Foosball rods are the most vital part of the foosball table. If it breaks, you won't be able to replace it easily. Therefore, if you want to use your foosball table for a long time, you should learn how to clean foosball rods appropriately.
Here we start with the importance of cleaning foosball rods. People tend to be more concerned about the foosball table rather than the rods, which is illogical.
Next, we have shared a complete guide to cleaning foosball rods. It contains three methods that can be used in various situations. You could follow any of them depending on your current situation.
Table of Contents
Why It’s Important To Clean Foosball Rods?
If you buy a foosball table for $2000, you don't want it to be ruined too quickly, right? The rods are the most important part of the foosball table, among all the other components. The reason is that this is the part we use the most.
But when you don't clean the rods month after month, they will become rusty, and you will barely move them while playing. So, cleaning foosball rods is important. Besides that, if your foosball rods get rusty, they will create a harsh sound while moving.
As a result, you and your teammates won’t be able to concentrate on the game properly.
So it's really important to learn how to clean and lube foosball rods.
How To Clean Rusty Foosball Rods
There are actually several ways to get rid of foosball rod rust problems. We will go over three different methods in this section.
- Do it at home approach
- General approach
- Advanced approach
Each method has its own specialties and characteristics. You can follow any of these methods that seem more appropriate to you.
Tools That Will Be Required To Clean Foosball Roads:
- Hand gloves and safety goggles
- Paper towel
- Scotch Brite hand pads
- Water
- Dryer
1. For method one: Baking soda paste
2. For method two: Using any commercial chemical (for example, WD-40 Lubricants)
3. For method three: Using mechanical abrasion (here, we will use sanders)
Method 1: Do It At Home
This is a very basic way to remove rust. If your rods are a little rusty (not too much), you can follow this method.
In this method, we will use items that are readily available at home, for example, baking soda.
Let's see how to clean foosball table rods with a baking soda solution.
Step 1: Prepare the baking soda
To prepare baking soda, you have to be careful about the ratio of water and baking soda.
Let's take three portions of baking soda and just one portion of water.
Make sure the paste is not too thin. It needs to be a little thicker.
Step 2: Uninstall the rods
To apply the paste, you need to unscrew all the rods from the table. If you don't separate the rods, the baking soda paste might damage the color of your table.
Step 3: Apply the paste to the foosball rods
Now gently apply the paste to the rods. You can either use your hand or a hard brush. Whatever you use, make sure you do not miss any points.
Step 4: Scratching and washing
Now start rubbing the rods with a scotch pad. After a moment, you will notice that the rust has been completely removed. If you think it is incomplete and still has some rust available, do this process once again.
When it seems properly clean, you can wash it and dry it.
Method 2: A General Approach
These methods can be followed when the rust around the rods is pretty severe. In this approach, we use a commercial chemical rust remover.
Here we will use WD-40 Lubricant because it will give a quick result.
However, you can use others like StarBrite Rust Stain Remover, Rescue Rust Remover, or CLR PRO Calcium.
Step 1: Apply the lubricant
(Due to the hazardous nature of the chemical spray, gloves and goggles are required for this operation.)
In this method, you don’t need to remove the rods from the table. Simply spray the WD-40 on the rods and then quickly scrub them with the scrubber.
Apparently, this chemical is more powerful than the baking soda solution. So obviously, you will get a better result.
You will notice a difference after rubbing for a moment.
Step 2: Wipe out the rust
When the rust starts to disappear, wipe it with a paper towel. Repeat this process until the rust is completely removed.
Method 3: Advance Approach
When the condition of your foosball table is horrible, and the first two methods cannot remove the rust, this will be the only option left.
Here you need to manage a sander machine.
The reason is that the rust becomes so stubborn that normal chemicals can not remove it.
Step 1: Prepare your sanders
The sander required a disk for specific work. When it comes to sanding metal, you need to install a metal sanding disk on it.
Step 2: Sand the metal
Make sure you hold the metal tightly before you start sanding it. Now turn the machine on and keep sanding the rust with the disc. You don't need to put any extra pressure; just do it normally.
Step 3: clean the rods
When the sanding is finished, wipe the dust with a dry cloth. You don't need to wash it after the sanding.
Final Thoughts
We hope now you understand how to clean foosball rods in a very simple and quick way. We started our article by describing why cleaning foosball rods is important.
After that, we have shown three different methods of cleaning the rods. All of these methods are highly informative and extremely easy to follow. You can follow any of those, which will seem easier.
Additionally, we have attached a list of the necessary tools which will be needed for this operation and overall foosball table maintenance.
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