Bowling Ball Cleaning and Maintenance

[ChuckR]

Is a bowling towel, like the ones given out by the lanes for the Holidays sufficient?

[bowl1820]

Is a bowling towel, like the ones given out by the lanes for the Holidays sufficient?

Most likely it will be okay.

At the moment Microfiber towels are the preferred type, they do better than the old standard cotton cloth ones.

I personally don't care for towels with silk screening or the heat set logos on them. It makes it hard to flip the towel over and use the logo side, because the logo material interferes with the cleaning.

A newer towel or "Pad" that's being used by some are the ones that use a piece of buffalo hide, leather material. They are reported to do a good job, but are expensive.

[Sche3067]

This method is great my radical feels brand new. The oil was oozing out of the cover stock. Thank you

[Sche3067]

So I rolled two games today and I was impressed with how well my ball was reading the oil. The first game my thumb was sticking in the thumb hole but I expected it after soakingthe ball with soap. After putting baby powder in the hole things got really nice for me. I was able to play all 3 zones striking on all of them. I was not able to do this before the clean. The ball comes in harder and it feels more consistent. I recommend the soak to anyone

[1VegasBowler]

In the very near future I plan on using That Purple Stuff during and after any competition.

[mc_runner]

Reviving this thread as I have a question that I didn't see answered.

Lately when I'm cleaning my balls, either with normal cleaner (every session) or clean n' dull (weekly) I've been focusing more on the track than the rest of the ball. As in I'll spray cleaner over the track then begin wiping. The rest of the ball gets some benefit but the majority of the cleaner is probably staying generally in the track area - more so for the clean n dull than the regular cleaner since it's a gel.

My question is, is there any benefit to cleaning the full surface of the ball vs. only your track? After all, your track area is the area contacting the lane and creating the movement. It just seems like a waste to clean the entire ball - unless there is a need to that I'm not thinking of.

[Amyers]

Reviving this thread as I have a question that I didn't see answered.

Lately when I'm cleaning my balls, either with normal cleaner (every session) or clean n' dull (weekly) I've been focusing more on the track than the rest of the ball. As in I'll spray cleaner over the track then begin wiping. The rest of the ball gets some benefit but the majority of the cleaner is probably staying generally in the track area - more so for the clean n dull than the regular cleaner since it's a gel.

My question is, is there any benefit to cleaning the full surface of the ball vs. only your track? After all, your track area is the area contacting the lane and creating the movement. It just seems like a waste to clean the entire ball - unless there is a need to that I'm not thinking of.

Good question. I got asked a similar question by my coach yesterday when I was hitting a ball with a pad and he's like why are you doing the whole ball and not just the track? The one thing I can think of on cleaning is removing the surface oil which could still soak in the ball but idk if it would really make that much difference.

[bowl1820]

My question is, is there any benefit to cleaning the full surface of the ball vs. only your track? After all, your track area is the area contacting the lane and creating the movement. It just seems like a waste to clean the entire ball - unless there is a need to that I'm not thinking of.

You should clean the whole ball, while the track area picks up most oil from contact with the lane. The rest of the ball picks up oil and grime from the rest of the lanes.

Such as contact with the curtain and belts in the pit which have oil and grime on them. Rolling back through the return channel and contact with the wheel or belts in the ball return which get oil on them from previous balls.

Also remember the coverstock is porous, oil is going to spread through out the coverstock over time.

Look at this way when you sweat a ball, the whole ball sweats oil not just the track area.

[bowl1820]

Good question. I got asked a similar question by my coach yesterday when I was hitting a ball with a pad and he's like why are you doing the whole ball and not just the track? The one thing I can think of on cleaning is removing the surface oil which could still soak in the ball but idk if it would really make that much difference.

Theoretically it could make the static weights illegal.

Back in the Urethane early Reactive days, there was supposed to be a few cases where some balls. Drilled close to the limits on static weights, had absorbed enough oil to push it over the limit.

I never personally seen one, just read about it a long time ago.

[fortheloveofbowling]

Good question. I got asked a similar question by my coach yesterday when I was hitting a ball with a pad and he's like why are you doing the whole ball and not just the track? The one thing I can think of on cleaning is removing the surface oil which could still soak in the ball but idk if it would really make that much difference.

Hopefully you mentioned to your coach that it is illegal to sand just a portion of the ball.