I washed my Freak and my EMB in very warm water and light dish soap this summer. It really helped the EMB, but it made the weakened Freak just crap out. Totally dead and unusable.
So, as a last recourse, the Freak got the hook again treatment for 48 hours... and the ball has come back much stronger. It's about 85% of new. Not totally a new ball, but very usable on the right conditions.
--------------------
pjr