The ferrule on a cue should require little to no maintance. The most common form of maintance done to the ferrule happens to be the removal of chalk that has accumulated with play. Cleaning of the ferrule can be very easy to next to impossible depending on how much chalk has accumulated on it. If your ferrule happens to be made of ivory then a cloth should remove it with no problem. Synthetic ferrules such as Aegis, Melamine, Ivorine III, etc require a little more work to clean if they can be cleaned at all. The best way to clean those types of ferrules is to use a little bit of toothpaste. Remember not to get any of it on your tip or shaft. Taping off the tip and shaft happens to be a good idea here. Be aware that you may not get all of the chalk stains off of the ferrule if it's stained heavily. You may also hear people suggest using sandpaper on your ferrule but this is not a good idea because that may remove the stains but also roughens up the ferrule thereby letting more chalk be embedded in it.
Now we get to the wooden part of the shaft. The main thing to remember is not to put any undue stresses on the shaft or else it would get ruined. Never do anything such as bending the shaft into the cloth when shooting. To keep the shaft smooth and clean you only need to rub it down after every use or when necessary during long sessions of play. There are many ways to do this and many of them doesn't have to cost any extra money to do. You can use the brown paper napkins inside of restrooms or plain brown paper bags to smoothen and clean the shaft. You just need to make a few swipes on your shaft and it would be smooth and clean. You can also use the very fine grits of sandpaper if you want something more abbrasive and wish to spend money. Remember to use the very fine grits such as 6000 and above. Just be sure to make only a few passes because you will be taking wood off the shaft. Please note that if you use the rougher grits, you are increasing the chances of your shaft reducing in diameter.
The butt of the cue is the final part of our cue care guide. This should be a very easy part of the cue to maintain. All you have to do is use a soft, clean cloth and wipe it down at the end of each playing session. That's all the needs to be done. You will hear people advertising the use of this chemical or that cleaner on the Irish linen wrap. However, since the wrap was designed to be changed in the long run, buying and using these liquids would be a waste of money and might hurt the cue in the long run. The wrap can be cleaned, however, but it is suggested that it be taken to a cue maker/mechanic. He has the proper equipment to clean and dry the wrap without doing harm to the cue.
