BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: lilpossum1 on May 24, 2019, 02:05:37 PM
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What cleaners are y’all using? I’ve been using the motiv gel stuff for about the last year, and and thoroughly unimpressed. It seems to want to get a ball clean for the most part, and I clean after almost every time I throw the ball, plus use a leather shammy before each shot, but I set my stuff out in the sun last night and oil just poured out or even my low game equipment. Even my blue vibe, which had maybe 20-30 games on it. I don’t feel like it pulls oil out of the cover stock the way it should, but just takes grime off the surface. Plus it leaves the ball feeling slimy.
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I have used the Vise Cleaner exclusively for more than a year. It works great.
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Clean and dull is the very best deep cleaner imo but not an every session cleaner (more like every 10 games or so). Only commercial anytime cleaner I have used is Monster Tac and it works well.
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I'm a cleaner junkie. I have too many different products sitting on the shelf. There are still may I haven't tried, but here is what I've found based on personal experience:
The ones I've found to be a cut above the rest are NeoTac Hook-It and Genesis Maxx. Both have nasty chemicals that I wouldn't expose myself to without gloves, but they remove crap and minimize lane shine buildup at a different level.
I'd put C&D a level below but still an upper tier cleaner.
A slight notch down further are the Vise and Valentino cleaners. Both do a very good job and don't seem chemically hazardous.
I also like the liquid abrasives to compliment the pure cleaners. I'm a big fan of Motiv Power Gel Scuff and Storm Reacta Skuff. Both do an excellent job of cleaning and putting back a little bit of surface on covers. The Storm scuff is a little more abrasive than Motiv. The one I use depends on what I'm trying to accomplish.
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There are going to be lots of answers to this one, but personally I like Ultimate Black Magic and Vise. Both are strong enough, but not too strong.
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cheapest, effective for most normal cleanings...91% isopropyl alcohol.
And safe for use.
Use clean n dull as well for the tougher dirt.
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^^^^^^^
And your balls will be sterile. ;)
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Been using a 50/50 solution of Simply Green and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol for years.
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Been using a 50/50 solution of Simply Green and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol for years.
I am a big fan of both and use 91% IPA lane side and then second step SG diluted with water at home on my spinner afterwards as well (for reactives). Together imo they are as good as any commercial cleaner (have yet to pull more than few drops out of ball) and we are talking 10 to 20x cheaper or more and free to apply liberally. That said tend to tell new people to go with the pro shop stuff mostly for CYA and YMMV. Big on using C&D after baking and during resurfaces.
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Have Tac-Up but honestly if IPA, Windex, Simple Green, Orange Clean are approved "anytime" (going to be obsolete soon) and Scrubbing Bubbles is approved before & after, might as well try them.
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Tac Up and Knock Out are water based cleaners that I use at the lanes after bowling. For deeper cleans, Clean N' Dull is my choice to use at home.
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I like the Motiv Power Gel Clean and Power Gel Scuff. Very nice cost/quantity ratio and the stuff works. Clean for polished surfaces, scuff for sanded surfaces.
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Thank you all for the input! I ended up picking up the genesis cleaner. I bought the nuball rejuvenator and oil is pouring out of all my equipment, even the very low game stuff, after using the motiv power gel cleaner after almost every use, so I have a hard time thinking it does more than remove grime and very outside surface oil
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I think you have your hopes set too high. Cleaners are only supposed to keep the surface clean. No cleaner is going to stop or slow oil absorption. The ball is designed to absorb oil. De-oiling is just another piece of maintenance that has to be done from time to time. High end equipment, dull surfaces, and heavily oiled lanes all lead to more oil being absorbed faster, but all reactive balls absorb oil, and a "better" cleaner isn't going to make a difference.
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That purple stuff. #stafferbias but the main reason I use it is the absorption/evaporation time, because I can actually grab the ball right after cleaning car waiting for it to dry. It’s also the strongest cleaner I’ve used.
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Purple stuff is basically the same as Fabuloso.
