How to Clean Air Hockey Table?
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If you are an air hockey enthusiast and you have recently bought an air hockey table, it is for sure that you are looking for excellent playing experience.
Most people stress on the two most important aspects when buying an air hockey table. One is, of course, good playing experience and another is the aspect of the durability of the table.
However, once you buy an air hockey table, a lot depends on how you maintain it for both durability and play experience.
In this post, we will walk you through some of the most effective ways to clean air hockey table and the cleaning rarely takes a whole lot of time.
Why Do You Need to Clean Your Air Hockey Table?
In case of an air hockey table that is not cleaned and maintained for many days, it can badly affect the playing experience.
Just to help you visualize the worst-case scenario, with accumulated dust on the table, it will get the puck movement pretty sluggish. In some cases, the puck may not even travel all the way to your opponent.
With time, the air holes accumulate a lot of dirt which may lead to the clogging of the holes. This can adversely affect the playing experience.
Eventually, you will have to exert more force to deliver the puck towards your opponent and the playing will no longer be as enjoyable as it used to be before, while the table was brand new.
When Do You Need to Clean Your Air Hockey Table?
As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to determine the time when you should consider cleaning your air hockey table. Here are a few signs for you to consider cleaning it:
- When the movement of puck gets slow
- When dust and dirt are visible around the air holes
- When the table top loses its shine
Cleaning Air Hockey Table Takes 6 Important Steps:
- Turn On the Fans/Blowers
- Vacuum the Air Hockey Table Top
- Wipe the Table
- Clean the Air Holes
- Polish the Air Hockey Table Surface
- Sand the Pucks and Mallets
Step by Step Guide to Clean Air Hockey Table
Step 1: Turn On the Fans/Blowers
One important practice to follow while you are cleaning your air hockey table is to keep the fans on and what actually does is prevent dust, dirt, or even liquids from entering into the air holes.
Step 2: Vacuum the Air Hockey Table Top
The next best thing you can do is clean up the dust and cobwebs using a vacuum cleaner.
However, it is important to put the vacuum cleaner not too close to the surface of the table as it may cause scratches on the table surface and damage it. Make sure to cover the entire table top surface with the vacuum cleaner and spend some extra time vacuuming over the air holes to remove dust particles because table holes require more attention.
It is always a wise thing to cover the table top when you are not using it as this largely prevents the accumulation of dust and dirt on the table surface.
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Step 3: Wipe the Table
In the next step, you can keep the air blowers on and use a soft cotton cloth or microfiber cloth to wipe the surface of the table. You can also use an alcohol-based cleanser, dishwashing liquid and window cleaner for the purpose. However, it is important to make sure that the cleanser does not contain ammonia.
As far as using the air hockey table cleaner is concerned, you must apply the cleanser on the cloth and never on the table. Another important piece of advice is to use very little liquid on the cloth as this will help the table dry up in very little time.
It is important to scrub the table surface hard enough to remove the dirt stuck to the table’s surface. Apart from that, you can also clean the table legs and outer sides of the table.
For inner sides, it totally depends on your personal choice. Some players are in favor of not to clean the inner sides of the table because exiguous dirt can help in making a bank shot.
Step 4: Clean the Air Holes
Just in case you see that vacuuming the air holes is not completely removing the dirt from the air holes and you are still wondering how to clean air hockey table holes, you may need to put some extra effort and you many to clean them using toothpicks or pipe cleaners.
However, while you’re trying to remove the dirt out of the holes using a toothpick, you also have to make sure that you are not pushing it further down the hole. Besides, it is always recommended that you keep the fan on so that the dirt that you dislodge from the holes right away gets blown out.
Step 5: Polish the Air Hockey Table Surface
After you have done this, you can actually try applying air hockey table wax (Amazon link >>) on the surface of the table. Even though this is not a mandatory thing, it tends to extend the durability of the table.
However, it is important to make sure that you apply only a thin even coat of polish as an excess of it can clog the air holes.
After the table top dries up, you can clean it with a soft cloth and this will help the table surface with a Shiny gloss.
Step 6: Sand the Pucks and Mallets
The puck and the mallet have certain wear and tear when you use them over a long period. This may get the game-play sluggish and less exciting.
One quick workaround is to use fine sanding paper to sand the puck as well as the bottom of the mallet. This will eventually help you hit the puck quicker and farther once again.
However, this doesn’t really work on mallets with a felt bottom. In case you have a mallet with a felt bottom and you experience a decline in its quality, the best thing you can do is to replace the felt pads.
Wrapping Up
For a good air hockey playing experience, it is important that you take well care of every aspect and one important aspect is certainly cleaning the table on a regular basis.
If you fail to do so, it may largely hamper the playing experience. As far as cleaning the table is concerned, it is really not that hard and on top of that, it does not take much of your time.
We tried our best to give you a comprehensive picture of how to clean air hockey table. If you have read this post carefully so far, you should have no difficulty in cleaning your air hockey table from now on.
Read More About Air Hockey:
Can You Resurface an Air Hockey Table?
Yes, you can resurface your air hockey table in a few ways. However, it depends on the extent of its deterioration.
In case your table has a dent, you can fill it with some clear epoxy till the surface of the table and after it dries up, sand it using fine sandpaper.
Another way is how you handle your table if ever any liquid is spilled over the table. In such a case, you must keep using the air blower until it completely dries up. Until then, you must not turn your table as the liquid may get into the air holes.
You can also resurface the air hockey table by using fiber, plywood or pegboard to measure and drill your air holes.
However, if none of these happens to work, you can consider buying one of the different playing surfaces available in the market. As a matter of fact, you can place an order one online with any of the air hockey manufacturer sites.
How Can I Make Air Hockey Table Slide Better?
To make your air hockey table slide better, you could wipe the table top with a soft cloth with a little bit of alcohol-based cleanser on it or use air hockey polish on the table top, Another way to do this is by sanding the puck and mallet. You should also make a habit of covering your air hockey table properly when not using it.
How Can I Make Air Hockey Table Slippery?
To make the air hockey table slippery, you can either use an air hockey polish or wax on it. For this, you can use stick wax available in puck form (Amazon link >>). However, you must make sure that you use only a thin coat as this will help the table dry up quicker. Apart from that, you can spray silicone lubricant on the surface.
