I don't spend a lot of time hand wiping the cleaner off the balls - just enough to get the cleaner dust off them and pop them in the machine. I don't need the hand cramps. There are still some scuffs and marks on the balls that the machine takes care of. The machine also seems to get the balls evenly shiny. Honestly, I don't use the Aramith cleaner nearly as much as I probably should. The balls don't open up as much as they could, but, hey, that's good practice too. I don't exactly remember the last time I used Aramith. It seems like if I just buff the balls in the machine they get nice and clean without any additional cleaner.
I had a bad experience where someone on AZ recommended Novus 1 as a ball cleaner so I tried it. I subsequently did throw tests and found that it wasn't good. I had to replace the pads in my machine as the Novus had soaked in. Now that I only use Aramith I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have some of it in the machine pads. I kind of like the idea of spraying something right into the machine lightly each time, or maybe every other time, I clean them. Diluting the Aramith so highly doesn't sound like a good idea but if it seems to work well then might give it a try. I'm a little gun shy from the last brilliant DIY idea I tried on ball cleaning, lol.