Like many golfers, you have probably had your golf clubs for a while now. In that case, the grips might be showing signs of wear and tear, making it a good idea to replace them. Should you use golf grip solvent or mineral spirits to put on new golf grips—or is it time to head to the golf shop?
Golf grip solvent is generally more expensive and comes with limited uses, whereas you can purchase more mineral spirits and save leftovers for other projects.
Both golf grip solvent and mineral spirits will ensure that you affix your new grips not just correctly but also with less work. Using these solvents makes life easier and more enjoyable since you will get your golf clubs looking new in no time at all.
Should You Change Your Golf Grips?
Changing your golf grips will make your clubs stand out like the first day you bought them, and that is plenty of reason to change them regularly. Aside from aesthetics, playing with worn-out golf grips can affect your game, which you want to avoid.
Golf grip solvent or alternatives such as mineral spirits get the grip to bond with the club shaft. The grip tape’s adhesion properties are temporarily suspended by the solvent you use. This ensures that you can get the grip in place properly.
Technically, you could replace your golf grips without using mineral spirits or another solvent, but this will take a lot more work. You might get so frustrated by this process that you end up throwing your golf clubs out the window!
Using mineral spirits or traditional golf grip solvents takes the frustration out of this otherwise tedious task.
Should You Use Mineral Spirits for Golf Grips?
Given that both golf grip solvents and spirits can effectively clean golf grips, is one better than the other?
You can easily replace your golf grips with solvent meant explicitly for that purpose or mineral spirits. The result will be the same. The choice comes down to whether you have one of the two already at home and how much you are willing to spend if you do not.
Price of Golf Grip Solvent vs. Mineral Spirits
The purpose of golf grip solvent is to regrip golf clubs and nothing more. Of course, since it is a solvent, you could use it for other purposes, such as cleaning grease off metal parts, but you would not want to.
The reason for this is that golf grip solvent is expensive. You will spend considerably more regripping golf clubs with golf club solvent than with mineral spirits. This is especially true if you have a complete set of 14 golf clubs.
If you are replacing your golf grips yourself instead of paying someone else to do it, saving money is probably on your mind.
Number of Applications for Golf Grip Solvent vs. Mineral Spirits
Regripping your golf clubs is all about preventing grip issues from hurting your performance. However, you are only going to use golf grip solvent for that specific purpose. If you only golf once in a while, does it make sense to buy golf grip solvent when mineral spirits will do?
The number of golf grip solvent applications is limited, so buying mineral spirits to replace the grips on your golf clubs makes more sense. You will be able to use spirits not just to revive your clubs but also for painting, degreasing, and sanding.
How to Replace Golf Club Grips with Mineral Spirits
Regripping your beloved golf clubs with mineral spirits is just as easy as doing it with golf grip solvent. Cleaning golf grips periodically is excellent, but they have a limited lifespan and must be replaced at a certain point. Materials that you will need for this task include new golf grips, double-sided tape, a hook blade, a cloth, and mineral spirits.
We have put together the following steps to help you do this as efficiently as possible:
1. Remove the old grips
Use your hook blade to cautiously rip the old grips off the shaft. Avoid using a utility knife as it can scratch the shaft. Utilizing a hook knife is also safer than other knife options. You would not want to cut yourself while doing this.
2. Take off the old sided grip tape
Beneath the old grips, you will find traditional grip tape. Getting all of it off is going to be tedious but must be done for the best results. Once you have gotten rid of all the extra tape, clean the graphite shaft with a rag and soapy water, and dry it.
3. Put on the new grip tape
How you apply the new grip tape on the shaft is up to you. Some people like just one layer, while others go for two for added texture beneath the new grips. You can even buy double-layer golf grip tape for this precise purpose.
4. Apply mineral spirits
The new stick tape’s stickiness has to be temporarily suspended to get the new grips on with minimal effort. This is where mineral spirits come in. Apply cleaning solvent inside the new golf grips and the layers of tape. Make sure to do this in a well-ventilated area. You should also wear gloves to avoid getting white spirits on your skin.
5. Slide new grip on
Slide your new grips gently onto the shaft. Damaging the tape will mean you will have to start over. Now, you are ready to get back on the golf course and have a great time!
Conclusion
Many types of mineral spirits work just as well as golf grip solvent when the time comes to regrip your precious golf clubs. Plus, you will save money and still have mineral spirits left over for DIY projects around the house!
