Comprehensive Bow Cleaning and Maintenance - Refurbishing the Bow You Already Have

By Kurt Geist

Every year we look at our hunting set-ups and decide what we need to do get ready for next season.  New arrows, new sight, new rest, new set of strings, or maybe a whole new bow. Something that tends to gets overlooked is just a good ol' cleaning and maintenance inspection! Now, it’s not as easy as running to the car wash and giving the old girl a turbo wash. While a thorough cleaning isn’t hard to do, if you don’t have a good bow press and a very good working knowledge of how to tear a bow apart, take your bow to your local Pro Shop for this service. Typically running about $65 at most bow shops, the money spent is WELL worth it!

First off, the obvious maintenance: start with the string, and work your way to your accessories and then the bow itself. On the string, check your d-loop for wear, and check the string around the peep. If you use a peep with tubing, change the tubing. Look below the center serving for wear, especially if you hit your arm. Check all the serving for separation and/or breakage. Do you need a new string? If your string and cables are in good shape, wax them making sure to heat the wax up by rubbing quickly between your thumb and forefinger. Next, check your accessories.

Often times the decision on whether or not to upgrade your accessories is usually due to something failing you last year, or that outright broke during your last hunt. If that’s the case, don’t necessarily replace it with the same thing; if it failed once, you have to ask yourself, "Will another one of the same thing fail me again???"  Be critical. Get out and beat the bushes to see what other hunters and shooters like, and why. Places to get this information are the archery range and the Pro Shop. A word of caution: while checking out new accessories can be highly beneficial, make sure whatever you look at is of good to high quality, and not just a “shiny new penny” that will leave you in a bind later on down the road!

Once you’ve gone through your accessories—both checking them for physical problems as well as giving them a thorough cleaning—start taking a careful look at your bow itself, and consider tearing it down to it’s basic components for a complete inspection, and thorough cleaning as well.  Again, if you don’t have a quality bow press that will allow you to take the limbs off, or don’t have the confidence or knowledge to do a tear-down safely and/or properly, take your bow to a reputable bow shop and have them do this next part for you.

To demonstrate what I do for a complete cleaning, Chris let me use his WELL-worn PSE X-Force—a bow that was in SERIOUS need of a good cleaning, and maintenance inspection! I have 10 years experience working in the busiest Pro Shop in Colorado and have a bow press in my garage.  Again, if you don’t have the knowledge or proper tools to do this, take your bow to a good Pro Shop for this service or you may be getting a new bow this year after all.

Before I begin, let me start off by saying that often times I hear folks saying that they’re leery of this kind of tear-down, worried they won’t get that old “mojo” back. While that fear can be understandable, especially if you’ve never done a complete cleaning and maintenance tear-down before, keep this in mind: I know several top Pro archers that will completely tear their bows down in the motel room the night before a major tournament, just to make sure everything is good-to-go before they have to head out and perform at their absolute best. A good set-up can almost always be duplicated, and usually for the better; if you’re “mojo” is good now, the “new” mojo might even be better! If you do this now, you will have months before the hunting season, giving yourself plenty of time to adjust to the new improvements, IF you need any adjustments at all.

If you haven’t already done so, begin by taking all the accessories off the bow. Take notes if you need to so things go back together correctly. By pulling your accessories, you can clean each piece more thoroughly, as well as break loose any rusted bolts. By waxing the threads of the mounting screws, it will combat both rusted bolts and loose bolts on your bow. Wipe down all accessories and set aside until it’s time to put your bow back together.

Next, you will remove the string and cables, back out the limb bolts, and remove the limbs from the riser. Disassemble the limb and limb pocket. This is the only way to get in there and remove dirt, grit, weeds, and other crud that collect in the limb pocket. Because this is the only area that uses grease, it WILL be dirty.

The cams/idler wheel assembly is next. IMPORTANT: Pay close attention to how the spacers are installed, so they go back the same way!!! I will wipe down the axle with a light oil, but will always wipe it clean with a towel. Oil will collect dirt and dust that will keep cams from rolling over smoothly. If anything looks bent, cracked, loose, or otherwise “not-quite-right” in any way, replace the part with a new one; these parts are critical for the performance—and safety—of your bow, so make sure these items are in top condition before putting everything back together.

After a close inspection of all parts to ensure everything is in tip-top shape, it’s time to put things back together (Note: extra parts are a BAD thing!). Apply a small amount of grease to the threads of the limb bolts. This will ensure a nice smooth rotation for draw weight adjustments. Some limb pockets will also require a small amount of grease. Reassemble cams/idler wheel, again, paying close attention to the spacers on either side of the cam. Check the e-clips as they go back on to be sure of proper fit. When in doubt, replace with new clips; new e-clips will only cost pennies.

Once the limbs and cams are attached to the riser, take a clean rag and wipe down the whole bow. None of this will do any good if the first trip out, you clog everything up because of excess oil and grease. Re-install the string and cables, and re-time the cams. Sight, rest, quiver, and stabilizer finish out the reassembly. Before you draw the bow, go over everything one more time to be sure you did it right.

You are now ready to tune your “new” bow. Depending on how long you have neglected this cleaning, you very well may find that you’re “old friend” feels like a brand new bow!!! All that’s left now, is to ensure a proper tune, and you’re back in action. Consider giving your bow a thorough cleaning and maintenance inspection today; a little TLC today, might be the difference between success and disappointment tomorrow!

About the Author:  Kurt grew up hunting and fishing, and began his love for archery in 1999. While his first bow was bought for hunting, he quickly realized how beneficial target archery was to his hunting skills, and just how fun it could be.  In short order that "fun" turned into a passion. Since then, he has won tournaments at the local, State, and National level, including the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas, Big Sky Open, six consecutive State Target Championships and five State 3D Championships.  Kurt hunts exclusively with archery equipment, and has harvested everything from small game to bighorn sheep.  He is currently the President of the Rocky Mountain Archery Association and travels around Colorado giving archery lessons and tuning seminars. Working part-time at one of Colorado's busiest archery shops keeps him abreast of all the latest archery technologies. Kurt currently makes his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.