Does cleaning pool balls with clothes detergent & 3-M Scotchbright green-side sponge damage the balls?

Paul_#_

Paul_#_

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
I followed Pappy Mike's YouTube instructions to clean pool balls with clothes detergent and the green side of a 3-M Scotchbright sponge. I polished them with a cloth towel but they are dull looking. Most comments to Pappy's YouTube website, I now found, condemn Pappy's method. How do I get the shine back? How bad is this?

See Pappy Mike's bad instructions at:

A comment to Pappy was to polish the balls with automotive polishing compound.

Anr AZer recounted bad luck with abrasive Comet cleaner (I and Pappy Mike didn't do that) and a Scotchbrite pad:

a1712 said:
A Bar we shoot in, one of the Bartenders cleaned the balls in the sink with Comet and a Scothbrite Pad. It didn't work out to well. I took them and after several runs through the Diamond Cleaner with Aramith Restorer and Aramith Cleaner, they looked good. No idea how much wear that i
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An AZer recommended shining pool balls using non-silicone compounds:

rexus31 said:
ust about all automotive quick detail products contain silicone. You do not want silicone on the balls.
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An AZer found some polishes too slippery:

Quesports said:
A few years back an owner of a room I frequented did something to the pool balls and they were slicker than owl shit!

All of us complained vehemently. He finally went back to what he used forever and everyone was happy again.
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Scotchbrite pads are abrasive. Use a professional or homemade bucket cleaner to possibly restore the shine. The bucket cleaner is easy to assemble. Or do you have a local room with a cleaner … give them a few bucks to put them in the cleaner.
 
I would say it would depend on the condition of the balls.
Like if they were found in the titanic and had coral growing on them...that would work.
If they are just dull and dirty I would use Aramith ball polishing compound. You can do this by hand or make/buy a dedicated ball polisher. Cheap and easy to build one.

Good luck with the process and let us know how you did.
 
Paul_#_ said:
I followed Pappy Mike's YouTube instructions to clean pool balls with clothes detergent and the green side of a 3-M Scotchbright sponge. I polished them with a cloth towel but they are dull looking. Most comments to Pappy's YouTube website, I now found, condemn Pappy's method. How do I get the shine back? How bad is this?

See Pappy Mike's bad instructions at:

A comment to Pappy was to polish the balls with automotive polishing compound.

Anr AZer recounted bad luck with abrasive Comet cleaner (I and Pappy Mike didn't do that) and a Scotchbrite pad:



An AZer recommended shining pool balls using non-silicone compounds:



An AZer found some polishes too slippery:
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"Polishing Compound" works well on scratched balls. I used it for years till I bought a machine. Use a damp terrycloth rag.
Do not use "Rubbing Compound!"
McGuires PlastX is good stuff. Less aggressive than Polishing Compound.

There's other plastic cleaners that work well too but this is just a short list of what I've tried. For a while I made my own compound with the help of an abrasives manufacturer and a cleaner/degreaser manufacturer. That was an effort to eliminate waxes and silicone.

One of the best methods I've used is 1st use Aramith "Restorer" for Heavy Scratches like from 3M Scotch Pads, then go with Aramith Cleaner to finish it up. Balls will shine like new if you take your time. Concentrate on the Restorer then 1minute ea with the Cleaner.

The abrasives in the Aramith products is friable, meaning fragile, which means they breakdown quickly into finer particles. The finer the particles get, the higher the shine. The Cleaner starts off with finer particles.

Toothpaste would also work in a pinch as long as the balls don't look like they're from a Tavern.
 
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Green Scotchbite has abrasive material, it will scratch stainless steel. The balls should never get so gunky that they need that kind of abrasive. A wet paper towel will get everything off any pool ball I've seen, cleaners can make it a little easier.
 
Here's a quick inexpensive cleaner... I'd secure the carpet with double sided tape.

 
Gr
GoldCrown said:
Here's a quick inexpensive cleaner... I'd secure the carpet with double sided tape.

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Great vid and he answered all my objections throughout, except, I don't like the balls rubbing together.

I don't know if that's a real problem or not. It just seems to be for me.

That said, this design is 10,000% better than nothing and eliminates hand cleaning

Easy and Cheap.

I"m lucky on this. I only have to clean 3 Balls.
 

Cleaning balls: wtf happened?!

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...
forums.azbilliards.com
 
it will make the balls over time smaller which will enable you to pocket them more easily, which in turn makes you a better player.
plus duller balls make it more clear to see your spot to hit and the light doesn't reflect off them from the polish they recommend.

the more you scrub the better you will play. and that is the goal of every pool player.
 
3kushn said:
Great vid and he answered all my objections throughout, except, I don't like the balls rubbing together.
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Centrifugal force keeps the balls from rubbing much. One downside of the buckets is that the balls tend to spin on one axis a lot.
 
In my opinion if you need something that abrasive to clean then you let your balls go wayyyyy too long. A simple bath in hot water and Dawn dish soap with a wipe down after should be good enough if you keep them in good shape. To bring back the shine just use a car polish. Start with a fine polish. Or sometimes you can find someone locally that polishes. There's a pro shop by me that charges $12 to polish a set in a Diamond polisher.
 
bobbydee said:
In my opinion if you need something that abrasive to clean then you let your balls go wayyyyy too long. A simple bath in hot water and Dawn dish soap with a wipe down after should be good enough if you keep them in good shape. To bring back the shine just use a car polish. Start with a fine polish. Or sometimes you can find someone locally that polishes. There's a pro shop by me that charges $12 to polish a set in a Diamond polisher.
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Very bad advice, dish soap will ruin pool balls. No joke. See Post #8.

Aramith cleaner is cheap and will literally last for a decade or more.
 
Off to get some Aramith Billiard Ball Cleaner and Aramith Billiard Ball Restorer . . . . . .

While on the topic of YouTube videos, Jasmine Ouschan has suggested using silicone spray on the cue ball (see that at 11:47) in a video on improving one’s draw shot:

 
boogieman said:
Very bad advice, dish soap will ruin pool balls. No joke. See Post #8.

Aramith cleaner is cheap and will literally last for a decade or more.
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Sorry I don't buy that. I've been doing it for years with Aramith phenolic balls with zero issues. If that's happening then they're extremely crappy balls or there was acid left over in the bucket before cleaning. Lol.
 
I use the Aramith cleaner and works well for me. I put a dab on the ball, rub it all over with my fingers and you can feel the grit on the ball. I then place it in a micro fiber towel and a little pressure with the thumbs rotate the ball. I then use a clean micro fiber towel to polish and they turn out clean and shiny. All in all it doesn't take long.
 
George the Greek said:
I use the Aramith cleaner and works well for me. I put a dab on the ball, rub it all over with my fingers and you can feel the grit on the ball. I then place it in a micro fiber towel and a little pressure with the thumbs rotate the ball. I then use a clean micro fiber towel to polish and they turn out clean and shiny. All in all it doesn't take long.
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Hand cleaning is ok but once you use an automatic cleaner you'll never pick up a cloth again
 
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