How do I care for my new dartboard? I know they soak them at tournaments but what with?

Question

Many thanks

Answer 1

unless you have purchased a brand new 1970s dart board you do not soak it.... old ones were made of wood and true they needed soaking but now they are bristle boards.. the only care they need is regular turning to avoid the treble 20 becoming a narled up mess...

Years ago dartboards were made from elm wood. The numbers and wedges had to be carefully painted on and the spider (wires) had as many as 100 staples holding it to the board. To keep it from cracking, the careful pub owner would soak it in a bucket of water or spillage from the beer taps over night. This activity spawned the popular misconception that soaking a loose dartboard in water will prevent darts from falling out. While this is true it will also considerably shorten the life of the board. The boards we use are made of tightly packed fibers of hemp or sisal. When these are moistened, they swell and will invariably bulge, causing the fibres to fall out. The best way is to let natural moisture in the air tighten the board for you. This, however, can take some time. If you've got a really bad board, steam it gently or hang a moistened rag over it to let it "breathe" the moisture slowly.

Answer 2

It depends on how often that you use it.

Keep on turning the board around every week or how often that you use it.

In tournaments these days they dont soak the boards anymore. They replace the boards after every game that is played. The boards are signed by all the players and sold on to the supporters that are watching the games.

Answer 3

They only soak 'Manchester Boards' which most people don't use! A Manchester Board is the smaller black one,and you soak that in beer/ale.But I presume you've got an ordinary board? Turn it on a regular basis and wipe the wires over.

Answer 4

I've done a lot of these over the years, and there doesn't seem to be a winning formula. Case in point, I chose a bracket a couple years ago based on the ferocity of the mascots. One of my highest scores... I pick a couple hot teams, and just a handful of high seed upsets, usually 5s.

Answer 5

I don't know about soaking them in anything but one good tip is to rotate if every so often so that the area around treble 20 doesn't get knackered (Depending on how good you are!)
The number ring should clip on/off easy enough.

Answer 6

is that the smaller Manchester Board they call the log end??

it just drys out so is best kept in water

if is the big london board, then water isnt required

hope that helps

Answer 7

I'm sure it isnt true, but I heard they were soaked in a mixture of yak's urine and Phil 'the power' Taylor's flem.