Cleaning balls: wtf happened?!

7

7stud

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
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I wanted to clean a set of balls that probably hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. I didn't have any specialty pool ball polish, but I read something online that said to soak the balls in lukewarm water and add a mild detergent, like Palmolive. I happened to have some Palmolive, so I put the balls in a bucket of warm water, then I added a bunch of Palmolive liquid. I let the balls soak for about 5 minutes, then I selected a ball, and I swished a very soft brush against the ball for no longer than 5 seconds, then I rinsed the ball in cold water, then I dried the ball, and I set the ball aside and I moved on to the next ball. The whole rack looks like that.
 
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I’ve read here that soaking balls in soapy water is not a good idea but I don’t think it should do that.
I have friends that do it and the balls seem to come out OK.
I think it must be the balls. You can still get a set of the Dynasphere Bronze for $115.
 
7stud said:
View attachment 705600

I wanted to clean a set of balls that probably hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. I didn't have any specialty pool ball polish, but I read something online that said to soak the balls in lukewarm water and add a mild detergent, like Palmolive. I happened to have some Palmolive, so I put the balls in a bucket, and I added a bunch of Palmolive liquid. I let the balls soak for about 5 minutes, then I took a very soft brush and I swished the brush against a ball for no longer than 5 seconds), then I rinsed the ball in cold water, then I dried the ball, and I set the ball aside and I moved on to the next ball. The whole rack looks like that.
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You read the wrong thing online, I have seen quite a few people try to wash their balls with dish cleaning stuff, and that is how they end up. To fix this, find a place with a ball polisher machine with the proper cleaner, there are a bunch of them on the market.
 
Soak a few minutes in warm water with Bar Keepers Friend(powder), lift ball from bucket and sprinkle a little BKF on it and scrub with wash cloth, rinse in cold water and let dry. Add a drop or two of Aramith ball cleaner or Meguiar’s and buff out with microfiber or soft t-shirt. Good as new! Don’t use a powder cleaner with bleach
 
7stud said:
View attachment 705600

I wanted to clean a set of balls that probably hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. I didn't have any specialty pool ball polish, but I read something online that said to soak the balls in lukewarm water and add a mild detergent, like Palmolive. I happened to have some Palmolive, so I put the balls in a bucket, and I added a bunch of Palmolive liquid. I let the balls soak for about 5 minutes, then I took a very soft brush and I swished the brush against a ball for no longer than 5 seconds), then I rinsed the ball in cold water, then I dried the ball, and I set the ball aside and I moved on to the next ball. The whole rack looks like that.
Click to expand...
find a pool room with a ball cleaner and give the guy $20 to run your balls until they are back to normal
 
If those were important to me, I'd get Aramith restorer and cleaner and rub the balls by hand.

No wax, no Meguiar’s, no random dish cleaner, no washing machine, and no ball cleaning machine that is strange to you. I have seen ball cleaners destroy balls when the pads got wrong and you never know what the owner has loaded the pads with for the last year.
 
Just needs a 20min polish in a ball machine w/ Aramith ball restorer. Then 5 mins w/ Aramith polish.

Too much effort to do this by hand.

Dont panic. Ive done this several times.
 
Dognit said:
.... Too much effort to do this by hand. ....
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It's not too much effort. He can watch cat videos while he's doing it or even the World Cup of Pool. I think it's good to do them by hand as you appreciate the result more. And there can be problems with machines. Actually, if I owned the machine, I wouldn't let him put balls that looked like that into it.
 
Never, ever, under any circumstance should dish cleaning soap be used to clean pool balls and IMO, there's never a need for pool balls to touch water. Balls should be cleaned with products designed to clean phenolic resin (specifically for pool balls or otherwise), ether by hand or machine.
 
DaveK said:
Fascinating stuff. Now I won't use asphalt on my balls, or mustard ... but am very pleased that rum won't have any detrimental affect !

Thanks :)

Dave
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If you ever slid down the road far enough you would have already known to keep your balls off the asphalt and rum can actually have a positive effect as long as care is taken. The cooling sensation from alcohol can be shocking to some
 
I'm surprised you got that look in a bucket, most of the balls I have seen with that spotty haze were put in a dishwasher and run on a heat cycle.
 
3kushn said:

Phenolic Chemical Resistance Charts, Excellent, Good, Limited, Severe Effects

Phenolic Chemical Resistance Charts, Table with references of resistance to different chemicals, acids, ketones, esters, sulphates, oils and fuels
k-mac-plastics.net
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Interesting that they rate Phenolic as a D for "salad dressing", but don't have anything listed for vinegar, acetic acid, or oils.
And their alphabetical list seems to go rogue somewhere in the middle for a bit.

Neat table though, thanks for posting.
 
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