Dice Care 101: How to Clean Dice and Keep Tabletop Dice Looking New

Quick answer

Clean dice with lukewarm water, a drop of mild dish soap, and a soft microfiber cloth, then dry them fully before storing. Keep painted or foil-numbered dice out of alcohol and abrasive cleaners, and store each set in a soft bag or divided tray so hard edges never grind against each other. That routine covers most resin dice maintenance and keeps numbering readable for years.

Your dice take more abuse than any other piece of gear on the table. They get rolled across rough surfaces, dropped into crowded bags, and passed around with snack-dusted fingers. Over time, that adds up to cloudy resin, worn paint in the numbers, and hairline scratches that catch the light.

The good news is that dice care for tabletop games takes about five minutes a month. This guide walks through a simple cleaning and storage process, calls out the mistakes that damage painted numbering, and shows how a set like the Critical Role Champion Dice Set: Grog Strongjaw can stay display-worthy even after heavy use.

What you need before you start

Gather lukewarm water, a drop of mild dish soap, a soft microfiber cloth, a clean towel, and a soft-bristle brush such as a retired toothbrush. Skip paper towels, which leave lint and can micro-scratch polished faces, and skip anything labeled abrasive, acidic, or ammonia-based. If your dice have painted or foil detailing, also keep isopropyl alcohol away from them.

Work over a folded towel or a shallow bowl so a dropped die does not bounce across the floor. A sink with the drain closed works, but a bowl is safer because you can see every die and rinse them without losing one down the drain. Set out one container for washing and one for a clean-water rinse.

• Use lukewarm, not hot, water so resin does not soften or warp.
• Keep a dedicated soft cloth for dice only, so grit from other cleaning jobs never transfers.

Step 1: Wash each die with mild soap

Add one drop of mild dish soap to a bowl of lukewarm water and swirl it in. Place dice in the water one at a time, then rub each face gently with your fingertips or the soft brush. Pay attention to the recessed numbers and the edges where skin oils collect. Do not scrub hard against painted numbering or foil detailing, because friction is what lifts paint out of a groove.

If a die has stubborn residue in the engraved numbers, let it soak for a minute or two, then brush lightly. Avoid soaking metal dice or dice with glued-in components for long periods, since water can work into seams. Most resin dice maintenance is this simple: short soak, gentle agitation, no harsh chemicals.

• Common mistake: using hot water or alcohol on painted dice, which dulls the finish and fades the numbers.
• Checkpoint: the water should be clear or slightly cloudy, never discolored by paint.

Step 2: Rinse in clean water and dry completely

Move each die to a second bowl of clean, lukewarm water and swirl it to remove soap film. Soap residue left on the surface attracts dust and makes dice feel tacky, so this rinse matters more than people expect. After rinsing, place dice on a soft towel and pat them dry with the microfiber cloth.

Let dice air-dry for another few minutes before they go anywhere near a bag or box. Trapped moisture is the quiet cause of cloudy spots and, on metal dice, of surface spotting. If you play weekly, drying fully is the single easiest habit that separates dice that look new from dice that look tired.

• Common mistake: tossing damp dice straight into a bag, where moisture and grit combine.
• Checkpoint: run a fingertip over a face; it should feel smooth and dry, not slick or tacky.

Step 3: Store dice so they stop scratching each other

Keeping dice from scratching is mostly about separation. Sharp edge dice and metal dice have hard corners that will grind against softer resin in a loose pouch, so give each set its own soft bag or a divided tray. If you carry one large bag, use small drawstring pouches inside it rather than letting everything rattle together.

Keep dice out of direct sunlight and away from hot cars, because UV and heat are the two fastest ways to cloud clear resin and fade colored sets. A drawer, a shelf, or a padded case all work. For dice you display rather than play, a tray with individual wells prevents the slow surface wear that comes from constant contact.

• Dice storage tips: one pouch per set, or a foam tray with cutouts for larger collections.
• Common mistake: storing metal and resin dice in the same loose bag.
• Checkpoint: shake your bag gently; if you hear hard clacking, add more separation.

Step 4: Handle painted and foil detailing with extra care

Dice with painted numbers, foil accents, or a faceted custom face need the gentlest treatment. Clean them with water and a fingertip only, never a brush, and dry them by patting rather than rubbing. If the paint in a number starts to look thin, stop cleaning that die aggressively and switch to a dry wipe with a microfiber cloth.

This is where a set like the Critical Role Champion Dice Set: Grog Strongjaw deserves special attention. Its red and metallic grey finish, black mica shimmer, and red and silver foil detailing are all surface features, and the d20 has a faceted tankard icon instead of a standard 20. Treat those details as the delicate part of the die, not the plastic body.

• Never use alcohol, acetone, or abrasive polish on painted or foil dice.
• Checkpoint: inspect the d20 facet and any foil areas after each cleaning for lifting edges.

A five-minute monthly routine that actually sticks

Once a month, wash your most-used set, dry it fully, and inspect the edges and numbers under good light. Once a season, go through your whole collection: wipe each die, check bags for grit, and replace any pouch that has worn thin. This cadence is enough for dice care for tabletop games without turning maintenance into a chore.

If you also collect playmats, books, or apparel, keep dice care separate from those routines. A clean, dry die stored on its own will outlast one that lives loose in a backpack pocket. The goal is not a museum display, just dice that still look and feel good when you roll them at the table.

• Set a calendar reminder for the first game night of each month.
• Keep a spare microfiber cloth in your game bag for quick wipe-downs.

Dice care steps at a glance

1. Wash with mild soap: Use lukewarm water and one drop of mild dish soap. Rub each face gently with your fingertips or a soft brush, and do not scrub painted numbering. Checkpoint: no hot water, no alcohol, no abrasive cleaners.
2. Rinse and dry fully: Rinse in a second bowl of clean water, pat dry with a microfiber cloth, and let dice air-dry before storing. Checkpoint: a dry die feels smooth, not tacky.
3. Store with separation: Give each set its own soft pouch or a divided tray, and keep dice out of direct sunlight and hot cars. Checkpoint: shake the bag; if you hear hard clacking, add separation.
4. Protect painted and foil details: For dice with foil or painted numbers, skip the brush and clean with water and a fingertip, then pat dry. Checkpoint: inspect the custom d20 face and foil areas after each wash.

Dice in this guide

• Critical Role Champion Dice Set: Grog Strongjaw: This set of red and metallic grey champion dice features a black mica shimmer, red and silver foil detailing, dark grey embossed numbering, and a d20 faceted with a custom tankard icon. The foil detailing and faceted d20 are surface features, so clean this set with water and a fingertip only, and dry by patting to protect the numbering and the custom face.
• Critical Role Pinups - Jester and Fjord Playmat: This exclusive playmat features high-quality artwork and is made, fulfilled, and shipped by licensing partner Ultra PRO International, with delivery only to physical shipping addresses within the United States. If you roll dice on a playmat, keep food and drinks off the surface and store the mat flat; the mat protects dice from hard table edges, and the dice protect the artwork from grit.

Clean dice gently, dry them completely, and store them apart, and most sets will keep their color and readable numbers for years. Make it a five-minute monthly habit, and your tabletop dice will look as good on the last session as they did on the first.