How To Protect Your Wall When Playing Darts

Playing darts at home is fun, but bad aim can cause to your belongings to get destroyed. I have hit everything from microwaves to printers, but today we are going to focus on your walls.

There is no doubt that missing shots are common and that they can significantly damage your wall. Sadly, it can create lots of holes, and dings that will look worse as time goes on. As the paint starts to chip off, your wall will look like crap.

You can’t depend on your aim to be precise all the time. So, how do you protect your wall when playing darts?

To protect your walls from darts, you should cover the wall with a dart board cabinet or surround. Cabinets are great because they offer protection for your wall as well as your dart board, and provide extra storage space when not playing.

There are many options to suit your style and budget. We will cover everything from high-end dartboard wall protectors to some cheap DIY options for wall protection.

If you play often, I recommend that you should purchase either a full cabinet or surround, which is the best first steps to protect your wall.

How To Protect Your Wall From Darts

A Dartboard Cabinet

A dartboard cabinet is the best wall protection for dart boards. Not only can it protect your wall, but your dartboard as well. It also offers many other benefits. It is decorative, can hold your stuff, acts as a scoreboard and protects your dartboard when not in use.

The bigger the cabinet, the more protection it offers to your wall. Unfortunately, most cabinets will not provide full wall protection. There will be space (generally above and below your board that is still open to damage.

If your aim is way off, you may want to combine a dart cabinet with one of the other options here that offer full wall protection.

Check out our Dartboard Cabinet Reviews to find the best cabinet for you.

Dartboard Wall Protectors

What is a Dartboard Surround?

A dart surround is a foam border that is cut precisely to fit around a dartboard. This offers immediate protection to your wall from any stray darts that misses the board.

Most surrounds are only a few inches wide, so the protection they offer is limited. They should not be dismissed because of this limitation. If you are a player of even moderate skill level, you know it is not often you miss the board, and only minimal protection is required.

Here are my recommendations:

Viper Defender Backboard Surround Protector

Viper offers a variety of quality surrounds in their Defender series.

The standard Viper Defender II has a square outer cut, so it fits neatly into most dart cabinets. It measures about 28.25 inches in each direction, so it can fit even the roomiest of dart cabinets. If you have a smaller cabinet, it can be squeezed to fit or even cut if needed.

The surround is reversible and rotatable, which enables you to turn it over if you start to see wear in any given segment. This not only helps prolong the life of your investment but keeps things looking fresh for as long as possible.

The Viper Defender III offers everything the Defender II offers with an extended length bottom segment to protect the space below your board. This provides added protection to your wall where it is needed most.

Due to its size, the Defender III cannot be used with a standard dart cabinet. But if you have a board on an empty wall, this surround is the way to go. It looks slick and provides maximum protection.

Winmau Dartboard Surrounds

If your aim is good and are only looking for minimal protection, a circular surround may be the way to go Even though it is quite expensive than Viper dartboard protectors which I discussed earlier, Winmau dartboard surrounds are second to none.

It will fit snug around any standard dartboard and the polyurethane material used is known for its durability. Its what the pros use and you should too. Makes a perfect match if you have a Winmau Blade dartboard!

Custom Dart Cabinets And Surrounds

If you are a hands-on kind of person, there are tons of do it yourself type solutions to not only protect your wall but give your darts corner a sense of style and uniqueness.

While I personally have never set up any of these custom play areas, I am a big fan of them.

Pallets

Pallet furniture is becoming a real trend recently, but for years they have been modified and used as wall protection for dartboards.

If you don’t trim it down, it may be too large for the average wall, but they can be easily cut down to size. If you are looking to keep things simple, a shipping pallet can be modified in quite a few ways to work as a great backboard.

Old Door

While they do not offer the same flexibility as a pallet, an old door is an easy method that can do the trick. It has a more extensive range of coverage in all the right places and can add a unique sense of style.

Wine Corks

Many users set up there own surrounds using old wine corks. The great thing about this is that they can be arranged in several different patterns giving each set up a look of its own.

Wine corks also offer flexibility. You can easily add them to an existing setup or cabinet to give additional protection and flare. Properly positioned, you can even set up the corks to hold your darts when not in use.

Rope

If wood and cork is not your thing, there are a lot of exciting solutions with rope. It’s not to difficult to run down to the hardware store pick up a few meters to wrap around your board.

From the examples I’ve seen, thicker twinnie rope seems to have a better look and appeal to it. If you can’t find what you are looking for at the hardware store, a boating supply store or crafts store may be a better choice for that weathered brown look.

Wine Barrel Dartboard Cabinet

My favorite custom cabinets I have seen are made of wine barrels. Some simply use the top of a cask as a backboard surround while others have found ways to incorporate the barrel and even include scoring boards.

The wine barrel solution is also appropriate if you know the history of darts, which started when soldiers used to throw daggers at the tops of barrels to pass the time and improve their aim. There is something quite satisfying mixing the old with the new.

Check out our Pinterest board for some inspiration.

Super Low Budget And Quick Solutions

I understand that not everybody can afford an $80 dartboard wall protector, or maybe you just can’t justify spending that much. You may just be so good that you don’t need protection. That is until you have company over and they decide to destroy your wall.

We are going to offer a few quick and easy solutions that won’t break the bank and can be thrown up in a pinch if needed.

Styrofoam

Styrofoam offers great protection. It is cheap (or free) easily obtainable, easy to dispose of and replaced as needed.

Cardboard

Cardboard is another quick and easy solution that is always on hand. You can fold it over to create a thicker barrier if needed.

Insulation

Maybe not for everyone, but if you have so extra insulation lying around or have access to it, just about any type of insulation can do an adequate job of protecting your wall.

Towel

Lastly, I will recommend this if you are in a pinch. Maybe you have a youngster over, and the darts are going low. Hanging a towel under the board can deflect any unwanted misses. Once again you can double up if needed.

---

Lastly don’t forget. It’s not only your wall that needs protection. Bounce outs can cause the dart to land straight down onto your floor. Check our list of the top dart mats to keep you protected.

How do you protect your wall from damage? Let us know in the comments below.