Maintaining a clean playing environment is key to having a fun time playing darts. Over time, a dartboard can start to get worn out and lose its luster. This can happen for many reasons, like regular wear and tear, misuse, or the location it’s stored in.
Knowing how to clean a dartboard is important if you want to make it last, and allows you to keep having fun for a very long time.
Why Do I Need to Clean my Dartboard?
There are a few key reasons to maintain a clean dartboard. The first is that over time the numbers on the outside could become faded or hard to read, making it harder to play and know where to throw your darts next. The board also relies on the stark contrast between black and white sections to help you aim, and if these sections change – for example, if the black sections fade or the white sections become dirty – this can affect how well you can differentiate between sections.
An unclean dartboard can also affect the darts you’re throwing. Any dust and grime can transfer between board and dart, making the darts dull or slippery or rusty. This also can be true the other way around – so make sure your darts are clean when you use them or else you could dirty your dartboard.
Another reason is that a dartboard that hasn’t been cleaned can be gross or hazardous to play with, which may lead you to play less with it and therefore cause it to become more dirty and gross and hazardous. If there is any mold on it, make sure you immediate clean it off before playing because the darts hitting the board will make the mold airborne and you can breathe it in.
How Often Should I Clean My Dartboard?
While all dartboards should be regularly maintained, how often you need to clean it is determined by what type of board you’re using. An electronic dart board is super fast and easy to clean, so you can probably do it every time you play, or maybe every other time. It doesn’t necessarily need to be cleaned so often, but because it’s so easy there’s no reason not to.
A dartboard made of bristle or cork, on the other hand, should be cleaned every two months or so. It can take longer than cleaning an electronic dartboard, so you don’t need to fret about doing it as often. A wooden dartboard needs to be cleaned more frequently than a bristle or cork board, but still only every 2 to 3 weeks.
Cleaning a Dartboard – Tips and Tricks
Here are some of our ideas on how to best maintain and clean your dartboard. This will keep your playing environment and equipment in top shape and ready to play.
Rotate the Dartboard
One of the best things you can do for your dartboard, maintenance-wise, is to rotate it. To do this, all you need to do is take off the outer ring of numbers and rotate the board a quarter-turn. This will help keep certain sections of the board from wearing out. We recommend doing this once or twice a month if you play regularly.
Soft Cloth Cleaning
Take a soft cloth and soak it in water. Then twist the cloth tightly to remove all excess water from it. You want the cloth to be moist, but not dripping wet. Then simply wipe down the surface of the dartboard. You want to do this for at least a few minutes at a time, and about once a month.
Vacuum Cleaning
You can use your vacuum cleaner to clean your dartboard, as long as the suction power of the vacuum is not too high. Vacuuming a dartboard allows any dust and dirt particles stuck within the pores and fibers of the board to be dislodged, which in turn makes the sections more clearly defined and visible.
This makes playing darts easier because it allows the darts to stick more thoroughly to the board – and it keeps your darts clean too!
Liquid Wood Polisher
This is perfect to use on boards that are made from sisal fibers, like a lot of bristle dartboards. Over time the fibers lose their moisture due to regular use as well as exposure to lights and sunlight.
This loss of moisture causes the fibers to spring back less after being punctured by a dart, leaving your board with a lot of holes in it.
Polishing the surface can help the fibers regain lost moisture and better retain moisture as well. Just polish the face of the dartboard, then leave it in the sun all day to dry. After this, check with a toothpick to see if it comes out wet, and if not repeat the process.
White Petrol Cleaning
You can take a small cotton ball or pad, soak it in white petrol, and use it to clean your dartboard. The petrol cleans the face of the dartboard thoroughly, and it evaporates quickly in air, so it doesn’t leave any residue. It also makes the surface shinier and smoother, which allows darts to more easily penetrate it.
How to Clean an Electronic Dartboard
Electronic dartboards are generally made from plastic, and come with smooth-tip darts. Because of this, their surfaces are usually very smooth and easy to clean. All you do to clean an electronic dartboard is lay it face-up on a steady table and wipe all around it with a dry cloth or rag.
You want to use a dry cloth because water could potentially damage the electronics within the board. Make sure all around the back of the board and the wall around it is clean and dust-free as well, and then hang it back up, ready to be used again!
How to Clean a Bristle or Cork Dartboard
The first step to cleaning a bristle dartboard or a cork dartboard is to remove the metal frame from around the outside of the board. You can wipe down the frame with a rag if it’s dusty or dirty, and then place it aside to reattach it later.
After you’ve removed the frame, just take a low-powered vacuum or a soft scrubbing brush to get all of the dust or particles off of the board. This shouldn’t take long, though it could if there’s many layers of dirt to deal with.
Once that is finished, simply wipe down the board with a dry cloth, put the frame back on, and hang it back on the wall.
A cork dartboard can sometimes become dried out. If this occurs, simply place it flat on a table face-up, with a damp cloth covering it. Leave it like this overnight, and by the morning the board should be sufficiently hydrated.
Cleaning a Wooden Dartboard
Wooden dartboards are more rare than electronic, bristle, or cork boards. However, they are not much more difficult to clean. All you need to do is clean the surface with a dry cloth to remove any dust or dirt, and then moisturize it with wood polish.
This should be done every 2 or 3 weeks to keep the dartboard from cracking or drying out.
Can I Soak (or Rinse) my Dartboard in Water?
No, you should never soak your dartboard. In fact, you should never use water when cleaning your dartboard, except to lightly moisten a cloth and rub it on the face of the board. Excess water can cause the dartboard to deteriorate quickly and can make it impossible to play darts on.
Why do Dartboards Bulge?
If your dartboard is bulging, it is most likely due to water damage. Water can get into the board and cause the fibers within the board to swell.
If the damage gets too bad, it could prevent the darts from sticking into the board at all, and if this happens we would recommend simply buying a new board.
How to Remove Mold or Mildew From a Dartboard
If your dartboard is stored in a damp or dark location, it can develop mold or mildew on it. This is dangerous to inhale, so make sure you clean it off as soon as you can. Take it out into the sunlight and let it dry out for a couple hours.
Then take a stiff brush and brush off the dried mold, or blow it off using compressed air. Afterwards, store it or hang it in a different location so it doesn’t mold or mildew again.
Summary
A dartboard takes a lot of wear and tear throughout its life just through regular gameplay. However, even if you play multiple times a week there’s no reason your dartboard shouldn’t last 5 years or more if you keep it regularly maintained and clean.
All of the above tips for cleaning your dartboard use items you can likely find around the house, and all it takes is a few minutes here and there to have a board that will last a long time!