IMO, why pay for expensive cleaner when many of the above household products works just as well for alot less $$.
bust just MY opinion.....
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Genesis Evo Max Orange; they changed a chemical and reduced the bad smell recently.
Spray it on from about 12" away and just mist the ball, then let it evaporate a bit to lift the oil and wipe for a deep clean.
Yes to the Genesis Orange. It's one of the few industrial strength cleaners that are a step up from the rest. It's superior to the run of the mill bowling specific cleaners. It's superior to the household cleaners mentioned throughout the thread. For some it's worth it. For others, cheap and adequate are enough.
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How does the Genesis compare to Hook-it and CnD?
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How does the Genesis compare to Hook-it and CnD?
All three are strong cleaners. I've found Genesis Orange and Hook-It to be very comparable. They both seem to be good at lifting up lane shine left by most other bowling specific cleaners. CnD has always had a strong following and it does clean well, but I don't put in the same category as the other two.
Everybody has their own method for determining if a cleaner is "good" or not. For me, it's how well a cleaner works on a fresh dull cover after bowling several games on a fresh heavier volume sport shot. My experience is that Genesis Orange removes much of the visible shine/accumulation. Certainly more than most of the other products I've used.
But the chemical formation is nasty and I use it only on my equipment with surface. I think it's overkill for my pearl/polished balls, so I use either Vise or Valentino for those.
No cleaner is going to eliminate the need to refresh covers periodically. The best cleaners will reduce the frequency, but they aren't magic.
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I've been using the Hammer Tough Scrub gel on all my dull balls this year and it does a great job as well
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Using white scotch brites on a spinner allows pretty much any decent cleaner to get the job done.
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Genesis Evo Max Orange; they changed a chemical and reduced the bad smell recently.
Spray it on from about 12" away and just mist the ball, then let it evaporate a bit to lift the oil and wipe for a deep clean.
Yes to the Genesis Orange. It's one of the few industrial strength cleaners that are a step up from the rest. It's superior to the run of the mill bowling specific cleaners. It's superior to the household cleaners mentioned throughout the thread. For some it's worth it. For others, cheap and adequate are enough.
My Hot Cell still looks brand new after 75 games, and I have never resurfaced it.
Yes great for solids and hybrids, I use it lightly on polished balls.
Purple Idols get all that black stuff, it comes right off. I can clean a Brunswick Bias and make it white again with greater effort. I liked it so much, I sell it now.
The Hot Cell is URETHANE. It is treated very differently from reactive resin, in both oil handling, type of hook, oil absorption and surface changes (both refreshing and resurfacing)!!!
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Has anyone seen that any of these cleaners harm the ball? I know USBC is supposed to be making sure they are safe, but I still wonder. I've had my clean n dull melt the plastic bottle it was in, just wondering what it does to the make up of the coverstock over time?
I've used Motiv gel scuff on my dull equipment. I'm not sure how well it cleans, but I mainly use it so that I have the same surface on my ball each time I bowl. I'm using the Vise Ball Cleaner on my polished stuff and it seems to work pretty good. After reading this thread I want to try the Storm Scuff and the Genesis Evo Max Orange.
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I think the focus of USBC has been looking for:
1- Cleaners with abrasives (if so, then use them before or after play),
2- Cleaners that are harsh enough that they may soften the cover of the ball, and these are probably in the "not approved anytime" category.
My opinion is that anything in the #2 category should be avoided for routine cleaning. We all know that acetone is great for cleaning the super glue that occasionally gets on the ball, but that's small areas and not done as "cleaning".
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I think the focus of USBC has been looking for:
1- Cleaners with abrasives (if so, then use them before or after play),
And yet Bean's Secret Sauce is still approved for anytime use (until new rule changes coming banning all). Abrasives were fine as long as you greased the right palms at USBC.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think the focus of USBC has been looking for:
1- Cleaners with abrasives (if so, then use them before or after play),
And yet Bean's Secret Sauce is still approved for anytime use (until rule changes coming). Abrasives where fine as long as you greased the right palms at USBC.
