Would you wash your balls in a dishwasher?

O

Otto Floto

Banned
OK you smart alecs, I'm talking about your pool balls. Since becoming a table owner a couple years ago, I find myself getting forever fussier about equipment maintenance.

I've got some Aramith ball cleaner, but before using it, I wondered if it would help to run the balls through the Whirlpool. Of course I'll use only dish soap, not the Aramith.

Any thoughts on that? Or on any other aspect of home table maintenence? Here's your chance to spout off.
 
Otto Floto said:
OK you smart alecs, I'm talking about your pool balls. Since becoming a table owner a couple years ago, I find myself getting forever fussier about equipment maintenance.

I've got some Aramith ball cleaner, but before using it, I wondered if it would help to run the balls through the Whirlpool. Of course I'll use only dish soap, not the Aramith.

Any thoughts on that? Or on any other aspect of home table maintenence? Here's your chance to spout off.
Click to expand...

Glad you clarified that...personally I prefer if someone does it for me..
 
The room I play out of runs the ball occasionally through the dishwasher without the soap. Seems to clean them but not polish (obviously)

I suggested he make a ball polisher as found on this forum.
 
Someone recently recommended the dish washer on here not long ago. Never tried it, but I dont see why not. I also read on azb about Brillianize, a plastic cleaner. I happened to have an old squirt bottle of the stuff laying around the house. It originally came with an old floor model TV, but I never used this cleaner until reading about it here.

I was about to plonk down 400 bucks for the ballstar cleaning machine, in favor of Dr. Joes hand crank cleaning machine. Dr. Joes machine is very good quality, but the waxing/polishing process is a real pain. Either you wait for the wax to dry first, or you end up with a mass of build up....and a messy machine. Let the polish dry too much, and its tough to get it off the balls completely. The whole process usually takes me about an hour because I wait for the wax to dry.

With Brillianize, you just squirt a little on each ball....and crank it up. The whole job takes me less than 5 minutes now, and leaves no slimy residue on the balls(or the machine). Kudos to the man who thought of this, I am sorry I don't remember his name. (Also works very well for hand cleaning.)
 
Damp rag/water, works pretty good, I'd stay away from abrasives, why, because once you wear down the outer surface you have to clean em more often, its no different than the old abrasive AJAX and the toilet bowl.
 
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If the balls you are using won't hold up to warm water you need a new brand.

I've done it that way since we've had a table ... and when the wife isn't home.

She's convinced a ball might come bouncing around inside and break the machine.

How's Paul doing Otto. You said you would get my message to him. I haven't heard back?

LWW
 
It was me, your old friend the Steamer, who recommended using the dishwasher, a couple of weeks ago.
Since that time time I have had just over 15,482 pm's asking me such questions as, "Will the balls melt during the dry cycle?" or "Will the numbers come off if done too often?" or sometimes, " I have the kids over for lasagne every Tuesday night, can I throw them in with the dirty pots?"
My answer is allways, no, hell no, and yes you can.
I hope I have been of some help. :wink:
 
Otto Floto said:
OK you smart alecs, I'm talking about your pool balls. Since becoming a table owner a couple years ago, I find myself getting forever fussier about equipment maintenance.

I've got some Aramith ball cleaner, but before using it, I wondered if it would help to run the balls through the Whirlpool. Of course I'll use only dish soap, not the Aramith.

Any thoughts on that? Or on any other aspect of home table maintenence? Here's your chance to spout off.
Click to expand...

I'm all for the dishwasher idea.

We have this crystal chandelier shown below. It's pretty large and not cheap. I was dreading cleaning it - it would take hours and there's no guarantee the delicate crystal ovals wouldn't break at the mounting end.

The branches come off and actually stack nicely. So I took each piece off, stacked it in the dishwasher and ran it through a complete cycle.

My wife thought I was nuts. Came out looking like new and not one single bit of damage.

Chris
 

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I like the home made ball polisher as described on this forum as well. However, I use a plastic cleaner called Novus 1. It works extraordinarily well. I would only recommend the Novus 1 however, as opposed to the other Novus products, as the rest contain a scratch removing agent that would effectively sand down the balls. In any event, it's cheap and works damn good...
 
Suggestion

DO NOT USE A DISHWASHER to clean your pool balls. The water gets too hot in most dishwashers and will damage the finish on the balls. Trust me on this one. I have a friend who ruined a good set of balls by putting them in a dishwasher.

Kevin
 
Kevin Lindstrom said:
DO NOT USE A DISHWASHER to clean your pool balls. The water gets too hot in most dishwashers and will damage the finish on the balls. Trust me on this one. I have a friend who ruined a good set of balls by putting them in a dishwasher.

Kevin
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Yep, and dishwashing liquid contains lots of chlorine and other chemicals which will affect the colors and pit the finish.
 
I quit using the dishwasher. Don't use the detergent if you chose to use the dishwasher. The detergent is abrasive and will ruin the finish of the balls. I have a set of Aramith balls that I had used for ten years. I probably put them in the Dishwasher 10 times and hand polished the rest of the time. I can feel the number raised above the ball surface. I don't know what caused the wear for certain, but I noticed it after I started using the dishwasher.
 
Otto Floto said:
OK you smart alecs, I'm talking about your pool balls. Since becoming a table owner a couple years ago, I find myself getting forever fussier about equipment maintenance.

I've got some Aramith ball cleaner, but before using it, I wondered if it would help to run the balls through the Whirlpool. Of course I'll use only dish soap, not the Aramith.

Any thoughts on that? Or on any other aspect of home table maintenence? Here's your chance to spout off.
Click to expand...

the heat will make your balls yellow.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Someone wash your Pool Balls in a Dishwasher, and report back your findings!!!!!!
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I have cleaned my centenials in the dishwasher, the problem was the heat from water and dryer caused the numbers to raise. when i called my brunswick dealer about the raised number's i was told that the numbers were made of a different resin and had a lower melting point which caused the expansion. warranty was void. dont know about aramith numbers?
 
I don't do my billiard balls in my dishwasher...

I don't do my billiard balls in my dishwasher, but I've seen some of my glasses get etched in my dishwasher. I would be hesitant to do my balls in there.
 
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