After reading all of the replies, I get the impression that some of you are mistaken about the ball cleaners.
Let me start by saying that Clean N' Dull is a deep cleaner and does NOT need to be used after every set. I have found that if you clean the ball after each set with a spray on cleaner, it will remove most, if not all of the surface dirt and oil, thus it will not soak into the coverstock. Personally, I use Ultimate's Ball Rejuvenator. About 7 bucks for a 8 oz bottle isn't all that expensive.
The Clean N' Dull will last one for a while depending on the how frequent one bowls and needs the deep cleaning. If you bowl often, then once a week. Not so often, once every two weeks, once a month. If you see a loss in the ball's reaction then give it a deep clean.
As for household products, I do not recommend it. As mentioned, household products are meant to be used on the things they were formulated for, NOT bowling balls. Not only could the chemicals potentially contribute to weakening the coverstock, but most of the products also leave a film or residue behind and cause the ball to react less. I noticed this when I was using 409 a while back. I wasn't able to get that tacky feeling after cleaning with 409. I assure you, the balls are tacky after cleaning with a ball cleaner.
Just as with household products, ball cleaners can be bought in larger sized bottles as well. The Ultimate Ball Rejuvenator comes in a 32 oz spray bottle as well as the 8 oz spray bottle. That's my recommendation, but there are alot of other ball cleaners out there.
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