Spots on Aramith Tournament balls

[Renegade4006]

This may sound a bit goofy but here goes. I recently bought a couple of sets of older pool balls to use for league play when our team has to play at one of the local bars instead of a pool room. Before running the balls thru my ball cleaner I soaked them in the sink in warm water with Dawn dishwashing liquid for about 10 minutes. Then I used a vegetable brush to try to further clean the balls before putting them in the ball cleaner.

I wouldn't do this on a new set but it may be something to consider for the issue you are describing.

 

[rexus31]

This may sound a bit goofy but here goes. I recently bought a couple of sets of older pool balls to use for league play when our team has to play at one of the local bars instead of a pool room. Before running the balls thru my ball cleaner I soaked them in the sink in warm water with Dawn dishwashing liquid for about 10 minutes. Then I used a vegetable brush to try to further clean the balls before putting them in the ball cleaner.

I wouldn't do this on a new set but it may be something to consider for the issue you are describing.

Terrible advice. Pool balls should never need to touch water or Dawn dishwashing detergent.

 

[Renegade4006]

Terrible advice. Pool balls should never need to touch water or Dawn dishwashing detergent.

Thanks for the correction. I did a search on cleaning pool balls and the warm water/dish soap method came up. I didn't notice that this method is for the cheaper ball sets and not for phenolic sets. Luckily I do appear to have done any damage to the sets I cleaned. This is a reminder to myself to slow down when reading online.

Again thanks for the correction.

 

[bradsh98]

Terrible advice. Pool balls should never need to touch water or Dawn dishwashing detergent.

Where is the harm?
I would rather have as much grime and gunk removed from a ball set, before running it through a polisher. Dawn is a mild detergent, and shouldn't have any ill effect on phenolic resin. Leaving excess junk on the balls will only serve to gum up the carpet in the polisher.

 

[rexus31]

Where is the harm?
I would rather have as much grime and gunk removed from a ball set, before running it through a polisher. Dawn is a mild detergent, and shouldn't have any ill effect on phenolic resin. Leaving excess junk on the balls will only serve to gum up the carpet in the polisher.

Dawn is not so mild. A buddy washed his Lexus with it. It dried out and ate his clear coat. The first question the guy at the body shop asked him was what did he use to wash the car.

See post #8 here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...l-pool-balls-in-dawn-and-having-issue.517470/

 

[bradsh98]

Dawn is not so mild. A buddy washed his Lexus with it. It dried out and ate his clear coat. The first question the guy at the body shop asked him was what did he use to wash the car.

See post #8 here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...l-pool-balls-in-dawn-and-having-issue.517470/

The dish soap didn't "eat his clear coat".... It removed the wax and sealant. Quite likely, the clear coat was already sun damaged, and had a subsequent wax/sealant to make it glossy again. I would bet that another wax/buff would have brought the shine right back.

Don't forget that pool balls are a highly polished phenolic resin. It is perfectly safe to CLEAN (not polish) them with Dawn dish soap, without fear of causing any sort of chemical reaction or material degradation. Though, they will still require polishing, to bring back a high luster shine.

That said, I only reserve the Dawn dish soap and warm water for the absolute grimiest balls, before they go into the polisher. I'm talking sets that have been stored in a barn, or have seen years of nicotine stains. Being in the business, I come across all kinds of nasty stuff... The kind of grime that you aren't going to see from typical play in your house.

Check out the before and after photos of the set below. This set was cleaned with Dawn and warm water, then polished in a Diamond ball polisher, using Chem-Pak Ball Cleaner and Polish.