Joey and Chandler from F.R.I.E.N.D.S series might not be much concerned about cleaning their foosball table. But that does definitely not mean that you will do the same. You were required to spend much of your money on buying the table, then why won’t have concerns to clean it?
Foosball table comes with moody maintenance nature. And it’s the rods that need to be looked after the most. So, it depends on the regularity of the usage that determines how often you should clean the rods.
However, if you one of the owners of such table, you cannot simply run from your responsibility to keep it clean. And if you care much for the table, this write is here to help you.
Here, I will be enlightening you about some of the useful tips that you can use for cleaning the rods of foosball table. And yes, this write will certainly try to make you a responsible owner. So let us start with the cleaning tips.
Commence With Cleaning
Applying lubricant to foosball rods can cause a slow death of the game. And do you know what can happen to them? The debris and dirt in them would begin to work into lubricant and this will lead to counterproductive consequence by cumulative friction.
And that certainly will be a big mistake. So before you apply lubricant, you must clean off the rods. For this, you can grab a rag to clean the rods and bearings.
The rag should be slightly damped with a solution of water and alcohol. You also need to dry the parts carefully after the clean-job is done.
Luster with lubrication
Whenever you hunt down for a formula to solve your case of maintaining foosball table parts, the only answer that glows bright is the Silicone. Being an outstanding lubricant, some of us still go for WD-40 to pick as a lubricant and end up making a big mistake.
It’s because instability and invasive outcome of WD-40 can be the reason of damaging the bearings and rods of your foosball table and causing them to go kaput. And tell me you won’t like that, will you?
What’s so special about Silicone?
One question might kick your mind here is that why would you even use Silicone. See, you want your rods to be smoothie right?
They should move smoothly as you turn them. And this can happen only when they are well lubricated. So the best chore you can do is to make sure that you use silicone on those rods.
It will not only help them enhance their ability and agility but also it will save your money through expanding their lifespan.
Answering How-to Query
It’s easy to understand when your rods can ask for some extra lubrication. Don’t worry. It will be noticeable since they will be turning slower and tougher to glide in and out by then.
-If you ask for the easiest way to use the lubricant, I would say to grab a clean rag and drop some of the silicones onto it directly. After that, apply the silicone to each rod of the table.
But while you are doing this, make sure that you do not drop the lubricant on the playing surface and the handles. It’s better that you take precautions beforehand.
-However, after applying silicone to all of them, head for using it on the bearings. Have the liquid silicone and use it against the bearings. You should also drip one or two of the lubricants on all of them.
-Subsequently, turn the rods but slowly for few times so that you can check if the silicone has got into the bearings completely. After all the check marks are done, you are good to go.
Go for Liquid!
Enter your text here…Being a foosball table owner, whenever you shop for silicone lubricant, you might encounter two types of them: the spray one and the liquid one. But what you should pick causes a good confusion. Let me clear that out!
Obviously! It should be the liquid silicone. Albeit both the types work for lubricating the rods, but it’s the liquid one that is eligible to be your mate.
As for the spray silicone, it makes you restricted to apply it on the rods only which means you won’t be able to get it on the bearings. And without lubricating the bearings, how will you expand the lifespan of the table? Think!
But as for liquid silicone, the job gets easier. All you have to do is, drop some of the lubricant manually on the bearings and make your way easier to lubricate each of them. So, now you know how much the type determines the verve of the table.
And as it has already been mentioned above that you must not get yourself a WD-40 spray for lubrication if you don’t want to make the bearings dry out and let them wear down.
Protect your Playing-surface
Well, there is one downside of the liquid silicone that is manageable but however, it is something that you should know. Liquid silicone tends to get on the playing surface sometimes and it gets difficult to manage such situation. Because, when you get it on the surface, it will lead to diminution of both the performance and look of your foosball table.
For this, you can go for using a plastic wrapper on the playing surface while lubricating the rods and bearings so that you can get the finest promising result.
Timetable for tidiness
If you really love playing foosball, it’s essential that you check the table from time to time. No matter how frequently you play the game with the table, you need to have it get checked every now and then.
And if you think you are finding it tough to do that, I would say make it a habit rather. It will rather help you more to clean off the dust and debris from the surface of the table and keep it in impeccable and serviceable state.
