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Author Topic: cleaning your equipment  (Read 4044 times)

Dabalos

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cleaning your equipment
« on: March 03, 2004, 11:15:22 PM »
whats the best way to take care of your bowling balls.  Is alcohol a sufficient cleaner?
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abnormal

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2004, 02:32:34 PM »
I've used rubbing alcohol forever but I heard it's not good to use anymore. I hear or alot of people using Simple Green and Formula 409. I'll prolly make the switch too, I don't want to ruin any of my stuff.

Edited on 3/10/2004 10:50 AM
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kingswingin

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2004, 07:43:35 PM »
I use Ultraclean after each league night and sometimes between games if the shot is sloppy.  Gets a good amount of oil out and dissolves the belt marks and rough spots left on the ball
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channel surfer

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2004, 08:13:33 PM »
Oh lord.. Here we go again with this.

Alcohol is good if your ball got a little flesh cut, and your trying to disinfect it. Honestly, when you go to clean your house and household accesories, do you use alcohol to clean them with? No, you use a degreaser!! Alcohol is not a degreaser. Alcohol takes the surface oil off the ball, but does not get down in the pores to remove all the dirt and oil.

Simple Green is the best way to go.
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irishluck1970

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2004, 04:22:38 AM »
What I found that works well is Acetone.It is used in the automotive refinishing area for cleaning grease and oil from resins.It dries quickly and doesn't leave a film.After I use it the ball is very tacky.
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charlest

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2004, 06:38:19 AM »
quote:
What I found that works well is Acetone.It is used in the automotive refinishing area for cleaning grease and oil from resins.It dries quickly and doesn't leave a film.After I use it the ball is very tacky.


Acetone is used by most pro shops to clean residual Super-glue from the surface and then only in tiny amounts. This is because acetone is not premitted by the ABC to be used as a ball cleaner. This, in turn, is because acetone dissolves all materials made from the class of products known as Plastics. Polyester, urethane, resin and particle balls are all made from the family of plastics. Once acetone encounters a plastic, it dissolves the surface layers of molecules and then it re-hardens.  

How much acetone used determines how much of the plastic is dissolved. Acetone is used as a glue to cement plastic plumbing because it dissolves both layers at the joint and then the softened interface layer rehardens into a single piece of plastic.

Bottom line: Be very careful how you use acetone on a bowling ball. A little bit too much and you really don't know what you have afterwards.
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irishluck1970

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2004, 09:10:05 AM »
I use a 50% acetone 50% water mix.I'm looking at using either purple power or a cleaner made by eagle 1.Still trying to find the best and cheapest way to get the oil out.
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RyboFlavin

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2004, 09:54:46 AM »
One thing that confuses me is the use of Acetone in products such as Tenth Frame Ultraclean Ball Cleaner (seen here) http://www.bowlersparadise.com/shop/cp/tenthframe/.  The ABC rulebook shows this cleaner to be illegal to use on your ball at ANY time.  You can read this information here: http://www.bowl.com/bowl/BowlDotCom/common/static.html?page=bowl_speccert_ballcleaner  The back of the bottle shows that it contains Acetone, but it must be a low concentration other wise it would melt the plastic bottle.

Why would a bowling company make a product that is illegal to use at ANY time accoring to the ABC?  I do admit, this cleaner works better than most that I have tried.
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dogman666

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2004, 10:05:32 AM »
I use pine tar.  I found I can make a Black Knight break 60 boards and reek havoc upon anyone else on my pair.  Usually use alcohol but I guess I'll change to 409.  On that same note I like the ball polished and use a house polisher that depending on when you use it does a fair job.  Is there a polish you can use legally that will keep it that way for more than 2-6 games?
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pnj1967

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2004, 05:40:46 PM »
I like to use Track's Clean and Dull after each use.
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janderson

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2004, 05:45:40 PM »
quote:
I use pine tar.  I found I can make a Black Knight break 60 boards and reek havoc upon anyone else on my pair.  Usually use alcohol but I guess I'll change to 409.  On that same note I like the ball polished and use a house polisher that depending on when you use it does a fair job.  Is there a polish you can use legally that will keep it that way for more than 2-6 games?


Remember that you can only use pine tar on the first 18 inches of the ball though.  You can also try Oxy-Clean facial strips - they remove oil from pores.

On a more serious note: I agree with CS and LS, Simple Green.  Also, consider purchasing yourself a microfiber towel instead of a cotton-loom to wipe the conditioner from your ball between shots.  The microfiber towel will remove more of the conditioner instead of just pushing it around.
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cooksey

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2004, 11:50:44 AM »
I use a 50/50 mix of straight simple green and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It works great for me and both are legal for use during competition.

Good Luck, cooksey
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mumzie

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Re: cleaning your equipment
« Reply #12 on: March 11, 2004, 01:19:42 PM »
I use the Powerhouse Energizer cleaner with a microfiber towel. If I'm on the road, I use the cleaner wipes... They're expensive, but cheaper than having the powerhouse cleaner bottle break in my bag.
The next best thing I've found is a microfiber towel that is slightly damp. When used on the spinner, it doesn't polish, but the ball can sometimes look like it's polished. When used during league, it really helps keep the ball track clean.
Amazing.
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