The Ultimate Cue Cleaning

F

fxskater

Ryan The Salmon Arm Lynn
Silver Member
I am doing an extreme cleaning on my cues today and I need your guys help.

I have heard all the different methods, and heard the arguments for which is better, so i went out and bought a bunch of things to help me. Here is what i have:
Ronson Lighter Fluid - used for filling Zippo lighters
Microfiber Cloth - I thought these things were expensive, found some at the dollar store for $1
Terry Dish Cloth - Kinda like cheese cloth.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - I have used these in the past and LOVE EM.
2500 Grit sand paper - I am using this as the final step.

So with these products, what would you start with and how would you proceed?

This is what i was going to do. Take microfiber Cloth, get damp, wipe down the whole shaft a tonne of times, then dry with Terry Cloth. Get Mr. Clean Magic Eraser damp, wipe down aggressively, dry with terry cloth. Put lighter fluid on Terry Cloth and jerk off the shaft a little more. Giv'r a little rub down with the Microfiber cloth to dry'r up. Finish off with the 2500 grit sand paper. Expected to lose 1-5/1000 off the shaft.

Any suggestions?? I am getting started in about 30 mins, so if i dont see a 'NOOOOOOOO your gonna wreck the shit outta your shaft....etc' In the next half hour, then I'll assume this is the recommended way.
 
I have been known to use hair spray, but that was in a pinch... I use orange oil cleaner... and a sponge, I get at magic mart...lol its yellow and say 320 grit.... I actualy use it to polish my CD's and DVD's, so I doubt it will hurt your ferrule or shaft... Ive never ever seen a scratch from using it, its definatly not 320 grit... more like 2000 with grip...


Im not sure about lighter fluid but alcohol, Ive used that...

2wld4u
 
fxskater said:
I am doing an extreme cleaning on my cues today and I need your guys help.

I have heard all the different methods, and heard the arguments for which is better, so i went out and bought a bunch of things to help me. Here is what i have:
Ronson Lighter Fluid - used for filling Zippo lighters
Microfiber Cloth - I thought these things were expensive, found some at the dollar store for $1
Terry Dish Cloth - Kinda like cheese cloth.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - I have used these in the past and LOVE EM.
2500 Grit sand paper - I am using this as the final step.

So with these products, what would you start with and how would you proceed?

This is what i was going to do. Take microfiber Cloth, get damp, wipe down the whole shaft a tonne of times, then dry with Terry Cloth. Get Mr. Clean Magic Eraser damp, wipe down aggressively, dry with terry cloth. Put lighter fluid on Terry Cloth and jerk off the shaft a little more. Giv'r a little rub down with the Microfiber cloth to dry'r up. Finish off with the 2500 grit sand paper. Expected to lose 1-5/1000 off the shaft.

Any suggestions?? I am getting started in about 30 mins, so if i dont see a 'NOOOOOOOO your gonna wreck the shit outta your shaft....etc' In the next half hour, then I'll assume this is the recommended way.
Click to expand...


Here is what I would do...Throw all the shi..stuff you have listed away....Get two clean paper towels and a bottle of rubbing alchohol...fold one of the paper towels a couple times and dampen with rubbing alchohol and wipe down your shaft...then take the dry paper towel...fold it a couple times and wipe down the shaft with the dry paper towel.........take a small piece of soft leather and burnish the side of your tip and your done.....should take no more than 5 minutes......

EDIT: The above is based on you making a serious post...If your post was a joke, than I would suggest you completly wipe down you shaft with your lighter fluid....then warm the lighter fluid with a lighter.........That should do the trick.......
 
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fxskater said:
I am doing an extreme cleaning on my cues today and I need your guys help.

I have heard all the different methods, and heard the arguments for which is better, so i went out and bought a bunch of things to help me. Here is what i have:
Ronson Lighter Fluid - used for filling Zippo lighters
Microfiber Cloth - I thought these things were expensive, found some at the dollar store for $1
Terry Dish Cloth - Kinda like cheese cloth.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - I have used these in the past and LOVE EM.
2500 Grit sand paper - I am using this as the final step.

So with these products, what would you start with and how would you proceed?

This is what i was going to do. Take microfiber Cloth, get damp, wipe down the whole shaft a tonne of times, then dry with Terry Cloth. Get Mr. Clean Magic Eraser damp, wipe down aggressively, dry with terry cloth. Put lighter fluid on Terry Cloth and jerk off the shaft a little more. Giv'r a little rub down with the Microfiber cloth to dry'r up. Finish off with the 2500 grit sand paper. Expected to lose 1-5/1000 off the shaft.

Any suggestions?? I am getting started in about 30 mins, so if i dont see a 'NOOOOOOOO your gonna wreck the shit outta your shaft....etc' In the next half hour, then I'll assume this is the recommended way.
Click to expand...

