best ball cleaners

[wes909]

so i was using the Ebonite Powerhouse Ball Cleaner it worked incredibly well just geting it on my skin would completely dry my skin out almost to the point of burning .i ran out recently so i bought 91% isopropyl alcohol
it seems to worked well, not quite as well as what i was using but its much cheaper, though neither are expensive. are their any down falls to using alcohol ? what do you use?

[poflobo]

Use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and 91% alcohol. Alcohol won't clean deep enough and Simple Green will leave a film on the ball. But mixed together it will float out the deep oil and leave the surface squeaky clean. Both products are USBC approved. Really worked well on my Venom and it is reacting much more like new.

Oh yeah, it's pretty cheap too! 32oz Simple Green and two 16oz bottles of 91% alcohol = 64oz of ball cleaner for less than 8 dollars. Hope this helped.

[owlish]

Wow, I'm gonna try that Simple Green/alcohol mixture. I never would have thought of blending the two.

I got a ball spinner on the way, will get to me on Monday. Can't wait to see how well it makes it easier.

[wes909]

are there any other degreasers i can use?

[wes909]

i looked for simple green at walmart and all they had was green works?will that work

[WAC4504]

I use acetone, but not to often. Basically in between having the ball rejuvenated, I also use alcohol 91 % usually before or after league.

[JerseyJim]

I've used Simple Green, but I do have preference for Valentino's Remedy RX ball cleaner. It gives my ball that nice tacky feeling after bowling.

[sandsdenver]

How often does one clean a ball? I know that is a very open ended question, but I have bowled in a league now with my Flash Flood (long league, 35 weeks) and am curious.

[DanielMareina]

It is recommended to clean your ball after every time you bowl. If you wipe your ball off after every shot, you can clean it once a week and be fine. It really depends on how much crap your ball picks up. Pearlized balls have much less upkeep than a matte finish ball. If you want a consistent reaction, clean it no less than once a week, and get the coverstock touched up by your pro shop every 50 to 75 games. This is for most league bowlers. Tournament bowlers have to do both more often.

[psaunders300]

I use acetone, but not to often. Basically in between having the ball rejuvenated, I also use alcohol 91 % usually before or after league.

FYI - According to USBC rules, acetone is not supposed to be used on a ball ever...USBC not approved ever list (http://usbcongress.http.internapcdn.net/usbcongress/bowl/equipandspecs/pdfs/not_approved_ever.pdf). Acetone softens the surface of the ball and makes it illegal (too soft).

The best cleaner I have found is Clean-n-Dull by Ebonite. It cleans all the gunk off of the surface of the ball as well as pulls some of the oil out of the cover.

[WAC4504]

Well I gotta tell ya then there are a lot of illegals in south west tennessee, and I'm willing to bet they're all over the country as well. Just a thought.

[Chubbz]

I found simple green at the local Ace hardware store for 6.99 a bottle.

[owlish]

I use just a rag on my Natural by Storm. I have a ball spinner and used an abralon 2000 pad on it then polished with Ebonite Factory Finish. Urethane balls should never be polished but I wanted to see how it would react and it reacts just like the polish wasn't on there.

[owlish]

Use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and 91% alcohol. Alcohol won't clean deep enough and Simple Green will leave a film on the ball. But mixed together it will float out the deep oil and leave the surface squeaky clean. Both products are USBC approved. Really worked well on my Venom and it is reacting much more like new.

Oh yeah, it's pretty cheap too! 32oz Simple Green and two 16oz bottles of 91% alcohol = 64oz of ball cleaner for less than 8 dollars. Hope this helped.

I just made a cleaning cocktail of one part 91% alcohol and one part Green Works. Works very well, thx for the recipe!

owl

[emotap r]

I've used Simple Green was not that good. I'll use Orange Fast degreaser which also USBC approved apply generous amount and scrub it with magic sponge or micro fiber cloth after 10-20 games and resurface with an abralon pad after 150-200 games.