Yep.. Didn't make any sense to me either but I took advantage of it..
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Has anyone seen that any of these cleaners harm the ball? I know USBC is supposed to be making sure they are safe, but I still wonder. I've had my clean n dull melt the plastic bottle it was in, just wondering what it does to the make up of the coverstock over time?
several years ago i used clean-n-dull on a ball with the spinner. it caused significant discoloration in the area where pressure was applied; and I recall that it wasnt much pressure, just enough to keep the towel on the ball.
I have had no problems with hand applications and that is all I do now when using the clean-n-dull
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How does the Genesis compare to Hook-it and CnD?
All three are strong cleaners. I've found Genesis Orange and Hook-It to be very comparable. They both seem to be good at lifting up lane shine left by most other bowling specific cleaners. CnD has always had a strong following and it does clean well, but I don't put in the same category as the other two.
Everybody has their own method for determining if a cleaner is "good" or not. For me, it's how well a cleaner works on a fresh dull cover after bowling several games on a fresh heavier volume sport shot. My experience is that Genesis Orange removes much of the visible shine/accumulation. Certainly more than most of the other products I've used.
But the chemical formation is nasty and I use it only on my equipment with surface. I think it's overkill for my pearl/polished balls, so I use either Vise or Valentino for those.
No cleaner is going to eliminate the need to refresh covers periodically. The best cleaners will reduce the frequency, but they aren't magic.
Just bought a Hammer Rip'd Pearl. One of the few pearls without polish out of box. Only 1 set on it. Absolutely love the down lane reaction and want to keep it. In your opinion can a really strong cleaner like Genesis Evo Max Orange do the ball harm?
Great thread for us casual bowlers. Thanks for all the great advise.
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Just bought a Hammer Rip'd Pearl. One of the few pearls without polish out of box. Only 1 set on it. Absolutely love the down lane reaction and want to keep it. In your opinion can a really strong cleaner like Genesis Evo Max Orange do the ball harm?
Great thread for us casual bowlers. Thanks for all the great advise.
I too have a Hammer Rip'd Pearl. Good ball which I've cleaned several times with Orange.
I can't tell you with any kind of guarantee that Evo Max Orange won't harm a ball. However, Genesis is a quality bowling company and I'd like to believe they've thought the chemical composition through. I've used about a half gallon for the ongoing cleaning of several balls and so far haven't found any negative effects. It's not something I'm worried about.
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Simple Green
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Simple Green
It leaves a film that should be removed with alcohol.
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I have used a few cleaners in my day, but I still go back to a few tried and true methods for cleaning oil and scuff marks off my bowling balls by hand.
For dull balls or balls with some surface, I use blue paper shop towels and a small bit of acetone to totally strip and clean the ball of any dirt, oil, and scuff marks. I also use Clean and Dull if the balls do not need to be stripped. Those two have worked well for me and I have not found anything that works better at deep cleaning a ball than those. YMMV.
Now on to the polished equipment. And this is where the fun begins... I have used Alcohol, Clean and Shine, That Purple Stuff, That WoW Factor, Brunswick’s Big B ball cleaner, and other cleaners that amount to what I call “soapy waterâ€.
Alcohol was used back in my Urethane days. It would clean the surface but change the reaction over time. I stopped using it a long time ago. Clean and Shine would work well, but it would leave a haze over the ball. I hated working hard to buff it off the balls. Brunswick’s Big B cleaner was given to me by my pro shop owner as a gift for buying a few balls this year. After using it a few times, I see why he just gave it away. It’s trash. No kidding. It’s a surface cleaner at best and it will NOT remove anything that resembles a scuff mark by hand.
That Purple Stuff is not much better than the Big B cleaner, but it does a little better job of removing oil and some light scuff marks. That WoW Factor is stronger than the T.P.S. cleaner, but it stinks.
