Balls: Clean or Dirty?

[ChrisinNC]

As a sidenote:
For many years, I needed to frequently run my Centenials though the polishing machine every couple days if playing frequently. Aside from the chalk marks (Tweeten/Master), you could always tell they needed cleaning by the way they dragged as you pushed the rack into position, and BTW I also kept the cloth very clean.
I recently/simultaneously had the table recovered (new 760, though it plays more like 860), bought a new set of Duramith balls (red circle CB) and switched to Taom chalk. After nearly 2 weeks of constant play (Covid-19 self-isolation), I haven’t YET needed to clean the table or balls. The few miscue marks on the cloth are of no real consequence, and very lightly brushing the CB on my shirt whenever I pick it up has kept it spotless. The balls still slide into racking position like they were freshly polished. Go figure.

Taom Pyro chalk is amazing in that absolutely no chalk marks show up on the cloth or on the cue ball even after a long session. It's also confounding that 1 cube never wears down even after tens of thousands of swipes on your cue tip. However, it doesn't eliminate ugly marks showing on the red circle cue ball when you miscue.

 

[jrctherake]

Alright, let's say you're about to enter a large tournament with a good payout, or a gambling set with enough in the middle to make a few payments on your toys.

Do you want the balls clean, or do you want them filthy?

I had to vote clean.

I've never met a good player that wanted to play with or on filthy equipment.

I've met a ton of strong amateurs and pros that HATE to play with POLISHED balls but also hate FILTHY balls.

IMO, all balls should be cleaned as long as nothing that breaks the rules are used on them.

I think the bigger questions are:

What chemicals are used....
How often are they cleaned...

There's a huge area between CLEAN and FILTHY.

Jeff

 

[JusticeNJ]

It depends on the game too. I can get by a set of 9/10 ball with dirty balls.

A game of straight pool can be torture with dirty balls.

 

[DynoDan]

...A game of straight pool can be torture with dirty balls.

Also maybe depends on the cloth speed/pocket size. If using a chalk brand that sticks to older/worn balls, and you are used to slow-rolling shots on fast 760 with Pro Diamond pockets, the skid that results when chalk marks line up just right will likely end your run. But, when routinely pounding in shots on an old ‘bucket‘ table with slow cloth, skids that cause a miss are probably seldom experienced (?).

 

[Icon of Sin]

I prefer clean, even though I rarely clean my set at home. I did at the start of this goddamn pandemic and they just play so noticeably better.