water or something else

[JohnN]

Do you use water or some other liquid when sanding a ball ?

[Aslan]

I use water.

From what I've been told by pros/pro shop operators, it's "generally" a good practice to use water (vs dry sanding) as it evens out the surface (where as dry sanding tends to 'scratch' the surfaces). It's also recommended from a safety/health standpoint as the dust from sanding bowling balls can be hazardous to breathe in.

Is it "necessary"? No. A lot of casual bowlers want their balls to hook as early as possible or they are playing on certain heavy-oil/long/wide/flat oil patterns will try to sand their balls to a very scratched/scuffed surface.

If I want earlier reaction in oil, I can wet sand all the way down to 180 grit Abralon. Even though it doesn't "look" as scuffed as the fellas dry sanding with 500-2000...it's going to react more.

[Timmyb]

Just a simple spray bottle with water. Wet sanding is much more consistent, and faster.