When Home Bowling Ball Work/Modifications go WRONG!!

[Amyers]

God! I'm such a noob with these new balls! Do the ball surfaces dictate that it has to be microfiber? Or can I just use old cotton hand towels from the kitchen?

Microfiber oil free towels are best because they actually suck the oil up. Cotton will remove some but also just smears it around.

[Amyers]

I have been on both sides. Had been using my towel as part of my pre-shot routine for years and then our team had a conversation about wiping the ball off after every frame. One did not wipe as his thought and what his dad(won several PBA Senior tour titles) had always told him was that wiping after every shot removes oil from the lane, thus the line gets depleted even quicker. So, I thought that made perfect sense and I stopped wiping after every shot to give it a try. Honestly, I don't think I noticed a difference except that my pre-shot routine had changed.

When I went to my coaching session back in June with Susie Minshew, we discussed it and I told her about not wiping the ball and the reason for not doing so. She told me, that's all fine and good, but what about lane debris on the ball that it's picked up going down the lane, not just oil? I thought for a second and this also made sense to me. If there is debris on the ball, it could possibly alter the roll of the ball on the track area, so I started betting back into my routine of wiping.

I usually take the middle road I wipe after every five frames

[rv driver]

I have been on both sides. Had been using my towel as part of my pre-shot routine for years and then our team had a conversation about wiping the ball off after every frame. One did not wipe as his thought and what his dad(won several PBA Senior tour titles) had always told him was that wiping after every shot removes oil from the lane, thus the line gets depleted even quicker. So, I thought that made perfect sense and I stopped wiping after every shot to give it a try. Honestly, I don't think I noticed a difference except that my pre-shot routine had changed.

When I went to my coaching session back in June with Susie Minshew, we discussed it and I told her about not wiping the ball and the reason for not doing so. She told me, that's all fine and good, but what about lane debris on the ball that it's picked up going down the lane, not just oil? I thought for a second and this also made sense to me. If there is debris on the ball, it could possibly alter the roll of the ball on the track area, so I started betting back into my routine of wiping.

If the ball sucks up oil on every roll, necessitating cooking it out after a while, logic dictates that it probably doesn't spit out much in return as it rolls. That sounds like an old wive's tale to me. OTOH, I've never thrown professionally, so whaddo I know?

[rv driver]

Microfiber oil free towels are best because they actually suck the oil up. Cotton will remove some but also just smears it around.

That makes sense!

[rv driver]

I usually take the middle road I wipe after every five frames

I imagine I'll just keep in the habit of wiping before each shot. Old habits die hard.

[Shaneshu87]

I imagine I'll just keep in the habit of wiping before each shot. Old habits die hard.

right there with ya

[rv driver]

right there with ya

Maybe I'll hire a blonde with long gams, a huge rack and a pair of Daisy Dukes, with a T-shirt that says, "Ball Wiper" on it to stand by in the pit to wipe it off for me. That'll create some stir on "Family Night!"

[Aslan]

I wipe my ball before each frame.

I clean the ball with a 50% Simple Green/50% alcohol solution after each night/session (since it's technically not "an approved cleaner", I don't do this until I get to my car or home if it's an official tournament).

I try to de-oil my balls after 1-2 nights/sessions or at least every 1-2 weeks of use.

My food dehydrator is a Ronco 5-tray food dehydrator. A good picture is here.

The set-up is similar to what Bowl1820 uses except this particular unit has exposed heating elements in the bottom. Since it was designed to be used with the trays, you'd never be exposed to them unless it was after use and you took out all the trays.

The unit has worked great at pulling oil out of the ball. The only drawback is the ball is too heavy for the trays and once the heating process starts, the trays tend to crack under the pressure. This causes the ball not to sit flush and roll to the side and lean up against the pail...and then it leads to uneven de-oiling.

The solution is I need to take the trays out of the equation, create a support for the ball to sit on, that will sit in the bottom of the unit without coming into contact with the heating elements.

The downside of all of the little de-oiler units is they differ in one main way from the bigger units; they don't rotate the ball on an absorbent pad during the process. So at the end of the process, that oil is just sitting on the surface of the ball rather than contantly being wicked away...so some of the oil sucked out just gets smeared back onto the ball. But, you save $25-$75. And I'd rather de-oil once per week and do a lesser job than de-oil once a month and do a slightly better job.

[Amyers]

Maybe I'll hire a blonde with long gams, a huge rack and a pair of Daisy Dukes, with a T-shirt that says, "Ball Wiper" on it to stand by in the pit to wipe it off for me. That'll create some stir on "Family Night!"

You have issues man but that might get you the "respect" you've been looking for

[bowl1820]

I have been on both sides. Had been using my towel as part of my pre-shot routine for years and then our team had a conversation about wiping the ball off after every frame. One did not wipe as his thought and what his dad(won several PBA Senior tour titles) had always told him was that wiping after every shot removes oil from the lane, thus the line gets depleted even quicker. So, I thought that made perfect sense and I stopped wiping after every shot to give it a try. Honestly, I don't think I noticed a difference except that my pre-shot routine had changed.

When I went to my coaching session back in June with Susie Minshew, we discussed it and I told her about not wiping the ball and the reason for not doing so. She told me, that's all fine and good, but what about lane debris on the ball that it's picked up going down the lane, not just oil? I thought for a second and this also made sense to me. If there is debris on the ball, it could possibly alter the roll of the ball on the track area, so I started betting back into my routine of wiping.

If the ball sucks up oil on every roll, necessitating cooking it out after a while, logic dictates that it probably doesn't spit out much in return as it rolls. That sounds like an old wive's tale to me. OTOH, I've never thrown professionally, so whaddo I know?

During the pre-reactive resin days oil would set on the surface of the ball longer and would build up somewhat.

You would wipe your ball off before your next shot to help maintain a consistent reaction.
(some, when the lanes started to dry up would stop wiping and leave any oil residue on the surface to help try and compensate for the drying lanes).

Now a days with how fast the balls absorb oil, there are those that think wiping is meaningless because the oil is gone from the surface before you can wipe it. That's a valid idea, the oil doesn't set on the surface like it use too.

But as Susie Minshew said above about "lane debris on the ball that it's picked up going down the lane" is valid also.

That grime is a mixture of dirt and oil that can build up, also as the pores fill and get clogged over time, the rate the oil gets absorbed will start slowing and will stay closer to the surface or even on it more.

Still making wiping necessary.

Also having wiping as a part of your pre shot routine, helps slow you down some, so your not rushing your shot.