For the first step, I have used Soft Scrub with bleach (it's a liquid paste in a bottle)...just a little on a terry cloth towel and wipe with a slightly dampened cloth followed by a dry cloth rubbing vigorously up and down the shaft until it's very dry and smooth. That really removes all the chalk discoloration. Then I would use your 2500 grit paper to smooth the wood and the ferrule. I found that using very fine sandpaper on the ferrule makes it easier to remove chalk from it. The cue tech guy at the local poolroom may not use what I mentioned but he does use Miniwax sanding sealer on a rag with the shaft in a lathe spinning it while applying small amounts of the sealer with a cloth. Then, we both use carnuba car wax as a final sealer. I'm sure there's many other methods, but these have worked well for me.

Curly
 
fxskater said:
Put lighter fluid on Terry Cloth and jerk off the shaft a little more.

Any suggestions?? I am getting started in about 30 mins, so if i dont see a 'NOOOOOOOO your gonna wreck the shit outta your shaft....etc' In the next half hour, then I'll assume this is the recommended way.
Click to expand...

Have a Fire Extinguisher handy, because of Spontaneous Combustion. ;)
 
All done. Shaft looks great!!

Actually i am gonna use my procedure at the top from now on. Every step of the way it got a tiny bit cleaner, until after the lighter fluid. The lighter fluid cleaced it up real nice for the final time, then the 2500 grit sandpaper and a brand new clean $20 bill smoothed it out and made it look like a brand new BLEACHED shaft. Looks great feels great. Thanks for nothin, j/k. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
fxskater said:
I am doing an extreme cleaning on my cues today and I need your guys help.

I have heard all the different methods, and heard the arguments for which is better, so i went out and bought a bunch of things to help me. Here is what i have:
Ronson Lighter Fluid - used for filling Zippo lighters
Microfiber Cloth - I thought these things were expensive, found some at the dollar store for $1
Terry Dish Cloth - Kinda like cheese cloth.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - I have used these in the past and LOVE EM.
2500 Grit sand paper - I am using this as the final step.

So with these products, what would you start with and how would you proceed?

This is what i was going to do. Take microfiber Cloth, get damp, wipe down the whole shaft a tonne of times, then dry with Terry Cloth. Get Mr. Clean Magic Eraser damp, wipe down aggressively, dry with terry cloth. Put lighter fluid on Terry Cloth and jerk off the shaft a little more. Giv'r a little rub down with the Microfiber cloth to dry'r up. Finish off with the 2500 grit sand paper. Expected to lose 1-5/1000 off the shaft.

Any suggestions?? I am getting started in about 30 mins, so if i dont see a 'NOOOOOOOO your gonna wreck the shit outta your shaft....etc' In the next half hour, then I'll assume this is the recommended way.
Click to expand...

The magic eraser combined with a couple drops of rubbing alcohol will clean it better than anything out there. It raises the grain ALOT, however, so be prepared to do a little sanding and alot of burnishing.
 
LastTwo said:
The magic eraser combined with a couple drops of rubbing alcohol will clean it better than anything out there. It raises the grain ALOT, however, so be prepared to do a little sanding and alot of burnishing.
Click to expand...
Use denatured alcohol instead, there will be much less grain raising. Denatured is pure ethanol, with some methanol added to make it poisonous. I use it with the Magic Eraser. I use a dry, micro-fiber towel, between innings, it prolongs the time between alcohol cleanings.

Tracy
 
RSB-Refugee said:
Use denatured alcohol instead, there will be much less grain raising. Denatured is pure ethanol, with some methanol added to make it poisonous. I use it with the Magic Eraser. I use a dry, micro-fiber towel, between innings, it prolongs the time between alcohol cleanings.

Tracy
Click to expand...

Oh I thought they were the same thing. Can you buy denatured alcohol at any store?
 
Denatured alcohol has a lower water content, so it doesn't raise the grain as much as rubbing alcohol. I bought denatured alcohol in the hardware/paint section of my local Wal-Mart.

Someone above mentioned Soft-Scrub because it has bleach. Yes it does, but bleach will break down the cells of the wood, which is bad, bad. Stick to the denatured alcohol and other less-abusive methods of cleaning.

BTW, I do use a Magic Eraser to apply the alcohol. It's amazing how well those things clean shafts.
 
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3 or 4 passes with a slightly damp Magic Eraser has worked for me. Then a couple quick passes with a wet paper towel to remove any grit. Then a quick wipedown with a dry paper towel. Let it dry for 10 mins ... then burnish it with some white computer paper till yer shaft is hot (but best not to do this motion in front of an open window). Rest of that stuff sounds like overkill.
 
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