How do I get rid of discolouration on cue?

[rgsoton]

Hi

Have recently decided to get back into snooker after a long break...have some horrible discolouration on my cue at the top (due to chalk) as well as a not-very-shiny ferrule. Any tips on how to remove discoloration? Have looked over other posts for tips but am still a little puzzled. If the images don't work the discoloration is aboutinch and a half long under ferrule and it's a "Riley Burwat" that I bought 20 years ago!

Thanks for any help. :snooker:

[Johnnycash]

You can certainly shine up the ferrule with 0.0 wire wool. I generally put some tape underneath the ferrule so as to avoid scratching the wood.

You can clean the cue with some mild detergent. Needless to say don't use a lot of water, just a damp cloth and dry it again immediately. I'm not sure what else to suggest if that doesn't work. Sorry!

[rgsoton]

Thanks very much

[trevs1]

Seeing as you've had no replies from anyone else, I'll add my view.

To be able to assess what exactly needs to be done to you cue, I would need to see it, but generally speaking, it's very tricky to remove discolouration like this easily.

The only way to be pretty sure of doing it is to reduce the size of the end of the shaft, which in most cases is just not practical.

Apart from doing it that way, there are 'some' other ways you can tackle it, but in truth, it's unlikely to get all of it out.

It will depend on how bad the staining is, what it is, and just how much of an improvement you are looking to achieve. You can actually try washing it out with soapy water, as long as you can allow it to dry naturally for a number of days afterwards. You might have to replace the ferrule also to do this acceptably, but it could be worth the effort. Other than that, you could try a soft cloth soaked in white spirit, allowing it to dry completely in between attempts. Or, you might be able to sand it 'VERY' gently with some abrasive paper, (OF NOT MORE THAN ABOUT 400 GRIT), as this might cut any bad colour off the surface, but not be sharp enough to take away too much timber.

Obviously, any of the above will mean you'll have to re-finish the cue, but that's no big problem.

Whichever way you try it, (especially the abrasive way), be careful doing it and it could work out ok.

[rgsoton]

Thanks very much

[inevermissblue]

You can certainly shine up the ferrule with 0.0 wire wool. I generally put some tape underneath the ferrule so as to avoid scratching the wood.

You can clean the cue with some mild detergent. Needless to say don't use a lot of water, just a damp cloth and dry it again immediately. I'm not sure what else to suggest if that doesn't work. Sorry!

Wire wool!!! Good god man. Whatever you do don't use wire wool. It will do more harm than good trust me. The best way to clean your ferrule is to use brasso on it. I find that the swab type is better than the liquid. So all you need to do is tear off a little bit off the swab, wrap it around the ferrule then twist the cue so that it rubs into the ferrule. Continue this until you can see an improvement. then allow it to dry before the next step. Finally get a cue towel and rinse it slightly on one end under a tap of cold water. then wring it out as well as possible. Finally (this will cure the discolouration too) wrap the towel around the ferrule taking care not to get your tip wet! and wipe off the brasso. then find a clean part of the towel once more and wrap it around the discoloured area below the ferrule and twist your cue to make a slight squeeking noise. make 5 or 6 turns. then almost immediately, use the dry part of the towel and twist this around your cue to remove the moisture, once again making a squeeking noise. Continue until you no longer hear the squeeking. Then simply wrap the edge of the dry part of your towel around the ferrule and twist the cue to buff the ferrule up to a shine. This should give you the best results possible.
Furthermore, to keep your ferrule looking nice and bright in future just moisten the ferrule with your fingertip, rip of a strip of beermat or card. Wrap it around your ferrule and twist your cue to achieve a nice shine,Perfect!
In addition. before and after play a good tip is to get a beermat and burnish the side of your tip until it shines. This pushes the extreme edge of you tip back into place lessening the need to re-trim your tip, making it last a lot longer.:snooker::snooker: :snooker:

[rgsoton]

Thanks very much