As for polishes, Black Magic Polish by hand was always my reference. However, I have recently used Brunswick Crown Factory Compound and Crown Factory Polish by hand before I purchased my new ball spinner. They are not bad by hand, but you really need the spinner for them to be effective. I also just purchased the CTD Tru-Cut 5500 polish, but I have not used it yet with the spinner.
As for the new ball spinner, I just recently purchased a ½ HP spinner from Innovative Bowling products and could not be more thrilled with the purchase. I should have done that a long time ago. It’s so new that I have only used it once to refresh and polish my Wreck-Em back to a factory finish. I used the Crown Factory Polish to finish it off and it looks and feels brand new!
As for sanding pads, I like the CTD Tru-Cut pads. They seem to last longer than the Abralon pads. My complaint with the Abralon pads are that they are no good after a few uses. Again, YMMV. LOL! 8) :D
Hope this helps! Peace!
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Simple Green
It leaves a film that should be removed with alcohol.
Yea, a convenient detail not mentioned regarding the use of Simple Green.
Even after removing the resulting crappy film with alcohol, it's not a top tier ball cleaner. I get that's it's cheap, and that's all that matters to many. So be it.
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Simple Green
It leaves a film that should be removed with alcohol.
Yea, a convenient detail not mentioned regarding the use of Simple Green.
Even after removing the resulting crappy film with alcohol, it's not a top tier ball cleaner. I get that's it's cheap, and that's all that matters to many. So be it.
Not legal to dilute SG but a little birdy told me it works great diluted with water at home on a spinner along with white scotch brites. Especially if used IPA lane side first.
To guy above using acetone that is not good on cover stocks long term (basically partially dissolving the urethane) and is against sanctioned rules for a reason (alters cover stock, unlike SG diluted with water).
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I always use Vise cleaners!! I have been using Vise Cleaners for year and years and I love it!
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Simple Green
It leaves a film that should be removed with alcohol.
Yea, a convenient detail not mentioned regarding the use of Simple Green.
Even after removing the resulting crappy film with alcohol, it's not a top tier ball cleaner. I get that's it's cheap, and that's all that matters to many. So be it.
Not legal to dilute SG but a little birdy told me it works great diluted with water at home on a spinner along with white scotch brites. Especially if used IPA lane side first.
To guy above using acetone that is not good on cover stocks long term (basically partially dissolving the urethane) and is against sanctioned rules for a reason (alters cover stock, unlike SG diluted with water).
Too funny. No one cares what is legal or not when you have a an idiot like Chad Murphy driving the clown car.
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I always use Vise cleaners!! I have been using Vise Cleaners for year and years and I love it!
I've been using the Vise Clean and Tacky ball cleaner and I would have to say it is pretty good. Doesn't dry too quickly or take too long to dry. Seems to clean well.
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I've been using the Vise Clean and Tacky ball cleaner and I would have to say it is pretty good. Doesn't dry too quickly or take too long to dry. Seems to clean well.
I recently bought the Pyramid/Monster gel cleaner and this is the best way I can describe it. My initial opinion on it, is it seems to work pretty well for the basic cleaning I want from it
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I always use Vise cleaners!! I have been using Vise Cleaners for year and years and I love it!
I use Vise cleaner and I'm very happy with it too. Now that Valentino is history, Vise will be my everyday cleaner when Genesis Maxx is overkill.
I bowl in a house on Monday Nights where the ball picks up alot of crap in addition to stubborn track marks. This morning I first cleaned my primary ball (GB3 at 1500) with Vise. It did a great job at cleaning up the ball and removing most of the lane shine. However, even with repeated scrubbing, I couldn't completely get rid of the track marks. I then went after the track marks with Genesis Maxx. With a little effort, I was able to almost completely get rid of them. That's the best way I can describe the difference between the two products.
The problem with Genesis Maxx is that it almost feels toxic to use. The chemicals are strong, and you can feel/smell the difference compared most other cleaners I've tried. Certainly compared to Vise. Sometimes I think the slightly extra cleaning power isn't worth it.