DICE-CARE 101

Written by: Jodie's Dice Farm

A Guide to Looking After Handmade Dice

The beauty of handmade dice makes them truly something to behold, and they can be lifelong works of art on your gaming tables and display shelves with the right love and care - there is nothing worse than them getting chipped or wearing down over time. As long as you have the know-how on how to treat your little treasures, it doesn’t take much at all to keep them perfect - that’s why we’ve written a friendly guide for dice care, with tips and tricks to keep your handmade hoard looking perfectly pristine.

Handmade dice can be made of a few different materials, and the care that needs to be taken will differ with this - generally, store-bought acrylic dice can be thrown in a box and are good to go. But with sets that are made by hand, often with sharp edges and smooth faces, they need a little tender love and care. First, we’ll go over the basic care notes for all handmade dice, and then delve a little into each type and its specifics.

Dice Storage

For handmade dice, you probably don’t want to throw them into a giant dice bag with the rest of your dice - to avoid them chipping, it’s best to store them in their own boxes or at least their own small dice bag that doesn’t get shaken about or rummaged through much. Another great solution is little dice displays, there are lots of options from floating displays to stands they sit on! That way they can be a showpiece on your shelves when it’s not game day.

Dice Rolling

Dice crafted by hand will often be sharp-edged dice; with satisfying pointed corners and edges. This can however make them more susceptible to small chips and breaks if they’re just thrown straight out onto the table. The best thing to do is have a rolling tray! Something soft or lined that means they’re not making direct contact with a hard surface stops the risk of them landing on an edge and cracking.

Dice Cleaning

Some soapy water and a microfiber cloth will be all the kit you need for a good hoard clean; handmade dice can be washed in some soapy water should they become victims of a vicious spillage, or you just want to freshen up a well-used set. Hand soap or dish soap can be used, just drop a little into a bowl of warm water and a little dip will do the trick. For particularly hard stains or dirt, use a nail brush or toothbrush to gently brush the dirt away with soapy water. Just remember not to use the brush on your teeth afterwards. If your resin dice get some fingerprints or smudges, simply take a microfiber cloth and run it over the faces to get them shiny and good as new.

So that’s the basics, but each set can have its own requirements. We’ll now go over some of the specific care needed for both resin dice and faux-stone (jesmonite/terraform) dice.

Resin

It is very important not to store resin dice where sunlight can reach them. The pigments in resin dice can be dulled by UV, and some sets can begin to lose their colour if left in the sunlight. If a room is particularly bright, it may be better to store the resin dice in a dice box to stop any light from reaching them so they keep their colour. It is also important to keep resin dice from excessive heat; which can also cause them to soften. The resin has already cured, but although there is no risk of fumes if they get too hot and you picked them up you could end up leaving permanent fingerprints! They can become dentable in this state, but if this DOES happen simply leave them to cool and they will return to their normal state. You should be able to avoid this however by storing them in cool places.

Faux-stone

Because faux-stone are made with a water-based compound, they cannot be left submerged in water under any circumstance. Longer than a few hours in water and they will begin to dissipate and after a week or so they will simply disintegrate in the water! This doesn’t mean you can’t clean them; they are fine under a quick run of water - just don’t forget about them in there.

By following all of these tips, you shouldn’t have any problems and your dice will last a lifetime - but always make sure to read your dicemaker’s care notes too!

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