Nothing is worse than when you want to play a nice game of darts after a long break and there’s mold on your dartboard! Not only does this make it so you can’t play, but it is also unsanitary and can even be dangerous to your health.
You may even be tempted to buy a brand new dartboard altogether. But before you go out and buy a brand new dartboard, there are a few simple steps you can take to try and save it.
Removing mold from your dartboard will require a little bit of sunlight, a good cleaning brush with stiff bristles, and a bit of elbow grease.
Removing Mold from a Dartboard
The best way to remove mold from your dartboard is actually a lot easier than you might think. Avoid scrubbing the mold off of your dartboard at first, as this could exacerbate the problem and activate any allergies you or those around you may have.
You should also avoid using chemicals such as bleach and other cleaning solutions to get the mold off of your dartboard. These chemicals could damage the board and make playing darts harder. This could be due to changing the surface of the board, destroying the color, or the numbers as well.
The best way remove the mold is to first leave it out in the sunlight. Wait for a day that is sunny and dry, and leave your dartboard out somewhere with no shade, where it can be exposed to the sun for at least a 2-4 hours, the longer the better within reason.
The sunlight will kill any mold or mildew that has gathered on the dartboard. Be careful not to leave it out too long though! The sunlight can fade the paint or color on some kinds of dartboards.
Make sure to check regularly and see if the mold has reduced, and once it is, bring the dartboard inside immediately for further disinfecting and cleaning.
After your dartboard has had time in the sunlight, you can then use a stiff brush to clean up any remnants that are leftover. Gently go over the entire face of your dartboard to pick up any loose pieces of dirt and debris. Do not use any water during this process as this can do more harm than good.
A brush with stiff bristles like this one will work great for removing dirt and debris on the face of your dartboard.
What Causes Mold on a Dartboard?
First and foremost, the best defense against mold is preparation! If there’s never any mold, to begin with, you’ll never have to get it off.
Mold is caused by spores in the air finding moisture and settling on a surface. Once the spores find a surface to stay on, such as a dartboard, they will begin to grow based on the moisture in the air around them. This happens mostly in warm, wet places, which can include basements, attics, and closets!
Mold is therefore mostly caused by underuse and negligence as if you do not know where your dartboard is, leave it unused for a long time, and store it improperly, it will inevitably begin to grow mold.
How to Prevent Mold Buildup on a Dartboard
In order to prevent it from getting moldy, you’ll have to take some precautionary steps. Firstly, keep it in a cool, dry place. Warm and wet areas allow mold to grow very easily, so try to keep your dartboard far away from these kinds of places.
Cleaning the board regularly will also help prevent mold from collecting on the board’s surface. There are a number of ways to clean your dartboard. Make sure to clean it regularly, whether you are using it on a daily basis, once a week, once a month, or even less than that.
There are a number of different kinds of dartboards, each with their own specific cleaning methods. It is important to clean your dartboard the right way depending on what it is made out of. Also, performing regular maintenance on a high quality dartboard will help it last for years to come.
Our favorite pick for a high quality dartboard is this Winmau bristle dartboard. Winmau is endorsed by the British Darts Organization and will last for years if you regularly rotate and clean your dartboard.
Cleaning a Cork or Bristle Dartboard
Cork or bristle dartboards are one of the most common dartboards for use in both homes and in public. Easily the most common dartboards for playing with steel-tipped darts, cork, and bristle dartboards need to be cleaned frequently so that the darts can stick in the board reliably and accurately.
Cleaning these kinds of boards is not too difficult. First, remove any metal wire or frame that is on the board separating the colored wedges on the board’s surface.
After this, you’ll want to take a handheld vacuum and give the board a quick once-over. This will suck up the majority of the dirt and dust that has built up on the dartboard over time.
Next, take a clean, dry cloth and wipe the board down to remove anything else that has stuck to the board. Do not use any liquid, as it will damage the integrity of the board.
Cleaning an Electronic Dartboard
Electronic dartboards are among the easiest to clean. They use soft-tipped darts, so probably don’t need to be cleaned as often as the physical requirements for the darts sticking to the board aren’t the same.
Simply wipe the board down with a dry rag to make sure that there is no dirt or debris stuck to the board’s surface.
DO NOT use water to clean an electronic dartboard. The delicate electronic sensors behind the surface of the board that register where the dart hit the board will be damaged. This will render the board unusable.
Cleaning a Wooden Dartboard
A less frequently used type of dartboard, wooden dartboards need to be cleaned very regularly to maintain their integrity. In order to allow the board to stay straight and have the wooden darts work effectively, the board needs to be moisturized and cleaned with wood polish on a regular basis.
This level of upkeep makes it quite unpopular to own a wooden dartboard. However, if you do own one, make sure you are cleaning it with wood polish regularly to avoid having the wood warp or crack!
As a side note, you may hear that the easiest way to clean a dartboard, and thus prevent mold from forming on the dartboard’s surface, is to soak it. NEVER soak your dartboard in any kind of liquid, as almost every kind of dartboard will warp, break, or crack when large amounts of moisture is introduced.
Final Thoughts
If the unfortunate event of molding happens on your dartboard, leave it in direct sunlight for a few hours to kill the mold. This will also dry up any moist or damp areas on your dartboard.
Then, without water, use a stiff brush to scrub at the surface of your dartboard to get off any remaining dirt and debris. Your dartboard should now be safe to use again.
Regular cleaning, upkeep, and responsible dartboard storage will allow you to have dartboard for many years to come.