My First look at "THAT PURPLE STUFF"

[bowl1820]

So, did the Purple Stuff kick out all of your 10 pins too?

It did when I got a strike at least

3rd frame of the first game I wrapped a 10 pin though! I had a few other through the night too. Plus a 7-10 split.

[RobLV1]

At the risk of questioning any companies truth in advertising policies, does anyone really believe that any ball cleaner will really eliminate corner pin leaves? I say this for one simple reason: the majority of ten pin leaves for right handed league bowlers are weak tens, usually caused by the ball encountering too much friction too early on the lane and, as a result, losing energy before entering the pins. Cleaning the ball after every shot can only increase this friction.

That Purple Stuff is a really good ball cleaner. It will most likely increase the lifespan of most bowling balls whether used after every shot or after every session. With that being said, it is just that, a ball cleaner. It is not magic, and will not allow bowlers to carry ten pins when they insist on playing too far outside in the dry part of the lane.

[scottymoney]

So for those who have tried it. Did you use just the bottle of cleaner or the one with the foam dispenser?

[bowl1820]

At the risk of questioning any companies truth in advertising policies, does anyone really believe that any ball cleaner will really eliminate corner pin leaves?

No, not for one minute. Because there are other reasons for leaving a 10 pins.

Reading the marketing materials for TPS, they don't come right out and say you will eliminate every 10 pin leave. Like most marketing materials they just implied something and leave it up to everyone else to infer what they will.

I say this for one simple reason: the majority of ten pin leaves for right handed league bowlers are weak tens, usually caused by the ball encountering too much friction too early on the lane and, as a result, losing energy before entering the pins. Cleaning the ball after every shot can only increase this friction.

Hmm. IMO (if I can word this right) if you start off cleaning your ball every frame, you wouldn't be increasing friction. You would just be maintaining the maximum friction of the ball that you had at the start.

I think the idea that a clean ball will react more consistently that Ron put forth is valid . Because as a "dirty" ball builds up oil & grime on the cover the reaction will change and not necessarily consistently.

That Purple Stuff is a really good ball cleaner. It will most likely increase the lifespan of most bowling balls whether used after every shot or after every session.

True! Ball cleaning and maintenance is very important, especially with the modern coverstocks. I believe a lot of bowler's don't fully realize that and then wonder why their ball stops reacting the way it did when it was new.

That's why I try to stay on top of it with my cleaning regimen,

1. Wipe the ball with a microfiber towel before each shot.
2. Use a spray cleaner after every session at the lanes.
3. Then at home use the spinner to touch up surfaces (Abralon, Polish etc.).
4. Clean the ball with "Clean'N Dull" (One of the few cleaners that will draw oil out of the coverstock).

When I try de-oiling my balls nothing or only trace of oil comes out. (I've done some friends balls and they sweat a puddle.)

With that being said, it is just that, a ball cleaner. It is not magic, and will not allow bowlers to carry ten pins when they insist on playing too far outside in the dry part of the lane.

True!

[bowl1820]

So for those who have tried it. Did you use just the bottle of cleaner or the one with the foam dispenser?

I used the squeeze bottle.

I think the foam bottle would let you control how much you use better. As far as I know it's the same stuff in both bottles, it's just the nozzle that makes the foam. (You can buy empty foaming bottles)



FYI:

Ron Hickland has a interesting article on towels

"Not all towels are created equal"
http://ronaldhickland.com/not-all-to...created-equal/

[scottymoney]

FYI:

Ron Hickland has a interesting article on towels

"Not all towels are created equal"
http://ronaldhickland.com/not-all-to...created-equal/

I have a hard time with his Towel blog.
A. His "graph" is not the correct dimensions of a bowling lane and thus is made up. He just put lines on there with no actual regard for what it really looks like. If you think I am full of it. Draw an actual lane to scale, 1ft being 1". Actual ball shape looks nothing like that.

B. The leather pads do a great job at removing dirt and marks. I prefer the pad over any towels as it is seems to remove much more along with the oil. Cleaning a ball after a series shows me quite the opposite as far as dirt.

C. He uses the microfiber towel drawback that I don't think anyone finds to be a drawback to try and sell his own towel.

I don't think he has really educated anyone...... but he tries to sell his products with "education"

[bowl1820]

I have a hard time with his Towel blog.
A. His "graph" is not the correct dimensions of a bowling lane and thus is made up. He just put lines on there with no actual regard for what it really looks like. If you think I am full of it. Draw an actual lane to scale, 1ft being 1". Actual ball shape looks nothing like that.

Pretty much all lane diagrams on websites and in books are not too scale . It doesn't necessarily invalidate the information be represented.

