Cleaning or Polishing Balls

if you are using a carpet type ball polisher, use Meguire car polish, just a little dab per ball should do.

I have the carpet type diamond ball polisher and do achieve consistently beautiful results. I only use the Aramith ball cleaning product by hand to clean the occasional very stubborn marks. BTW, do not use the aramith polish in the polishing machine as it will tend to muck up the carpet material.

All of the above was what Glen RKC recommended and it appears he was correct.

Quick question, what chalk and balls are you using?

best,
brian kc

randytabares said:

What is the best method for cleaning pool balls? I built a ball polisher and use it but there is a film that shows up on the balls after a few racks of play. Chalk sticks to the cue ball and transfers to the object ball. Is there a better way to clean them?

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I followed up on Dr. Dave's video on ball throw with different cleaners. I found that if you use Novus, probably not that different from any wax or car polish, the throw characteristics change dramatically in a short time. I found with Novus that the ball initially threw about 1" over 6 diamonds and after only 15 or 20 shots the same ball was throwing over 4". On the other hand, if you use Aramith cleaner, which is specifically made to clean pool balls, the throw was the same for shot 1 as it was for shot 30, about 4 or 5 inches (don't recall the exact throw, but they all threw the same).

IMO, use car waxes for cars, use billiard ball cleaners for billiard balls. Your own experience is a good example.

I have a carpet ball cleaner and all I do is apply Turtle wax polish compound, let it dry and them in the ball cleaner, works great.

a little running water and a mr.clean sponge. is all you need
once you put polish on balls they play differently and you can move your cueball all over the place. but if you play with un polished balls you will be a hack and lose.

randytabares said:

What is the best method for cleaning pool balls? I built a ball polisher and use it but there is a film that shows up on the balls after a few racks of play. Chalk sticks to the cue ball and transfers to the object ball. Is there a better way to clean them?

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Throw away all the wax and polishes.

Clean the balls with Ivory SOAP - never detergent - and water.

Pool balls are intended to play Pool with.

If you want things that shine, buy a diamond.

Dale

Aramith Ball Cleaner! The manufacturer may know a thing or two about pool balls, just say'in.
https://www.seyberts.com/ball-cleaners/polish/aramith-ball-cleaner/

ctyhntr said:

Aramith Ball Cleaner! The manufacturer may know a thing or two about pool balls, just say'in.
https://www.seyberts.com/ball-cleaners/polish/aramith-ball-cleaner/

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Well, what they know is their job is to make money.

When I play pool, my job is to make balls.

Just sayin...

Dale

pdcue said:

Well, what they know is their job is to make money.

When I play pool, my job is to make balls.

Just sayin...

Dale

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Dale - I kind of know you are making a joke, but it isn't fair to say that just because the company makes the balls, that their cleaner is not better than plain soap. I mean, what makes you say that Ivory soap is so great? Have you tested the throw results when using soap, for instance?

For the money, you aren't going to do much better than Aramith. Only a little drop is necessary and the bottle will last a very long time. so why not use it?

Dan White said:

Dale - I kind of know you are making a joke, but it isn't fair to say that just because the company makes the balls, that their cleaner is not better than plain soap. I mean, what makes you say that Ivory soap is so great? Have you tested the throw results when using soap, for instance?

For the money, you aren't going to do much better than Aramith. Only a little drop is necessary and the bottle will last a very long time. so why not use it?

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Dan;

Please clarify, are you recommending using the Aramith ball cleaner polish by hand or in a machine?

Why I ask is because it was explained to me by Glen RKC not to use the Aramith ball polish in a Diamond polisher because it tends to muck up the carpet material.

I do use the Aramith product, as I said earlier, by hand on the infrequent stubborn marks.

I can only share my experience which is using just a dab of Maguire polish per ball every approx. 5th cleaning (the other 4 or so cleaning cycles are done dry in the polisher) works excellent for me.

I've done this with Super Pros, Centennials, Duramith Tournaments and even Raschigs.

All with the same good results.

best,
brian kc

The carpet inserts in the Diamond ball polisher, folks, is removable and cleans up nicely with a simple warm and wet wash cloth. Same for cleaning the carpeted separator in the center. The Aramith ball cleaning solution is by far the best and if used sparingly, you get many hours of polishing before you need to clean the carpet insert. It should never get "mucked up" if you are cleaning it regularly. The timed polishing sessions don't need to be more than a few minutes if you are regularly maintaining the balls as well. It also makes a huge difference if you apply the Aramith polish directly to the cue ball with your fingertip very lightly covering the entire surface before placing it in the machine.

