Question about ball polish

junkbond

junkbond

The dog ate my stroke.
Silver Member
I used Aramith ball cleaner for a long time. When I got a ball cleaner (BallStar), I threw out BallStar's polish and replaced the machine's chemical pad with a piece of Saxony carpet. A few squirts of Brillianize (which doesn't have any wax) on the carpet and the balls come out shiny but not slick. The balls play great (although I no longer do).
 
Forbin

Forbin

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Aramith ball cleaner contains wax. It may work great, but it does not comply with the WPA rule.
 
poolhustler

poolhustler

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
junkbond said:
I used Aramith ball cleaner for a long time. When I got a ball cleaner (BallStar), I threw out BallStar's polish and replaced the machine's chemical pad with a piece of Saxony carpet. A few squirts of Brillianize (which doesn't have any wax) on the carpet and the balls come out shiny but not slick. The balls play great (although I no longer do).
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I am right there with you on all points!! The Ballstar is great but the polish/cleaner leaves the balls to clean and too slick. They do not play right until they are used for a bit and the sheen wears off. I will have to try the Brillanize!
 
K

KissedOut

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
K2Kraze said:
Just to clarify - there is a big difference between clean and polish. Same for polish and restore.

In my opinion and thousands upon thousands of hours spent cleaning and polishing and restoring billiard balls, the Aramith Ball Cleaner is by far the best - and if used properly and with certain tried and true techniques, does a FABULOUS job.

You cannot use it with a Magic Eraser of course.

It needs to be used (sparingly) in conjunction with either a microfiber towel or a clean cotton wash cloth. Buff with a clean microfiber towel only after applying and wiping with your “cleaning rag”.




~ K.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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After cleaning them by hand I like to run them through a Ballstar machine dry with no Ballstar solution.
 
haystj

haystj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I wonder how many people us Aramith Ball Cleaner to shine up their cars?

Maybe a coat of Aramith Ball cleaner on the paint followed up by a good carnuba wax.

I wish RKC would bust in here and give us a good kick in the nuts for suggesting not using car wax on billiard balls.
 
WildWing

WildWing

Super Gun Mod
Silver Member
For billiard balls:

No soap
No acetone
No lacquer thinner
No fingernail polish remover
No naptha
No alcohol, denatured or otherwise
No KY Jelly
No Crisco

Just Aramith Ball cleaner/polish, and you're good, If they're so beat up, start with the Aramith ball restorer, but to be honest, if they're in that bad shape, buy another set. Then, refer to the above...

All the best,
WW
 
C

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
WildWing said:
For billiard balls:

No soap
No acetone
No lacquer thinner
No fingernail polish remover
No naptha
No alcohol, denatured or otherwise
No KY Jelly
No Crisco

Just Aramith Ball cleaner/polish, and you're good, If they're so beat up, start with the Aramith ball restorer, but to be honest, if they're in that bad shape, buy another set. Then, refer to the above...

All the best,
WW
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Just curious as to why no denatured alcohol? I've been using it for a while now on our cue balls before placing them in our polishing machine with the rest of the balls. I douse a little denatured alcohol on a magic pad. It does a great job of buffing out the deeper miscue scratches on the cue balls, saving a lot of time and effort on my part. I have not noticed it taking off any of the luster on the surface of the cue balls, so exactly why is not recommended?
 
Dan White

Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Like Lou said, and Dr. Dave put on his website, I did a quick study of how balls throw when using Aramith. The bottom line is that when using Aramith the amount of throw did not change over time. It stayed at a consistent 5 inches for the first 20 or 30 shots. That means over the course of an evening a ball will not throw any differently. On the other hand, when using waxes like Novus 1 "polish," the ball throw changed from an initial throw of 2 inches to about 4 inches in only 20 repeated shots. In other words, balls with polish throw differently almost every time you hit them. Each time I hit the ball it threw just a tiny bit more until it reached 4 inches of throw instead of the original 2 inches. That was enough evidence for me to use Aramith only. Doesn't matter if it currently has wax in its formulation or not. The balls throw consistently.
 
WildWing

WildWing

Super Gun Mod
Silver Member
ChrisinNC said:
Just curious as to why no denatured alcohol? I've been using it for a while now on our cue balls before placing them in our polishing machine with the rest of the balls. I douse a little denatured alcohol on a magic pad. It does a great job of buffing out the deeper miscue scratches on the cue balls, saving a lot of time and effort on my part. I have not noticed it taking off any of the luster on the surface of the cue balls, so exactly why is not recommended?
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Since you asked, my personal opinion is you want nothing stronger on billiard balls than a product specifically made for them, such as Aramith cleaner/polish. Another good one, though hard to find, as it's very old, is Kieckhefer's billiard ball polish.

Alcohol, and other solvents, if it's buffing out any deep scratches on balls, it's probably having a little melt factor on the balls, and that's not good in the long run. Obviously, Acetone would be the worst in terms of melting the plastic, but I would avoid solvents entirely. Miscue marks actually aren't scratches, they are just a tiny bit of leather tip that was put on the cue ball during the miscue. It's better to get those out with a paper towel and strong fingernail. Avoid the solvents. Tough on the balls in the long run. Hope this helps.

All the best,
WW
 
C

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
WildWing said:
Since you asked, my personal opinion is you want nothing stronger on billiard balls than a product specifically made for them, such as Aramith cleaner/polish. Another good one, though hard to find, as it's very old, is Kieckhefer's billiard ball polish.

Alcohol, and other solvents, if it's buffing out any deep scratches on balls, it's probably having a little melt factor on the balls, and that's not good in the long run. Obviously, Acetone would be the worst in terms of melting the plastic, but I would avoid solvents entirely. Miscue marks actually aren't scratches, they are just a tiny bit of leather tip that was put on the cue ball during the miscue. It's better to get those out with a paper towel and strong fingernail. Avoid the solvents. Tough on the balls in the long run. Hope this helps.

All the best,
WW
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WW, I appreciate your detailed explanation. I'll take your advice on my better quality pro cup measle balls we use for our tournaments. For now, I'll stick with what seems to be working for me for my red circle balls we use for our recreational bangers, just to save me on time and elbow grease! I do keep our nicer quality cue balls behind the counter for the better players who request them.

You'd be amazed at the number of unsightly miscue marks one cue ball can end up with after a week of abuse from some beginner players that miscue more shots than not. Just see how that goes attempting to get those marks out with your fingernails, or for that matter even with 0000 superfine steel wool, which I'm guessing you strongly do not recommend either.
 
WildWing

WildWing

Super Gun Mod
Silver Member
ChrisinNC said:
WW, I appreciate your detailed explanation. I'll take your advice on my better quality pro cup measle balls we use for our tournaments. For now, I'll stick with what seems to be working for me for my red circle balls we use for our recreational bangers, just to save me on time and elbow grease! I do keep our nicer quality cue balls behind the counter for the better players who request them.

You'd be amazed at the number of unsightly miscue marks one cue ball can end up with after a week of abuse from some beginner players that miscue more shots than not. Just see how that goes attempting to get those marks out with your fingernails, or for that matter even with 0000 superfine steel wool, which I'm guessing you strongly do not recommend either.
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You are correct, I do not approve of steel wool on billiard balls. But, to be fair, it seems you have a good balance on how you treat your equipment, depending on the player, which is nice.

And you're probably the only room owner with Gold Crowns who covers the sharp metal brackets in the ball return box, which is also nice.

All the best,
WW
 
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