO, I don't really care what it's actually doing but I agree with the previous poster that cold water helps keep your hands dry longer and thus smoother and less "sticky".
 
A) keep your hands clean
B) do not hold you shaft above the joint (except when chalking)
C) keep a damp towel at your seat (one side for hands, the other for the shaft)
D) keep a dry towel at your seat
E) wax the shaft with Carnuba past wax
F) chalk with the shaft level so the chalk dust falls away from the shaft and away from your hands
G) hold your bridge hand with the finger apart when not shooting
 
My hands get very tacky so I know what you are going through. I have always had this problem. So before I bought a decent cue I tested a lot of methods to see what works best. I've tried all kinds of cleaners and applications with most of them working well for a few hours. The problem is playing for extended periods of time.

I've found the best method that works for me is to apply Butchers Bowling Alley wax once a week. Clean and dry the shaft first. Then apply the wax and let it dry. Buff out with a towel. Then use a piece of burnishing leather to heat the wax on the shaft.

the wax helps keep it clean longer. Then I carry a dry Mr. Clean Majic Eraser. I cut it in half and keep it in my bag. When the cue starts to get tacky (2-3 hours of play) I make a couple of passes over the shaft. That's all it takes.

The Cue Silk/Cue Slick products work well and make the shaft very slick but don't last long and they are pricey when you use them as frequently as I do. When you're in a tourny, it can be hard to get the time for reapplying the product.

Be aware that most people don't have this problem. When someone offers advice, I ask to see thier cue. Usually the cue is so tacky that it actually pulls on my skin when performing practice strokes.

I hope this helps.
 
A) keep your hands clean
B) do not hold you shaft above the joint (except when chalking)
C) keep a damp towel at your seat (one side for hands, the other for the shaft)
D) keep a dry towel at your seat
E) wax the shaft with Carnuba past wax
F) chalk with the shaft level so the chalk dust falls away from the shaft and away from your hands
G) hold your bridge hand with the finger apart when not shooting

H) Steps B-G are irrelevant assuming step A is followed correctly.
 
Glove.
Cheap, consistent feel, easy to carry.
Shaft stays clean and looking brand new. (Improves resale value?)
Problem solved.
 
Thats pretty interesting, thanks for the info. IMO, I don't really care what it's actually doing but I agree with the previous poster that cold water helps keep your hands dry longer and thus smoother and less "sticky".

How can cold water keep your hands drier longer as opposed to using hot or warm water?
 
How can cold water keep your hands drier longer as opposed to using hot or warm water?

I doubt there's anything scientific about it, but I can attest that when my hands are sweating, the cold water feels much better than hot or warm water. Much in the same way it feels nicer to splash your face with cool water when you're sweating.

If I wash with warm or hot water, my hands tend to keep sweating.
 
No. Hand sanitizer is composed mainly of ethyl alcohol (65% to 70%) and water, in a gel base. This allows it to evaporate / dry very quickly.

It leaves my hands feeling very smooth and very dry, same thing for the cue shaft. In fact, since most of the sanitizer has evaporated from the towel after I've dried my hands, very little of it actually gets on the shaft, and that little bit dries in next to no time.

I wash my hands very vell before I start playing and use the sanitizer to quickly fix my hands as needed. This allows me to avoid having to take a bathroom break in the middle of a match.

Give it a try Jim! You just might like the results. :smile:

Thank you my friend. I carry a little spray bottle of denatured alcohol for hands and/or shaft. Ethyl alcohol is drinkable... so I probably would! :eek: :groucho:

Clean hands! Alcohol for the shaft if necessary. Leather burnishing.... lots of it. No wax/paste/powder/polish/or other chemical for the shaft. Everything except water and alcohol gets sticky/gooey and has to be removed with... yes... ALCOHOL! Denatured alcohol.... or hand sanitizer.. if you can resist drinking it.:nono::slap::shakehead::yikes::outtahere:
 
Last edited:
1st thing goes to the guy who was talking about sand paper.....
----if you've got laquer on the shaft then its time to go buy a real cue/shaft

we use a wood sealer on the shaft just so the pores are closed to the enviorment and helps to greatly reduce moisture change......but the sealer is basically level with the surface of the wood you can't feel it.

Many cheap asian Imports put a laquer or some sort of clear coat on the shafts....probably so they DON'T WARP "immideately" its a sheild for a poorly made cue out of poorly seasoned wood.


Lets not forget that when you scotch brite or sand a shaft you take it OUT OF ROUND.....DON't EVEN TRY TO ARGUE THAT B/C ITS THE TRUTH. There is a reason why when we build cues that we want the shaft to be as fine of a finish as possible from the final taper pass.....so you don't have to sand, hopefully only POLISH....b/c you DON'T SAND CUES YOU TURN THEM

There's not a person on the planet that sanded a shaft off a lathe that stayed perfectly concentric....you can sand it out of round on the dam lathe what do you think is gonna happen in your hands. Seen many shafts that had "taper rolls" that were not b/c of a warp but b/c of the use of scotch brite and sandpaper.


If you have a good cue with a nice plain wooden shaft thats sealed with the wood sealer then you want the sealer to stay there......as opposed to painting it so it doesn't warp right away the custom maker seals the shaft so it will

A) help to stay cleaner
B) gives it a small degree of ding resistance
C) To protect the shaft from wild swings in its enviorment in case say you like to keep your cues in the trunk.

I know many good people that had many a straight shaft warp on them not long after putting sandpaper on it and not re-sealing the shaft.


2nd) CARNUBA......

A) It makes everything shiny
B)It can make a shaft very slick
C) Powder doesn't mix well with Waxes and such.....it makes paste


One of the guys here that just picked up one of my cues down in Florida just called me today.....LOVES THE CUE....but the shaft has been sticky or whatever.....wanted to know what he needed to do.

Told him I hit balls with it for a few weeks at least b/f I got it out to him and the shaft was never sticky......so I started asking him questions.

It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on.....I completed the cue and sealed the shaft......then I waxed the butt and the shaft with the carnuba.....was smooth as a babys bottom.....

He had used powder (you know the stuff climbers/weightlifters and gymnasts use lol) the powder will basically bind somewhat with the wax and make a paste.....getting the same effect of the oily and sweat hands as the skin and oil from our palms gets all over the cue too......so now you got a layer of powdered wax......


Told him to do just like what hierovision said on page 1

Damp brown paper towel and buff till hot
Dry Brown Paper towel and buff till hot
Burnish with piece of Brown cardboard

If you have the towel too wet the heat will not build up, its that small amount of heat that STRIPS OILS WAXES AND COMBINATION SKIN/WAX/CHALK PASTES off the cue.

Now after Paksat does that he will be back down to the wood sealer, and all he has to do is keep his hands clean......this is all ive ever done thats what the old skool did and it works perfect NO MAGIC NOTHING WORKS BETTER THAN THE RAG!

-Grey Ghost-
 
Last night I played in my 14.1 league. I tried the hand sanitizer,then leather burnish and it was magic,I had to repeat the process every 4 or 3 times at the table but it was great. I also chalked with my right hand and kept the cue level when I chalked to keep the chalk off my hand and stick,I also use blue diamond chalk which seems to be a lot stickier than regular master chalk...
 
I used to think like the OP

I used to think like the OP but then broke down and tried shooting with a glove and have not taken it off since.

Just something for the OP to think about.
 
Back
Top