Seems crazy to me that anyone would use anything else other than specially formulated phenolic ball polish that is available cheaply and quickly to anyone on the planet. With your cellphone and Amazon, you can have it on your doorstep in a few days. And yes, they clean and polish beautifully by hand with any throwaway wash cloth. So no one "needs" the machines.

Come on guys (and gals) - soap, waxes, sponges or erasures. Really? Why not use the right products for your job? If you can take the time to find and buy car wax or Novus acrylic and plastic polish but not pick up some inexpensive Aramith phenolic ball polish for your investment, then no forum suggestions will make sense to you either.

maha said:

a little running water and a mr.clean sponge. is all you need
once you put polish on balls they play differently and you can move your cueball all over the place. but if you play with un polished balls you will be a hack and lose.

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I agree with mr clean to clean but I use by hand Meguiar's car polish but would not polish the cueball! yep clean balls play better,so cleaned waxed balls are the way to go!

Kickin' Chicken said:

Dan;

Please clarify, are you recommending using the Aramith ball cleaner polish by hand or in a machine?

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I'm using it in a Bludworth ball machine. I put a small drop on each ball after I put them in the machine and then turn it on. It seems to cover the ball well enough that way. I find that there is a small dab of hardened fabric where each ball rubs the most as it spins in place. You can take a bristle brush or your thumbnail and rough this up to remove some of the residue. Also, the pads can be replaced pretty easily every once in awhile.

I don't claim to know the best way to use the Aramith in the machine over the long term, but I found that when I put it on by hand I tended to use too much. I might also try spreading a small drop by hand all over the ball before putting it in the machine, but I suspect that small hard spot will develop on the cloth just the same. I don't think that spot really hurts anything especially as the balls come out clean and shiny (but not slick).

My main point is that I think Aramith provides consistent results. I don't know about just using soap, but why bother when you have a cheap product made specifically for cleaning phenolic resin?

In my experience, dish soap is a fine way to take balls that need cleanin and turn them ito balls that need replacement.

I cleaned a set with soap and they were so clingy afterwards, they became unplayable.

I agree with aramith cleaner too.

randytabares said:

What is the best method for cleaning pool balls? I built a ball polisher and use it but there is a film that shows up on the balls after a few racks of play. Chalk sticks to the cue ball and transfers to the object ball. Is there a better way to clean them?

Click to expand...

If there's a film you're using too much polish. I use one drop car polish, one drop aramith ball cleaner every 3rd or 4th time through the polisher and they come out slick and film free

markgw said:

If there's a film you're using too much polish. I use one drop car polish, one drop aramith ball cleaner every 3rd or 4th time through the polisher and they come out slick and film free

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Why do you use car polish? Not trying to be wise, just wondering because I'm not sure if everybody does that for the same reason.

K2Kraze said:

Come on guys (and gals) - soap, waxes, sponges or erasures. Really? Why not use the right products for your job? If you can take the time to find and buy car wax or Novus acrylic and plastic polish but not pick up some inexpensive Aramith phenolic ball polish for your investment, then no forum suggestions will make sense to you either.

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I use the Aramith cleaner too, it does kind of make sense since it is the product Aramith recommends you use on the balls they make. I use it in my Diamond polisher with superb results, I see no reason to change what I am doing. On my ball sets I use the Aramith Ball Cleaner, but all 3 of my sets are relatively new, I have done some pretty used up ball sets for friends and the Aramith Ball Restorer also does a nice job of making them look nice again.

fastone371 said:

I use the Aramith cleaner too, it does kind of make sense since it is the product Aramith recommends you use on the balls they make. I use it in my Diamond polisher with superb results, I see no reason to change what I am doing. On my ball sets I use the Aramith Ball Cleaner, but all 3 of my sets are relatively new, I have done some pretty used up ball sets for friends and the Aramith Ball Restorer also does a nice job of making them look nice again.

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On older ball sets and friends that bring their nasty balls over for cleaning and polishing, I also start with the Aramith Ball Restorer (very small amount) using my dedicated "RESTORING" set of Diamond carpet inserts and the carpeted center piece and then follow up with the Aramith Ball Polish using the "POLISHING" inserts. And like a few guys chimed in saying, you don't need to apply the polishing compound every time to the balls you regularly keep pristine. Using the correct products with a little research combined with a few trial and error periods will yield the best results for whichever balls one is working with - that I've discovered that is.


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I use Aramith ball cleaner on Super Aramith Pro set, and I use a micro-fiber cloth that I got with a set of sunglasses. My 7 year old then uses a dry cloth to shine them up. We do this about once every 6 months to a year. I don't worry about them otherwise.