nope, nobody told me to clean my torque Q any particular way! In fact it was working quite well, when the local bowling alley owner had bought a bunch of these Omega R's on closeout or something. I didnt really need a ball, but the price was right so I bought it. It was a much better ball than the Torque Q, for me, anyway. The local bowling alley I bowl at has, I would say, medium oil. Do all these reactive balls have to be cleaned or sanded, to be effective? I have done some reading on the Black Widow Pearl, and it seems like it would be a good ball. There are so dang many choices, amongst each brand, I dont know how people can help but get confused!? Why do they make so many? I don't care what the ball looks like, I just want to be able to control it, and have it finish on the end. Oh, it would be nice to be able to shoot my ten pin spare with the same ball I use for my strikes, if that is possible?