bowrehairs

The practical bit

How to pack & post your bow

A few minutes of care at the counter, and your bow travels safely and fully insured. Here’s exactly what to do.

A bow wrapped and padded at both ends, next to a rigid postal tube with its end caps

What you’ll need

Packing, step by step

  1. Loosen the hair

    Turn the screw at the handle end anticlockwise until the hair hangs slack. Never post a bow with the hair tight — a knock to a tight bow is how tips get broken.

  2. Wrap the bow

    A light wrap of bubble wrap or tissue along its length, snug around both ends.

  3. Pad both ends

    Scrunched paper or bubble wrap at each end of the tube, so the bow can’t slide. The tip must never touch the end cap.

  4. Slide it in

    Gently in, then a shake test — if you hear movement, add more padding.

  5. Cap & tape

    Caps on, taped closed, and address the tube to us — the address is in your booking email.

  6. Hand it over

    At any Post Office counter: “Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm, please.” Keep the receipt — it’s your proof of cover.

At the Post Office, ask for “Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm.” That one sentence is all the counter needs — they’ll set the rest up, and they can help with packaging too if you’re unsure. It costs about £12 (around £15 for a bass tube), it’s insured and signed for, and standard cover is £750, right for most bows. If yours is worth more, ask them to increase the cover. Keep the receipt: it is your proof and your insurance.

Where to send it

Your posting address is in your booking confirmation email. Post it any day in your dispatch window (the week you chose when booking).

Please use Royal Mail Special Delivery and nothing else — it’s the insured, signed-for service both of us rely on. Once you’ve posted it, reply to your booking email with the tracking number from your receipt, so we can watch for it.

Insurance & value ceiling

Standard Special Delivery cover is £750, right for most student and mid-range bows. Bow worth £750–£2,500? Ask the counter to increase the cover when you post it, and tell us at booking so we raise it on the return too (charged at cost). Above £2,500 it shouldn’t go by post at all — contact Barnett Bows for an in-person rehair or restoration instead. Full details in our terms.