cleaning balls
- Thread starter berlowmj2
- Start date
i like the aramith ball cleaner. they also have a ball restorer that is good for really tough jobs, but the cleaner is all you need for day to day maintenance. polish with a microfiber rag. i finish off with brillianize plastic polish. the cue ball i do with the cleaner and brillianize after every time i play. the object balls i do with brillianize only and use the cleaner only every once in awhile.
i like the aramith and brillianize cleaner because they don't leave a film on the balls. balls are not supposed to have wax or silicone on them as per wpa specs. these products just polish the phenolic surface and don't leave behind a slippery film.
i like the aramith and brillianize cleaner because they don't leave a film on the balls. balls are not supposed to have wax or silicone on them as per wpa specs. these products just polish the phenolic surface and don't leave behind a slippery film.
I'm not sold on the aramith cleaner.. I got a free bottle with my super pro's.. and it does leave a film.. and makes the balls slippery.. untill they get used then they get very dirty very fast... the last time I cleaned them I used plain old water and a micro fiber rag.. and they stayed clean longer...
I have heard a lot of hype about this brillianize product.. and I may still try it.. but water and elbow grease has gotten the best result for me thus far
Brillianize is very good. I don't think it leaves a film but the balls are slippery after cleaning. I actually like Plexus a little better. It is anti static so it helps repel dirt and chalk and the balls do seem to stay cleaner longer with Plexus. It just seems to polish the balls a tad better than Brillianize though both get them clean. Plexus has gotten very pricey though. About $20 a can.
If you don't want to invest in a pro machine, do a search on these forums for the under $40 option using a 10" buffer, a couple of 5 gallon plastic pails, and a little bit of creativity.
Or, if you search youtube for ball polisher, these come up:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ball+polisher&aq=f
i never felt the aramith cleaner left a film. it does polish really good, which makes them slippery, but that is a good kind of slippery (from a highly polished surface, not a coating of something). i've used some other cleaners that had wax or silicone it then that leaves behind a greasy film that is not good.
the aramith cleaner has some grit it in, so you need something like that for the abraded spots on the ball. for just cleaning off fingerprints, hand oil, etc. the brillianize works well
Meguiar's Clear Plastic Cleaner cleans better and is much cheaper than Plexus.
It's a few dollars less. From what I can tell it is a squirt bottle. I do like the ease of use of Plexus (aerosol can) or Brillianize in the spray bottle for cleaning my set after play. It is just faster and more convenient to spray on and wipe off when putting the balls away after every session.
Mequiars definitely makes good products though.
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I use Aramith ball cleaner. Seems it is the standard so I figure I should get used to it. Works great for me.
I designed a mechanical ball cleaner a few years ago that has been well received by the people who use it. It costs about $30.00 to make with material you can pick up locally. If you can use a circular saw and a jig saw you can build it in less than a day. Send me your email address that can receive a 3.5 MB file and I will send the instructional manual for building one to any AZB member for free. Hear is a photo of one I made that is dressed up a little.
You can replace the crank handle (made from a bent machine bolt) with another bolt ground to accept a portable drill and use the drill to turn the platen. It isn't needed as the crank does a fine job but some people prefer the drill.
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I use the homemade ball polisher with a carpet ball segregator that prevents the balls from touching one another. It works great, especially considering that I spent all of 45 bucks and just an hour and a half or so to assemble it.
As far as cleaning solution goes, I use Novus 1, a specialty plastics cleaner (note: only use Novus 1, as 2 and three have varying degrees of grit intended to polish out grooves and imperfections in the plastic). I have used Aramith ball cleaner and have looked at Brillianize as well (which I'm sure works as well as Novus). My buddy said that Leonard Bloodworth told him to use Novus and I saw his results with it and used the same ever since. Super shine with absolutely no residue. Here you go:
http://www.amazon.com/Novus-Plastic-Polish-Scratch-Remover/dp/B001J7EVCQ
I clean the balls all year for under $25.00. Can't argue with that...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZKL74LgMg&feature=player_embedded#!
try the ball cleaner demonstrated in the above link
try the ball cleaner demonstrated in the above link