Maintaining your dartboard can ensure it stays in good condition for longer.
If you’re someone who uses their dartboard regularly, after some time, you’ll likely find it looking worn out and maybe a little damaged. I had the same problem recently and thought to myself, what are the best ways to maintain my dartboard to make it last longer?
So, I did some research to find out the best ways to maintain your dartboard.
Rotate your Dartboard Regularly
The ability to rotate your dartboard is an excellent design feature of bristle dartboards.
As some areas of your dartboard are hit more often, these areas are more likely to wear quicker. Such as the single 20 scoring zone, which accounts for approximately 23.6% of throws (data collected by PDC).
So, to keep these sections free from wear and tear, it’s recommended that you regularly rotate your board.
How to Rotate your Dartboard
Rotating your dartboard is as easy as it sounds. Unclip the metal ring from around the edge of your board; this is what holds the numbers together.
Then rotate the board so that the next black section appears at the top, with the 20 now two places to the right.
Regularly turning your dartboard in this way will spread the wear to the more targeted scoring zones, providing a longer life for your dartboard.
How Often Should you Rotate a Dartboard?
Most manufacturers recommend that you rotate your board on average after every 2 hours of play. However, this depends on your skill level.
For instance, if you’re a good player, you’re likely to hit the 20 scoring zones more than any other.
Interestingly, there’s plenty of discussion around the correct rotation method to follow; clockwise, counterclockwise, and ‘8 to 20’.
Avoid Using Water to Clean Your Dartboard
Never clean your dartboard with water. More specifically, you should never expose your dartboard to liquid of any kind.
Therefore, consider this when cleaning or thinking of where to store your dartboard. In which case, never leave your dartboard outside or in a garage that tends to be damp.
Alternatively, store your dartboard in a cool, dry place to keep it maintained.
For more information on how to clean your dartboard, consider reading our informational guide.
Maintain Your Dart Tips
Maintaining the tips of your darts goes hand in hand with the condition of your dartboard.
In which case, here are some dart maintenance tips for you to consider.
Be Aware of Blunt Tips
After a while, you’re likely to find that your darts begin to ‘bounce out’ much more often. Bounce-outs can occur as a result of the tip of your darts becoming blunt.
Blunt darts can cause some damage to the face of your dartboard as a blunt tip will not penetrate a dartboard’s fibers, thus leaving wider holes and causing damage to the dartboard face.
Check for Burrs
Over time, steel tip darts can develop burrs, which are small hooks that can form on your dart’s tip.
Burrs can form as a result of several things, such as:
- darts hitting the wall or floor
- over-sharpening your darts; causing the sharp points to bend on impact
- darts impacting the metal wiring
How to Get Optimal Dart Points
When sharpening your darts, you don’t want your tips to be sharp to the touch. Instead, they should be more rounded.
You shouldn’t necessarily need to sharpen your darts all that often. As most professionals will tell you, the friction generated through pulling darts out of the board will help keep them sharp.
For more information on how to sharpen your darts correctly, read our helpful guide.
Twist, Don’t Pull to Remove Your Darts
It’s important to be cautious with how you pull your darts out from the board.
Instead, firstly twist the dart before pulling them out of the board.
Use Minimal Lighting
A problem that can arise with bristle dartboards is lighting, or more specifically, what type of lighting you’re using on them.
For instance, if you’re using LED lights in your dartboard setup, you’re fine. They won’t cause any damage to your board.
However, since halogen spotlight bulbs are stronger and give off more heat, they can cause the colors on your board to fade over time. Exposing your dartboard to too much direct sunlight can have the same effect.
Therefore when setting up your dartboard, try to avoid pointing excessive lighting towards the face of your board.
Conclusion
Maintaining your dartboard often will help to lengthen its lifespan and playing quality.
Therefore, consider the points shared above, each time you play.
