Explain The Hot Water Bath Deal

[Paralipsis]

I keep hearing people talking about how a hot water bath helps bowling balls the older and more used they get. What does it do and what do you do besides drop the ball in hot water?

[bowl1820]

Originally it was called the Hot water and Dawn method. What it did was help remove oil that had been absorbed into the cover of the ball.

Here is the original instructions on how to do it. Now others might do it a little different, but its the basic principle.

This is from the Morich site-

http://www.morichbowling.com/BowlingBalls/BowlingBall_Cleaning.htm

Cleaning

First and foremost, we at MoRich strongly believe that preventative maintenance is the key to a cover's longevity. Our recommendation is to clean your bowling equipment after every use (practice, league, or tournament session) with a quality USBC approved cleaner. No matter which cleaner you choose to use, we urge you to follow the directions that come with the product. These companies specialize in cleaning products and have done extensive research in bringing their products to the marketplace.

We have received many inquires regarding the use of commercial cleaners such as 409, Simple-Green, and Windex, to list just a few, in cleaning our equipment. Though these products are specially formulated for removing grease and oil components from surfaces, we DO NOT recommend them as a cleaning product for our equipment.

Not to belabor the point, but we strongly recommend that you clean any MoRich product (especially the aggressive coverstocks) after every use. If a ball is used and then put away without cleaning, the oil and dirt will have a greater chance to be absorbed deeper into the coverstock. Whereas, if the ball is cleaned immediately after use, the oil and dirt is limited to the surface and/or just below. We hear time and time again from people who have lost hook in their equipment and swear they clean it on a regular basis (often times they swear they clean it immediately after use). Only when the question is asked (before and after bowling?) is the real problem brought to light. Cleaning a ball just before use is almost a useless procedure. Using any accepted cleaner and towel will only clean a very fine layer and the deeper trapped oil and dirt still remain. Please keep in mind that using dirty towels only transfer dirt and oil back to the ball so please keep your towels just as clean! Even performing a quick sanding will get a little deeper, but won't remove the deeply rooted oil and dirt that was neglected from the beginning.

So what to do? When this situation occurs, the cover needs a deep cleaning of some kind to pull out as much oil and dirt from as deep as possible without harming the coverstock. The one method we really like is a simple "Hot Water Bath." This procedure helps to make sure that the ball is not subjected to any extreme temperature changes that could cause the cover to crack or separate from the core. Though the process is easy, don't rush the steps! So here we go...

1. Have the ball wet sanded to about 400-grit to open the cover's pores.
2. Fill a tub or bucket (5 gallon buckets work well) with hot tap water and about 2-3 teaspoons of Dawn dish detergent.
3. Wash the ball using a wash cloth or a scotch brite pad (burgundy or green) for a few minutes.
4. Remove the ball from the soapy water and rinse the tub (or bucket) clean and refill it with hot water (no soap).
5. Place the ball in the water and wash it clean with a clean cloth or new scotch brite pad. You will probably notice that a soapy film will appear in the water. This is residue that was trapped in the coverstock (much like the oil and dirt was).
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until no soapy residue remains, This make 2 or 3 times to achieve, depending upon the amount of soap that was used. You don't want to use too much soap, but you need enough to cut through the oil and dirt.
7. After the soap has been completely removed from the coverstock, allow the ball to air dry at room temperature.
8. Have the ball wet sanded with 400-grit paper and then follow the steps to bring it back to its factory finish as described in our resurfacing section.

Once this procedure has been completed, make every attempt to clean the ball after each session of use.

The ONE cleaning method that we strongly oppose is "baking" (or using heat of any kind) a ball. Most of the methods that use "heat" as a cleaning method suggest that this is a way to "revive" the ball after it has lost an obvious amount of hook. For reviving a ball, we recommend checking into Ebonite's "Hook Again" system. While we at MoRich have not done much testing with it, we have heard many good things about it. Again, check with your Pro Shop operator or the company itself.

[Paralipsis]

This would do well with the Ebonite The One Pearl, correct? Is it just the original The One or both The One and The One Pearl that sucks up oil like a sponge?

[bowl1820]

This would do well with the Ebonite The One Pearl, correct? Is it just the original The One or both The One and The One Pearl that sucks up oil like a sponge?

They both use the GB-10.7 coverstock, which sucks up oil.

[Paralipsis]

Damn...so the recommendation is like every 30-40 games?

[Stormed1]

From Ron Hickland at Ebonite it depends on the volume of oil you see. A round number would be every 50 games but you may need to do it sooner. On the One Pearl I would go 30-40 games between baths