I just bought two bowling balls from the thrift store and i was wondering was the best household product i can use to restore it or just make it clean as new?

I am a professional, I don't use alcohol on bowling balls. 

But I also know that there is nothing on the ball surface to remove.  Even acetone does not make a shiny ball dull.  If the alcohol is making the surface dull there is a residue that is being left behind.

OMGoodness...

R U SERIOUS....We do this daily...

ANYONE ON THIS SITE CAN DO IT....

Take a brand new ball out of the box...one with a shiny polished/compound cover...

Apply alcohol, or reacta skuff or clean N dull to ONE SIDE OF BALL...

And then compare it to the other side...


It will indeed be different...LESS SHINNY...Therefore it will indeed roll up earlier...


Now I'm glad you have some CLASS...and do not use alcohol on your balls...

Now please excuse me...You are giving me HEART BURN...and a HEAD ACHE...

I need to take a pill...and go watch Woman's golf...



Have a nice day....

Steven...Keyword..."alters"....

Again...simply take a brand new in the box Hyper Cell Skid...It will be highly
SHINY...or what some people refer to as "highly polished"...

Then bowl with it...On a lighter oil pattern...

Then clean it with alcohol...

You will NOTICE that the ball is not as shiny or as some people say..."highly polished"...

Then go bowl with it on lighter oil patterns...

And trust me...You will not be able to play the same line...cause you will
punch the nose...

Now maybe if your ball speed is 19 MPH... you might get away with it...

But someone 40, 50, 60 or older...who has lost BALL SPEED...won't...

And that sir...was the point...

Telling people it's ok to use alcohol on a polished / compound shiny ball is just plain wrong....All it will do is change the reaction of their ball...

It will roll up early and punch the nose...and if they don't have hand..and send it out...it will hang...

All we try to do is HELP BOWLERS...And since we have been doing it for over 3  weeks OR SO....It seems to be working...

I have about 30 feet of shelf space devoted to ball cleaners, polish, compounds, and pads...

Oh...we do not stock alcohol...

Last I heard...Even people in Mayberry no longer have dial up...or use alcohol...


What some of these people here LOVE to do is PLAY with words...

Compounds polish etc etc...


It's simple...apply a higher level of polish or compound...and you will get more length...Reduce the level...you will get less...

I wouldnt use alcohol to clean. I tried it and thought it was stripping more than just residue, actually permeating the pores. I think the natural response, after bowling, is to get all that oil off you, and your clothes, and then the ball...so alcohol was my first thought, like some kind of gunk degreaser.
Now that I think of that though, has anyone ever tried mineral spirits ? I bet it would work great 

Isopropyl alcohol it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving oils.

Now are there better cleaners than just alcohol? Sure.

Note: Storm Reacta Skuff has Abrasives in it, so of course it will dull a ball.

I should have worded my earlier response better. I should have said it's not an effective bowling ball degreasing agent. I'm aware that Isopropyl alcohol is used for degreasing in some commercial applications. It seems to be used lot for cleaning hard metal surfaces.
 
But we all know that bowling balls are not solid surfaces -- they're porous. Alcohol evaporates quickly, and does not penetrate nearly as effective as other degreasing solvents. The only use my NuBall Rejuvenator gets is extracting oil from friend's balls that are ignored, or that are "cleaned" with alcohol. I just don't get the love affair many bowlers have with the product, other than it's cheap.   

Quote from: Steven on January 30, 2015, 03:31:08 PM

Quote from: Aloarjr810 on January 30, 2015, 11:50:35 AM

Isopropyl alcohol it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving oils.

Now are there better cleaners than just alcohol? Sure.

Note: Storm Reacta Skuff has Abrasives in it, so of course it will dull a ball.

I should have worded my earlier response better. I should have said it's not an effective bowling ball degreasing agent. I'm aware that Isopropyl alcohol is used for degreasing in some commercial applications. It seems to be used lot for cleaning hard metal surfaces.
 
But we all know that bowling balls are not solid surfaces -- they're porous. Alcohol evaporates quickly, and does not penetrate nearly as effective as other degreasing solvents. The only use my NuBall Rejuvenator gets is extracting oil from friend's balls that are ignored, or that are "cleaned" with alcohol. I just don't get the love affair many bowlers have with the product, other than it's cheap.   

Steven....It's from the Jackie Gleason Era of the 50's...That's all bowlers used to clean their hard rubber balls...And it was indeed a cheap cleaner...

Now it will indeed work well on belt marks on a ball...Nothing wrong with using it for that...All I was saying...If you have a polished ball...because you need one because the are dry...Then by using alcohol on your ball...you are removing, reducing, stripping
the polish/compound off the ball...

And that will indeed cause the ball to roll up early...Especially with older bowlers who
have lost their ball speed...

Now here is a simple test...

Take your ball and clean half of it with alcohol...

And then get a CLEAN TOWEL and re do the same section with a decent ball cleaner...

That towel will be DIRTY....Because alcohol does not deep clean...It's ok for surface dirt...but it does not deep clean...

And just because someone says..."you can't strip off polish" <<<does not make that so....

And it's usually the Alcohol crowd that are the ones who complain about "COVER DEATH"...."the ball dies after 30 games"....Ya right...

They buy a HP 200 dollar ball...and use a $1.19 bottle of alcohol on it...



and wonder why their cover dies...


even duct tape...."can't fix stupid"

True, but you can usually hide stupid if you have enough.

Milo....Even at Wal Mart... on sale....Duct Tape is still too expensive...


Are you going to come over and play with the Boys...They seem to be having a good time....And everyday, more and more of the old gang are showing up...

now  chop chop...

As long as the loser secret agent man from Detroit is there, I ain't gonna be.


Hit and run over him with your car, then take a selfie of you with the carcass and we will talk.   

Milo....Even at Wal Mart... on sale....Duct Tape is still too expensive...


Are you going to come over and play with the Boys...They seem to be having a good time....And everyday, more and more of the old gang are showing up...

now  chop chop...

A thought just struck me, if the "boys" are having such a hoot over there, why are you here? And why do they keep coming back?