George the Greek
Well-known member
I'm cheap lol and retired and it gives me something to do
Does cleaning pool balls with clothes detergent & 3-M Scotchbright green-side sponge damage the balls?
- Thread starter Paul_#_
- Start date
Unless you are interested in trick shots, silicone on pool balls is a very bad idea.
The silicone makes the cue ball very slippery. That has two major effects. The cue ball loses much less draw on the way to the object ball. Then the draw will take more slowly, creating huge, beautiful arcs.
There are multiple problems. The throw will be reduced so all your cut shots will be off by a degree or two. You will be learning in a situation much different from normal play. The silicone will wear off over the course of a rack or two, changing how the cue ball acts. The silicone transfers to the table. For sidespin the cue ball will slip on the cushion rather than grab.
But, it's fun to make the cue take huge, beautiful arcs. Silicone can also be used as a trick to screw with your opponent's head.
In my experience, car cleaning products can do the opposite of silicone. I gave an old set the full treatment with rubbing compound and polish. The balls ended up with about twice the throw of normal balls. That was fun, too, but I quickly fixed the balls with Aramith cleaner.
If you don't care about how the balls react against each other or the cloth, do whatever you want to them that makes them look better.
If you don't care about how the balls react against each other or the cloth, do whatever you want to them that makes them look better.
Ps, what set of balls do you have?
Why use anything other than what is made by the ball manufacturer? If one spends money on nice balls its easy to tie up well over $1K in a few sets of balls.
with all that's known about properly cleaning balls why do people keep doing this shit???
I don't understand it.
Paul_#_
Well-known member
The only abrasive that gets near my pool balls is chalk. Not real thrilled about that. Polishes and rubbing compounds particularly for cars, usually include abrasives. Car paint is somewhat sacrificial unless it stays out of the sun or well protected. Of course most of us that drive a car have to contend with bugs and stuff off of the road surface too.
The best advice I have read is to use stuff designed for pool balls. If not, use stuff designed for similar surfaces.
Scotchbrite used to make seven or nine different pads, I haven't checked in a long time. Green has a pretty harsh abrasive. Blue had no abrasive, seems to still be true. Somebody will have to do their homework to find out about the other pads. I like to use pads that have been used a bit for other things before I use them for finer work, a lot like knocking the first edge off of sandpaper.
Hu
The best advice I have read is to use stuff designed for pool balls. If not, use stuff designed for similar surfaces.
Scotchbrite used to make seven or nine different pads, I haven't checked in a long time. Green has a pretty harsh abrasive. Blue had no abrasive, seems to still be true. Somebody will have to do their homework to find out about the other pads. I like to use pads that have been used a bit for other things before I use them for finer work, a lot like knocking the first edge off of sandpaper.
Hu
Paul_#_
Well-known member
Conclusion: Use Aramith Ball Cleaner instead of detergent and 3M Scotch-brite green scouring pad. Although the the detergent method should not be used, it had little effect on the looks of the pool ball or play— at least in my experience after one cleaning. An AZer poster, however, found dramatic damage using simple dish soap — see below.
Use Aramith Ball cleaner by dabbing a small amount on a ball, scrub with micro-fiber cloth and buff with cloth. I had instead soaked the three-year-old, never-cleaned balls for about 20 minutes in water and clothes detergent (Arm & Hammer sensitive skin brand), scrubbed balls with a slightly worn 3M Scotch-brite green scouring pad, and cloth buffed.
Pictures below show the balls after cleaning using the detergent method versus the detergent method followed by Amarith ball cleaner. The point is that the balls looked okay after the detergent method. Maybe they have lost some luster but it is not dramatic like others have found in cleaning balls with even mild detergent. For that bad damage, see 7Stud's AZ post of an 8-ball with most of the black replaced with a cloudy light blue. 7Stud cleaned with a mild soap—Palmolive dish-soap—and then “swished a very soft brush against the ball for no longer than 5 seconds”. My results were completely different.
I'm told pool balls develop microscopic cracks and soaking water in those cracks damages the ball. The scouring pad, too, can remove part of the ball surface.
I used the detergent-cleaned balls in a tournament and no complaints were made. No unusual ball play occurred. Using detergent and scrub sponge is not advisable but it must take repeated cleanings before effects are noticeable to anyone.