I still have given a brief idea on how your schedule should be for the maintenance. Here you go:
- To maintain the rods of foosball table, you must plan it as a weekly maintenance if you consider yourself a frequent player.
- But if you think you do not play the sport that much, then you can schedule for longer period minus the requirement of lubricating it.
- As for the occasional players, you can plan a monthly timetable for lubricating the rods only if you are someone who plays about a few times a week.
Rapid Rundown On Maintenance
Do you really think only cleaning the parts of your foosball table will do? Nope. The table expects you to maintain it as well.
And for this I have listed what stuff can you do for maintaining the table so that whenever you and your friend stand opposite and play, both of you get to savor the game. Here’s the list:
Keep it well-lubricated:
The first and foremost job of maintaining the foosball table should be checking the rods frequently to ensure that they are well-lubricated with the silicone that helps in enhancing their performance.
To look for such lubricant, you can go for brand like Tornado that makes silicone oils for the table. However, you better use it after taking off the rods from the table. It helps you prevent dripping the lubricant on the playing surface. You can also hold a rag under for extra safety.
After all the jobs are done, wipe off the excess lubricant with a piece of cloth so that you can avert dripping on the playing surface.
Look after the men:
If you think your Foosball men are coming out loose, the only thing you should do is to screw them tightly with the rods. And I guess you will be needing to check it on regular basis.
After securing it properly, your men will be able to make perfect passes potentially throughout the match. And it will also prove their durability as they will not get cracked that easily. If you get bored with the old men, you can get yourself a completely new team.
There are many varieties available in the market, be it the men in solid colors or the men in club jerseys. With that, you will not be required to clean them for a while.
Dab with non-abrasive rag:
Inside the table, make sure you wipe it off with a non-abrasive rag moistened with water or alcohol. You should also regulate the amount of solution used for wiping so that you can avert harming the top of the table.
Get yourself a Mr. Right Cleaner:
If you want to be wiser and clever, enlighten yourself by knowing the perfect cleaner for use.
Because, there are a lot of them available in the market that are not suitable for cleaning your table since they make it rather too slippery to play.
Convey it with care:
Foosball table are usually earned with spending a lot of your bucks. And I don’t think you will be risking it’s life while conveyance.
So, you better avoid dragging it whenever you will move it from one spot to other.
Rather, it’s a request that you make a little effort to lift it up taking the help of your friend and move it. With this, the lifespan of the table will remain resilient as well as the fun of the sport.
Distancing Foods and Beverages:
You won’t be keeping foods and beverages near the table to plan for harming it right?
So, it’s needless to say to always keep them away from the table.
Because trust me! You won’t like the consequence after you mess up the playing area with food debris.
Keep it indoor:
As Foosball is such a sport that is supposed to be played indoor, it’s table is likely to be positioned within the four walls as well.
So, they aren’t meant to be exposed to weather components at all.
Neither you should leave it outside overnight to make it worn out quick, nor you should keep it under the sunlight that will cause color fading.
Repair yourself:
If the parts of your favorite foosball table get broken then you can repair them by gluing or substituting them altogether.
It will help you avert inviting extra expenses sooner or later. However, the best part is that you can substitute all parts of the rods starting from the men and bearings to end caps and bumpers.
All of them are easily available out there.
Where to buy Silicone?
This can be one of the most asked questions as the write has talked a lot about using silicone to the rods. Since such lubricant has proven to be very effective, you might want to look for it right?
Majority of the foosball table companies basically provide Silicone from the brand Tornado along with their product. If you ran out of the Silicone lubrication, you can get it in any retail store that specializes in such tables. Besides, you can also get the lubricant online like one from Amazon.
The Tornado lubricant comes in a bottle 2.5 ounces and lasts for several months. Despite low in price, the brand has earned much love from their customers as their silicone indeed has worked well like a magic in lubricating the rods.
Wrap Up
The rods of the foosball table needs to stay well lubricated if you want to enjoy the game. And fir this cleaning them is a must. It’s absolutely understandable how hassle it looks to get yourself up and move towards the table to clean every part of it.
But I would rather suggest you to make it habit of cleaning them. It would help you more to avoid running from the responsibility and rather make you feel obligated to it.
And as you now know the cleaning tips of the foosball rods, I guess the job got a bit lesser for you to clean the table.
