How To Take Care Of Your Cue Stick
Whether you are playing using a mini pool table or a full size pool table, the cue stick is your most important piece of equipment. Therefore it is essential to take good care of it to make sure it will perform at its best. In time, a cue stick will naturally lose some of its smoothness and form. It is the owner’s responsibility to properly maintain the condition of the cue stick so that it will be able to perform at its highest level. Below are some of the tips that you can apply to your own pool cue.
- One of the best ways to keep you pool cue in tip-top shape is by keeping it clean. You can use pool cue cleaners or just a damp piece of cloth. What is important is to clean the cue stick thoroughly to remove all the dirt and oil accumulated from skin contact. This will keep the pool cue in excellent condition.
- Another way of keeping your cue stick in good condition is by using sandpaper. This will help refine or polish minor scratches in your cues. Just make sure that you only use the finest sandpaper to avoid further damage to your cue stick.
- To ensure that your cue stick performs at its best, it is crucial that your cue stick maintains its shape. It is a bad idea if you lean your cue stick on the table or lay them down in horizontal position because this may cause your cue stick to lose its shape. Once your cue stick lose its shape, it is impossible to bring it back to its original form. Therefore, it is very important to store them properly especially when not in use. It is advisable to store them vertically in racks. If you are using a two-piece cue stick, store it in a hard case to prevent it from losing its perfect shape.
- If your cue stick is slightly bent, it is still possible to bring it back to its straight form. But instead of trying to forcibly bend it back yourself let the natural weight of the cue stick do it instead. What you need to do first is to heat up the pool cue by using a piece of cloth or a damp towel with warm water. Keep the warm towel onto the stick and let it absorb the heat until the wood becomes more flexible. After that, hang the stick from the tip and allow its natural weight to pull it down from the bottom. It is best if you allow to hang it someplace warm. The natural weight of the stick can straighten itself out as long as the bend is not very severe.
- Prevention is better than cure. Avoiding any accidents from happening is the most important tip in keeping your cue stick at its best shape possible. Never use the pool cues for anything aside from playing pool. They should only be taken out during games, and then store it right back in a vertical storage to keep them straight. Proper maintenance and proper precautions will keep a cue stick in excellent playing condition.