Cleaning with the Aramith Ball Cleaner is easy and 16 balls can be done by hand during three YouTube videos.
Results differ --- see 8-ball gone to hell from dish soap and swishing with a very soft brush by 7Stud at his AZpost:
Use Aramith Ball cleaner by dabbing a small amount on a ball, scrub with micro-fiber cloth and buff with cloth. I had instead soaked the three-year-old, never-cleaned balls for about 20 minutes in water and clothes detergent (Arm & Hammer sensitive skin brand), scrubbed balls with a slightly worn 3M Scotch-brite green scouring pad, and cloth buffed.
Pictures below show the balls after cleaning using the detergent method versus the detergent method followed by Amarith ball cleaner. The point is that the balls looked okay after the detergent method. Maybe they have lost some luster but it is not dramatic like others have found in cleaning balls with even mild detergent. For that bad damage, see 7Stud's AZ post of an 8-ball with most of the black replaced with a cloudy light blue. 7Stud cleaned with a mild soap—Palmolive dish-soap—and then “swished a very soft brush against the ball for no longer than 5 seconds”. My results were completely different.
I'm told pool balls develop microscopic cracks and soaking water in those cracks damages the ball. The scouring pad, too, can remove part of the ball surface.
I used the detergent-cleaned balls in a tournament and no complaints were made. No unusual ball play occurred. Using detergent and scrub sponge is not advisable but it must take repeated cleanings before effects are noticeable to anyone.
Cleaning with the Aramith Ball Cleaner is easy and 16 balls can be done by hand during three YouTube videos.
Results differ --- see 8-ball gone to hell from dish soap and swishing with a very soft brush by 7Stud at his AZpost:
Those green roughback sponges are like using sandpaper. Don`t do it.
If Scotch Brite pads had no abrasive why not just use a microfiber towel??? I think all Scotch Brite is at least somewhat abrasive as are Magic Erasers. Brown seems to be the most aggressive, I use it stainless before welding. There is also green, grey, red, blue, and I'm not sure if there are more but thats what I have seen so far. Scotch Brite is aggressive enough to scuff automotive glass, ask me how I know.
Paul_#_
Well-known member
7Stud had a much rougher time with dish soap and a very soft brush versus my cleaning using clothes detergent and 3M scrubber. A sort of dullness resulted for me, but for him? The balls looked more cloudy than solid colors and whites. 7Stud made an almost magical improvement to the 8-ball (below) using Aramith billiard ball restorer and then Aramith ball cleaner. Interesting . . . . .
7Stud's 8-ball after dish soap and very soft brush VERSUS: That same ball after the Aramith combo of restorer and cleaner:
See 7Stud's post at
7Stud's 8-ball after dish soap and very soft brush VERSUS: That same ball after the Aramith combo of restorer and cleaner:
See 7Stud's post at
I always have the Scotchbrite blue pads around. I don't always have micro fiber cloth handy and they are usually low cost and of questionable quality. Also the cloth seems to carry stuff in it worse than the pads. After a wash or rinse the cloth may still have grit or pick up grit easily. I am a little fanatical and make heavy use of ziploc style bags to try to keep clean stuff clean. Even so, I don't trust microfiber after one use for fine cleaning. It becomes an expensive shop rag.
Scotchbrite blue isn't supposed to have abrasive. I think most besides green don't. I don't even keep the green around, very harsh abrasive when new and very soft once the abrasive is gone. When I think the abrasive is gone a piece will show up and damage something.
I am not that familiar with the magic erasers. Some definitely contain abrasive but I don't know what they offer in various varieties. I like to use all of the wonder pads on something sacrificial first. Somebody I knew used to use the magic erasers on many hundreds of thousand dollar medical equipment to clean it. Looked good when they were done. Almost certainly put micro scratches in the finish but not my business.
I wouldn't clean a high dollar pool cue without knowing exactly what I was using. It has been many years since I owned high dollar balls. Cheaper ones depends on utilitarian value as to how they are treated.
Hu
There is never a need, under any circumstance, to use soap (of any kind) and water to clean pool balls. There are purpose made products for cleaning phenolic pool balls as well as plastics in general that are affordable and readily available. "Pappy Mike" should refrain from giving advice on subjects he is ignorant about.
I mine are too polished they slip out of my wife’s mouth.