[owlish]

(snip)
which also USBC approved (/snip)

Good idea, I wonder if Green Works is USBC approved... or that mixture I made. I suppose if both are good then it's okay to mix?

owl

[Strike Domination]

Yeah, it's USBC approved as long as the individual cleaners are approved.

[JAnderson]

Use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and 91% alcohol. Alcohol won't clean deep enough and Simple Green will leave a film on the ball. But mixed together it will float out the deep oil and leave the surface squeaky clean. Both products are USBC approved.

Not only are they both approved, they are both approved for use during USBC sanctioned competition. Word of warning though: that rule doesn't apply to PBA competition which has its own rules in this area.

[averagebowler]

WHen should you take your ball to a pro shop to have it baked?

[JAnderson]

To my knowledge, Brunswick is the only ball company that officially advocates "baking" their equipment. However, whatever method you use to resurface, revitalize, or rejuvenate equipment, how often you need to do so depends on a large number of factors:

Do you remove the conditioner from your equipment after each shot?
Do you clean the conditioner from your equipment using some kind of ball cleaner before the ball goes into the bag at the end of the session? Are you religious about it?
How heavy are the conditions (volume) on which you bowl?
What type of conditioner is used where you bowl?

I've heard knowledgeable people say every 20 games, and I've heard knowledgeable people say every 80 games. Personally, I wait until there is a noticeable drop-off in performance with all other factors being equal.

That last part is important. If you're accustomed to bowling on a house shot and you took your favorite ball to the first night of your PBA experience league and tossed it on Shark, it's probably not the ball. :p

[kev3inp]

Al had made a ball oven with a 5 gal bucket and a food dehydrator. Very McGyver, huh? I like Clean n' Dull, but sometimes it's more work than I want to put into it. That's why my bottle still says "Track." Mostly I use Ebonite's orange one, but I did like Black Magic.

[JAnderson]

Has anyone else had problems with Clean and Dull when used with a ball spinner? The gentleman that currently drills my equipment, a good friend who drilled my stuff when I still lived in Phoenix, and I have all had problems with Clean and Dull when used with a spinner. It noticeably reduced ball reaction on all parts of the lane.

When used by hand, no problem.

[Strike Domination]

Jay, I believe you want to talk to Bowl1820, as he's one of the few people I know that have not had problems using Clean N Dull with the spinner.

[StriKING]

I never put the balls back in the bag after bowling without cleaning off the oil and belt marks with Brunswick's "Remove All" Ball Cleaner. (I've also used plain old Windex, which works well also). Neither adversly affects the finish or reaction. I'll also use Storm's Reacta Shine on my Storm ball (Virtual Energy) after every couple dozen games; but generally just the Remove All for the quick cleanings.

[kev3inp]

Since I don't have a spinner (hint, hint, dear) I can't really attest to difficullties with C 'N' D. It does work quite well by hand, though. Al (bowl1820) is the one that made the oil extractor, too.

[StriKING]

Way to drop a hint, Kevin... with Father's Day just a week or so away! ;) I picked up a new Donkee 2-speed and I love it. I really wanted the Innovative 2-speed but it was just too pricey for me. Got the Donkee for $290. Even though it's not cast aluminim like the Innovative, it's still very solid. Worth every penny.

[BaconLad]

What would you all recomend for a urethane ball?

[bowlerdawg]

not to beat a dead horse, but acetone is illegal at any time, but many people still use it, and alot of pro shops still use it.
valentinos makes a great cleaner
ultimate bowling products makes a great cleaner ( rejuvenate )
I used to use a mixture of simple green, and followed that up w/ windex to remove the left over residue from simple green
now I am using pj's tacky snap ( it works good, I like the smell, and got a grat deal on a gallon )

the most important thing to me however, is to clean them as soon as your done using them, so the oil does not further absorb into the bal, by the time you get home it's too late.
I also wipe down after every shot w/ a micro fiber towel

[JAnderson]

Same thing(s) for a urethane ball.