Shuffleboard Table Maintenance

Like any other piece of sports equipment, shuffleboard tables require proper care. Owning a shuffleboard table means you’ll be hosting games, and it’s only fair to your guests to provide an enjoyable and fair game. To ensure consistent and long lasting use of your table, it need to be tuned like a guitar. Fortunately, maintaining your shuffleboard regularly is not a massive time sink and, if done effectively, will make your play time much more enjoyable.

If you own a wooden lacquer board, you can make your own cleaner or by premade cleaner. To make your own, mix water, a quarter cup of vinegar, and several drops of olive oil to make a solution that will remove dirt and help the board retain moisture. General surface cleaners will work fine for polymer surfaces. Whatever table you have, use a soft cloth for rubbing down your shuffleboard table. This type of cleaning should be done monthly, but adjusted to keep up with use. Once the surface is clean, you can apply liquid wooden furniture wax or liquid shuffleboard wax. Refer to the manufacturer's instructions for these products.

Now it’s time for silicon spray and powdered wax. Evenly spray your table with the silicon to create a base for the powdered wax. Evenly coat the powder wax across the shuffleboard surface. Test this surface with a puck and change the amount of wax according to personal preference and skill level. While super slick surfaces are more fun for experienced players, it’s more difficult to teach newcomers to play on. Remember to do the spray and powder before you start playing, occasionally adding powder between games to maintain the desired surface.

Even indoor shuffleboard tables are affected by climate. The table’s location, whether it’s stored or in use, will affect the extent to which it will experience warping. This doesn’t mean you have to place it in a bomb shelter, but be cautious about the temperature change between night and day. Keeping it out of direct sunlight when it’s not in use is a good way to keep temperature change to a minimum. This will help give your table a longer life span with less maintenance.

Shuffleboard tables purposefully concave, the extent of which is adjusted to personal taste. Convex surfaces tend to make the puck stick to the sides, which isn’t great for playing. The climate adjust should be underneath your shuffleboard table. Every two weeks you should check your table’s concavity and adjust it. Even though the surface won’t be completely flat, you should make sure it’s even with a level as well. Optionally, you can test the concavity of your table by taking a piece of paper and sliding it under the level. You want it to pass through the center but snag on the sides. This is another way to examine your table’s concavity.

With regular care, shuffleboard tables can reliably serve you for years to come. As a host or commercial owner, taking pride in properly maintaining them will earn you the respect of your guests. They’ll keep coming back to the place where they can find consistently good gameplay.