I have my own ideas regarding the correct ways to clean tables and balls, but to verify my beliefs, I spoke with Ivan Lee, the President of Simonis cloth.
Simonis, as you may know, has also acquired Aramith, so he is also familiar with the proper maintenance of carom balls. Here is what I asked him, and here are his replies:
Ivan:
1) What is the absolute best way to care for your table and keep the table running long and slippery?
a) Simonis X-1
b) Vacuum
c) Slightly damp microfiber cloth
d) Dry cloth only
Ivan Lee: Do not use sprays or chemicals if you can avoid it (including silicone sprays) and keep things clean in general. After that, I would use a vacuum, then the X-1, then a damp cloth in that order. If you start with new cloth, the use of the vacuum can be eliminated. Some carom players just like to use the damp cloth and if you use it after you have removed the chalk dust, then it should not harm anything. (Damp, NOT wet).
2) If using a damp cloth, should the nose of the rails be cleaned? Some argue that since underneath the rails it is made of rubber, that you are damaging the rubber.
Ivan Lee: A damp cloth rubbed across the nose of the cushion should not cause any issues. I have just put a piece of my Klematch rubber in a glass of water to test this. I will say that extruded rubber will almost always harder at the nose of the cushion. Molded rubber (such as Klematch) is significantly more consistent and the rubber stays pliable at the nose. Extruded products always have issues with consistency and tend to dry out at the nose of the cushion.
3) What is the absolute best way to clean Aramith carom balls and are there definite no-no’s?
a) Aramith ball cleaner only
b) Water
c) Alcohol
d) Wax
e) Polishes
f) soap and water
Ivan Lee: I would stick with the Aramith ball cleaner. I have personally had some bad experiences with other means of polishing pool and carom balls, including soap and water, alcohol and waxes. At the very least, if you are using what the manufacturer recommends, you’re not doing it wrong.
Jim Shovak: I wish to add something here. I have been using Aramith ball cleaner to clean my balls for many years and have not had any problems at all. But I have noticed that others that use the product make some critical mistakes. Here is what you should do and what you should NOT do, in my opinion:
1) Apply Aramith Ball Cleaner using cotton gloves to protect your hands.
2) A little elbow grease is needed to take out miscue marks. But Aramith Ball Cleaner is the best product there is to remove them!
3) After you have applied Aramith Ball Cleaner, take a clean dry rag and REMOVE AS MUCH PRODUCT AS POSSIBLE AS IF YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN THE BALLS COMPLETELY BY HAND.
4) After manual cleaning, THEN you can place the balls into a ball machine for polishing.
5) After polishing, take a different clean rag to polish them by hand. Now the balls are perfect!
The biggest mistake I have seen is that people put the balls into the electric polisher with the Aramith Ball Cleaner still on the balls. This causes a build-up of cleaner on the pads and therefore it is almost impossible to completely remove the cleaner from the balls. The excess cleaner may still show up on the balls (small white specks) and it also make its way onto the table. So make sure that it's all gone before using the electric polisher and you will have NO ISSUES.
You will have squeaky clean balls.
Simonis, as you may know, has also acquired Aramith, so he is also familiar with the proper maintenance of carom balls. Here is what I asked him, and here are his replies:
Ivan:
1) What is the absolute best way to care for your table and keep the table running long and slippery?
a) Simonis X-1
b) Vacuum
c) Slightly damp microfiber cloth
d) Dry cloth only
Ivan Lee: Do not use sprays or chemicals if you can avoid it (including silicone sprays) and keep things clean in general. After that, I would use a vacuum, then the X-1, then a damp cloth in that order. If you start with new cloth, the use of the vacuum can be eliminated. Some carom players just like to use the damp cloth and if you use it after you have removed the chalk dust, then it should not harm anything. (Damp, NOT wet).
2) If using a damp cloth, should the nose of the rails be cleaned? Some argue that since underneath the rails it is made of rubber, that you are damaging the rubber.
Ivan Lee: A damp cloth rubbed across the nose of the cushion should not cause any issues. I have just put a piece of my Klematch rubber in a glass of water to test this. I will say that extruded rubber will almost always harder at the nose of the cushion. Molded rubber (such as Klematch) is significantly more consistent and the rubber stays pliable at the nose. Extruded products always have issues with consistency and tend to dry out at the nose of the cushion.
3) What is the absolute best way to clean Aramith carom balls and are there definite no-no’s?
a) Aramith ball cleaner only
b) Water
c) Alcohol
d) Wax
e) Polishes
f) soap and water
Ivan Lee: I would stick with the Aramith ball cleaner. I have personally had some bad experiences with other means of polishing pool and carom balls, including soap and water, alcohol and waxes. At the very least, if you are using what the manufacturer recommends, you’re not doing it wrong.
Jim Shovak: I wish to add something here. I have been using Aramith ball cleaner to clean my balls for many years and have not had any problems at all. But I have noticed that others that use the product make some critical mistakes. Here is what you should do and what you should NOT do, in my opinion:
1) Apply Aramith Ball Cleaner using cotton gloves to protect your hands.
2) A little elbow grease is needed to take out miscue marks. But Aramith Ball Cleaner is the best product there is to remove them!
3) After you have applied Aramith Ball Cleaner, take a clean dry rag and REMOVE AS MUCH PRODUCT AS POSSIBLE AS IF YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN THE BALLS COMPLETELY BY HAND.
4) After manual cleaning, THEN you can place the balls into a ball machine for polishing.
5) After polishing, take a different clean rag to polish them by hand. Now the balls are perfect!
The biggest mistake I have seen is that people put the balls into the electric polisher with the Aramith Ball Cleaner still on the balls. This causes a build-up of cleaner on the pads and therefore it is almost impossible to completely remove the cleaner from the balls. The excess cleaner may still show up on the balls (small white specks) and it also make its way onto the table. So make sure that it's all gone before using the electric polisher and you will have NO ISSUES.
You will have squeaky clean balls.