Most lane diagrams are represented wide and/or for shortened (Which is the case of that diagram, if you look the pins they have been compressed into ovals do to the length being compressed. (The org. image most likely was more to scale, but has been resized and makes it look distorted.)

Here's that diagram after I've adjusted the width of the lane to be more realistic to the length.


Here's another example:

This is a to scale lane diagram (This is one of the best I've seen)
http://xp9.com/lane_small.png

and here is that image compressed like the one on the towel blog



That true scale image would kind of impractical for display on a webpage, because it would be either large and you'd have to scroll to see the whole image or so small it would make seeing details difficult (like two balls tracks that were close to each other.)

B. The leather pads do a great job at removing dirt and marks. I prefer the pad over any towels as it is seems to remove much more along with the oil. Cleaning a ball after a series shows me quite the opposite as far as dirt.

According to the article he seems to say the leather pad does do a good job, just that the material could load up which make it not clean as well. But that would be true of any towel, if it gets too dirty it won't clean as well.

How often do you clean your leather pad?

C. He uses the microfiber towel drawback that I don't think anyone finds to be a drawback to try and sell his own towel.

I don't think he has really educated anyone...... but he tries to sell his products with "education"

Well that's marketing for you, every company does that. They take some little thing and say ours doesn't do that.

Even the leather pad companies do it.

Take the leather Genesis Pure Pad marketing "It’s been specifically sized to fit in the palm of your hand, so right away you’ll notice the texture and feel the difference in weight."

Personally I never had a problem with towel size (Unless it was too small), texture or weight.

[scottymoney]

I clean my leather pad every couple months. It is black so it is tough to see the difference in color like if it white or some other color. As far as cleaning after a series I don't see that much of a difference cleaning it after using the leather pad or microfiber towel.

The diagram at scale is a much better example than not to scale. I hate looking at any lane diagram that is not to scale as there is a huge difference in what they show to what it really looks like.

[Blomer]

I also used it from the squeeze bottle. I don't believe Ron doesn't promote both the leather pad and microfiber towel. After all he sells the combination of both. I hav he leather pad as well. Think it does a great job getting the oil off and belt marks, etc. but I also use a towel. I'm not stuck on either. His pad has both as the microfiber side can absorb the cleaner and then u don't have to use as much cleaner. As I don't have his pad, I did go to a hardware sure and they sell microfiber applicator pad for waxing cars. It has a pad in the middle to absorb the cleaner so should work. Hopefully.

[bowl1820]

Okay the next cleaner test this time it was bowlingball.com's Monster Tac

Used the same steps as done with TPS.
(Note: I used a different camera for the monster tac pic, lighting is different too)

The Monster Tac test


That Purple Stuff test

(also note: since these were different lanes levels of grime could be different which could affect what there was to take off)

Well this is a close call and gets down into some nitpicky details. Comparing the other pics I have and what I seen first hand.

1-Both cleaners removed surface oil, I think TPS might have broke it down slightly faster it's a close call.

2-Both cleaners left the ball tacky, but I felt TPS left it just a little bit tackier.

3-At the end of the first game the TPS towel was slightly dirtier than the M.Tac towel.
At the end of the second game the TPS towel was still slightly dirtier than the M.Tac towel.
But by the end of the of evening, Both cleaners appeared to have taken off about the same amounts of grime.

4-Neither cleaner removed the oil lines in the cover. Though at close examination of the oil lines left by Monster Tac, They were a bit shinier than the ones left by TPS. Which to me means that TPS did penetrate the pores a little bit more. (Which was one of Ron's claims, that it cleaned the pores some.

5-Monster Tac I felt dried up fast on the micro fiber towel, I had to keep spraying some more on. TPS kind of stayed damper longer slightly. Ron's micro fiber pad with the sponge material in it might make a difference here.


So which is better? Hmmm, Tough call. I think "That Purple Stuff " is a little bit better, it left the ball slightly tackier than Monster tack.

Is it enough to justify price?
If both were equally priced, I'd get "That Purple Stuff ". Because IMO it has a "slight" edge.

If Monster Tac is cheaper at the time you want to get some cleaner (It depends on when and how much you buy), If You want to save money Monster Tac would be okay. I wouldn't feel bad about using it, it's better than a lot of cleaners I tried before.

If I can get one of Ron's pads (Which I think are a bit over priced) or the towels like Laneside used to try TPS with, I might change my opinion.

Extra: here's a pic of where I cleaned another bowlers ball with That Purple Stuff at the start of the night! He hadn't cleaned his ball.

He was surprised how dirty it was.