Belgian Vogelpiks > Care & Maintenance
Belgian Vogelpik Care & Maintenance
Vogelpiks Board Care and Repair
Properly caring and maintaining your board can keep it in better operation and extend the life of your investment. Boards are fairly expensive due to the materials and the rarity of them. Doing a few simple things in this article will prevent you from having a buy new boards or attempt a costly repair.
Properly caring and maintaining your board can keep it in better operation and extend the life of your investment. Boards are fairly expensive due to the materials and the rarity of them. Doing a few simple things in this article will prevent you from having a buy new boards or attempt a costly repair.
- Keep the game indoors — Belgian piks boards are meant to be used indoors and can be ruined by outdoor elements, even when installed in a dry outdoor environment.
- Always remove the piks — Most boards are painted with colored rings to easily score the points on the game. Over time these painted colors will wear off the more the board becomes struck by the dart. This is perfectly natural and won't hurt the board. However, we recommend you always remove the piks immediately after a score has been counted. Once they are removed from the board it begins to "heal" itself by attempting to go back to its stuffed position. Don't just leave them inside the board as it will not heal as well after the dart has been stuck inside it. We recommend you mount your board on a larger cork board or near a tray where the Vogelpiks can be stored when you aren't playing the game.
- Use a wet cloth to help the board heal — Over time the piks that have been thrown into the board will create small holes that may not seal back up. Use a wet wash clolth over the top of the board to get it damp. Steam the board with the steam setting on an iron or a clothes steamer for 10-15 seconds. Do not steam the board any longer as it may melt the glue joints on the board. You can let the board cool back down and repeat the process again.
- Turn the board around — Most Vogelpiks boards are made to be reversible so when one side of the board becomes damaged or used beyond repair, simply flip the board over and get double the life out of it. Learn more about the materials to make the pik board.
Vogelpiks Dart Care
The pik darts themselves are also expensive for this game so taking care of them is important. You will likely replace the piks themselves a few times before you have to replace the board. Likely finding your board and original set of darts required you to go through find an online retailer, ordering them, and paying for shipping. Take a few tips below to prevent the need to order them as often.
The pik darts themselves are also expensive for this game so taking care of them is important. You will likely replace the piks themselves a few times before you have to replace the board. Likely finding your board and original set of darts required you to go through find an online retailer, ordering them, and paying for shipping. Take a few tips below to prevent the need to order them as often.
- Place a mat under your board — Not every pik will hit the board and stick to the wall. When they don't they will likely drop to the floor. In order to prevent them from becoming damaged when this happens, simply install your board over a carpeted surface or lay down a mat to protect them.
- Add a cork board around the pik board — Having a soft surface for your Belgian dart to hit when players miss the board will help protect the steel tips from dulling over time.
- Sharpen the steel tips — Having sharp tips on the Vogelpiks will keep them in optimal playing condition. Dull dart tips not only harm your board by developing larger holes that are harder to heal, they also can potentially bounce off more frequently than a sharp tip. To sharpen the tip, get a knife sharpening wand or small file and run it from the base of the tip all the way down to the end. Rotate the tip around until you have done this all the way around. This will essentially shave off small fragments of the metal to resharpen the tip. Learn more about the anatomy of the pik darts.