What is Shuffleboard Wax?

 In Shuffleboard Maintenance

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Shuffleboard wax has one of the most unusual names in tabletop sports, all the better to match its interesting purpose. The reason the name is unusual is because it is misleading. You might at first naturally think something known as shuffleboard wax would be used for waxing the table, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually used to control how the surfaces of shuffleboard tables react to the pucks being slid across them, and it’s more like powder than it is like liquid.

So what is shuffleboard wax? This item, so necessary for effective shuffleboard play, is typically made from dried silicone beads: perfectly rounded pint-sized silicone pellets. You will also find shuffleboard wax that is made from a combination of silicone and cornstarch. (Shuffleboard wax in general often resembles cornstarch or baby powder.) This powder has many other names in the shuffleboard industry as well, some in part due to its appearance: shuffleboard salt, sand, sawdust, dust, and even shuffleboard cheese.

The main purpose of shuffleboard wax is to decrease friction on the table. Spreading and sprinkling this powder on shuffleboard tables allows the pucks to slide down the table in the blink of an eye with only the slightest of pushes. The tiny beads of silicone are a non-liquid lubricant and act like like miniature ball bearings. In scientific terms, the shuffleboard wax lowers the coefficient of friction on surfaces, so that the objects sliding across don’t as freely stick to it.

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Shuffleboard is all about how the pucks interact with the board in order to enable the players to get their pucks past certain point lines, as well as land some elusive hangers. A crucial component of gameplay, then, is speed, and shuffleboard wax is all about exerting some control or being able to alter the speed potential of your shuffleboard surface. General cleaning and polishing the surface does reduce some of the friction between the puck and the board, but sometimes that’s just not enough. When you need more speed and less friction, you can call on shuffleboard wax.

Shuffleboard wax does come in different varieties, which offer different levels of speed. If you have too much of a wax that is too fast, you could send those shuffleboard pucks flying left and right off tables, and no one wants that. Ratings are not comprehensive across brands of shuffleboard wax, although the level of speed is typically indicated in the name of the products usually point to the level of speed. Adroit Speed Wax, which is what we carry at McClure Tables, comes in two different varieties with four levels of speed, with 1 being the fastest and 4 being the slowest.

Whether you are a casual player or shuffleboard aficionado, your shuffleboard experience is just not complete without shuffleboard wax. Whether you call it shuffleboard sand, powder, salt, cheese, or dust, know that all these terms refer to the same little beads of silicone that get that friction to its lowest possible amount on shuffleboard tables. Not only that, but the powder also helps to protect your table’s finish, extending its life in the process as it speeds up your shuffleboard game. While other attempts throughout history have been made to reduce tabletop surface friction, shuffleboard wax is the most successful and effective yet. Keep your table in tiptop shape by always having a canister of shuffleboard wax on hand!

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Showing 18 comments
  • Marlen
    Reply

    Just purchased a table.
    Seen the video on how to adjust the table
    Did the adjustments
    Bought the bead wax
    Lightly applied the bead wax
    Table pucks WILL NOT stay on table … TOO fast

    Need HELP to solve problem
    Need Input Thanks

    • Todd McClure
      Reply

      Hi Marlen,

      Thanks for reaching out! Sorry to hear you’re having issues with table speed and keeping pucks on the playing surface. Shuffleboard wax is typically available in multiple speeds to help account for the length of your table, so we’d recommend using a slower speed wax to help slow down the pucks on your table. Our slowest wax can be found here: Yellow Wax Speed 4. For a slightly quicker wax that is still on the slow side, our Brown Wax Speed 4 and Yellow Wax Speed 3 are a step up from our slowest wax.

      Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!

      Thanks,

      McClure Tables

  • Williamhync
    Reply

    Thanks-a-mundo for the forum post.Really thank you! Want more. Mittan

  • Erin Cappel
    Reply

    We just got a table and applied the powder. After the puck sliding down the table a few times, the powder starts to clump or leave trails on the table of no powder. The puck will just stop. I tried silicone spray and then the powder but that just made it worse. We are do anxious to play and frustrated that the powder continues to go this. Any ideas on what I can do to keep the powder spread and to avoid this clumping issue?

    • Todd McClure
      Reply

      Wax is the product that slides the pucks on the table it is like a powder and you sprinkle a small amount on the table and then play a few games. When you are done you brush off the wax and start all over. You can buy wax here

  • Scott
    Reply

    Hello,

    Just bought a recreational table for the game room. It came with very gritty (like sand) powder. I recall playing at bars, there was a soft “wax” or lubricant that looks much like the picture above. I’d very much prefer that. But, I don’t know what it is?

    Any help appreciated.

  • Fern Saunders
    Reply

    we play on a tile floor and it seems hard to get a wax that
    is not to slippery so was wondering if it is possible to mix some cornmeal with it and what proportions would you use.

    • Todd McClure
      Reply

      We are not sure as we mix wax for shuffleboard tables but yes cornmeal is one of the base ingredients we use and alone this maybe sufficient for court of floor shuffleboard. We sell both our shuffleboard wax and silicone you can buy Shuffleboard Table Wax here

  • stephen keszey
    Reply

    Hi I have a 9 foot table and the “wax” or in reality, little white beads are actually not all that little… Are there different sized beads for different speeds? I do not like these little beads at all! I remember playing at a bar years ago and they used a much finer powder (not beads, or if they were they were beyond microscopic!) on their table… do you know what that could have been?

  • stephen keszey
    Reply

    different size “beads” for different #’s? the beads that came with table are rather large… Used to play in a bar years ago and they had an actual powder that worked much better… any suggestions? thanks

  • Darrell Wolven
    Reply

    Some of the sand we have bought had nut products. Is there any that doesn’t?

  • Liz B
    Reply

    Is ”tis dangerous to your eyes if it gets into it? How do you remove it or tell the doctor about ingredients?

    • Todd McClure
      Reply

      The ingredients in wax are a plastic polystyrene bead and crushed nut shells or corn meal. I would suspect the polystyrene to be most dangerous ingredient

  • Chris Plant
    Reply

    Do you have any wax that isn’t manufactured with nuts /tree nuts? Bought a table not knowing this was the case and our sun is allergic to nuts.

    Thanks

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