Fenwick Elliott Mallets

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Maintenance

Series 4 heads

The shafts can be wiped down with a damp cloth if they get dirty.

If the paint finish gets chipped, this will not adversely affect the performance of the mallet. If you are worried by any excessive chips that appear over time, the head can be filled and resprayed by a motor crash repair shop.

Series 3 Heads

The Series 3 heads are timber, and all timber is susceptible to movement in humidity and temperature changes. It is best not to leave the mallet out in the rain.

The timber is treated with oils and waxes, not varnished - this is because varnish starts off by looking pretty swanky, but always seems to fail after a while and then looks terrible. Conversely, a head that has been oiled tends to look as good or better as time goes by, like a well-used piece of antique furniture, or a pair of decent leather shoes.

I use orange oil on my heads every month or so - it is easy to apply with a cloth and smells rather good. Gilly Stephenson is good - details on www.gillystephenson.com. But any furniture oil or wax will do. The bottom tends to dry out first, and needs treatment more than the top or sides. I try to remember to also apply oil to the insides of the lightening holes.

Shafts

The shafts can be wiped down with a damp cloth if they get dirty.

The grips can be cleaned with detergent, but it is easiest to replace them with a standard hockey grip if they get too grubby.

If the bung at the top of the shaft comes loose, it can be glued back with any household glue. I have discovered that superglue is not great, for some reason.