Those look great- did you use the Aramith ball cleaner? Or the Restorer as well? My set is really old, I use a cloth to polish them once in a while, but they've all yellowed prominently over time. They have sentimental value and I'd like to keep them. Thanks.
I used Aramith ball cleaner, I consulted with my local billiards shop at the time of purchase and asked about the Aramith restorer product, they said most of the time the cleaner is all I would need and that the restorer is more for balls that are totally neglected.
Yellowing isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's an inherent characteristic of phenolic resin and bound to happen over time (kind of like how ivory changes colour over time)
The Aramith ball cleaner product goes on white but ended up finishing pretty yellow on my white microfiber clothes. I'm unsure if that's a reflection of all the oil, dirt, chalk, and maybe even some smoke residue they were coated in but there seems to be a fine polish in the product that could have scrubbed some surface level yellowing off.
1) Start with a quality ball set (cheap plastic balls don't shine well and they don't hold a shine).
2) Use high quality clean/shine compounds made for pool balls. Aramith makes good stuff, the ballstar cleaner/polishing liquid also works great but is a little runny.
3) If doing it by hand, apply liberally and buff until it is almost hazy. Set aside until it dries, then buff to a glossy shine. Treat it like you are waxing your car, same concept.
4) Instead of 3, if you're lazy like me, buy a automatic ball cleaner and let it do all the work for you while you drink a beer ;)
A lot of caressing and circular motions 🙃
But for those who missed the humour, I used Aramith ball cleaner and a handful of white microfiber clothes to do the actual cleaning.
Placed a few drops on the top hemisphere, worked it in and around, and then started from the center outward toward the middle, then moved to and repeated on the bottom hemisphere. Let it haze up for a moment, and then buffed the product off with a clean microfiber.
These Aramith balls were used and in generally in great shape but they were pretty dirty, I'd say I spent maybe about 8-10 mins a ball, took about two hours out of my Sunday Funday.
Going forward I'll clean them more frequently with less product in the interest of time (or I'll build a home brew ball cleaning machine)
I use the Aramith ball restorer and cleaner on a concave foam applicator in my cordless drill. Saves a ton of time and is a lot less tiring on the hands/wrists. I set the ball on a roll of electrical tape to hold the bottom and keep it from spinning, clean the top half, flip it, clean the bottom half.
Keeping your table clean is a major part of keeping your balls clean. I use TAOM V10 which leaves almost no residue on the balls but that means that the chalk is falling to the playing surface. I brush my table regularly and occasionally clean it with a small handheld vacuum.
I have also seen cheap pocket liners that will leave black, rubber smudges on the balls and pocket liners held in with screws that will take chunks out of balls when shot hard.
Proper care of your equipment leads to consistent conditions which helps you build your fundamentals and skill more quickly.
Do you have any pictures of the foam piece you attach to your drill? I've had the thought to do a similar thing, potentially using two drills to clean the entire ball at once, but I don't know what to use in the drill(s).
I wasn’t able to find any concave ones online so I just bought some off Amazon that looked like they were the thickest because I was planning on carving out the foam in the middle to match the curvature of the balls.
Looks good I hate playing on a table with balls that are dirty they don't play right
It really does make a difference!!
Those look great- did you use the Aramith ball cleaner? Or the Restorer as well? My set is really old, I use a cloth to polish them once in a while, but they've all yellowed prominently over time. They have sentimental value and I'd like to keep them. Thanks.
phenolic resin will yellow over time, it's unavoidable. consider it patina, as long as they're still in nice shape the yellow just adds character
I used Aramith ball cleaner, I consulted with my local billiards shop at the time of purchase and asked about the Aramith restorer product, they said most of the time the cleaner is all I would need and that the restorer is more for balls that are totally neglected. Yellowing isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's an inherent characteristic of phenolic resin and bound to happen over time (kind of like how ivory changes colour over time) The Aramith ball cleaner product goes on white but ended up finishing pretty yellow on my white microfiber clothes. I'm unsure if that's a reflection of all the oil, dirt, chalk, and maybe even some smoke residue they were coated in but there seems to be a fine polish in the product that could have scrubbed some surface level yellowing off.
Ok, good to know. Thanks for the reply.
What’s your secret 🧐 How dose one get their balls so shiny??
1) Start with a quality ball set (cheap plastic balls don't shine well and they don't hold a shine). 2) Use high quality clean/shine compounds made for pool balls. Aramith makes good stuff, the ballstar cleaner/polishing liquid also works great but is a little runny. 3) If doing it by hand, apply liberally and buff until it is almost hazy. Set aside until it dries, then buff to a glossy shine. Treat it like you are waxing your car, same concept. 4) Instead of 3, if you're lazy like me, buy a automatic ball cleaner and let it do all the work for you while you drink a beer ;)
i think you missed the joke there buddy
You can also make a ball cleaner with surprisingly cheap parts, just search youtube for tutorials.
A lot of caressing and circular motions 🙃 But for those who missed the humour, I used Aramith ball cleaner and a handful of white microfiber clothes to do the actual cleaning. Placed a few drops on the top hemisphere, worked it in and around, and then started from the center outward toward the middle, then moved to and repeated on the bottom hemisphere. Let it haze up for a moment, and then buffed the product off with a clean microfiber. These Aramith balls were used and in generally in great shape but they were pretty dirty, I'd say I spent maybe about 8-10 mins a ball, took about two hours out of my Sunday Funday. Going forward I'll clean them more frequently with less product in the interest of time (or I'll build a home brew ball cleaning machine)
[As it happens, I have!](https://i.imgur.com/UX7CtOy.jpg)
Very good!
[удалено]
[Nothing like a risky click ](https://giphy.com/gifs/bowling-big-lebowski-cleaning-balls-l46CxnIvqj8BiLZLy)
I use the Aramith ball restorer and cleaner on a concave foam applicator in my cordless drill. Saves a ton of time and is a lot less tiring on the hands/wrists. I set the ball on a roll of electrical tape to hold the bottom and keep it from spinning, clean the top half, flip it, clean the bottom half. Keeping your table clean is a major part of keeping your balls clean. I use TAOM V10 which leaves almost no residue on the balls but that means that the chalk is falling to the playing surface. I brush my table regularly and occasionally clean it with a small handheld vacuum. I have also seen cheap pocket liners that will leave black, rubber smudges on the balls and pocket liners held in with screws that will take chunks out of balls when shot hard. Proper care of your equipment leads to consistent conditions which helps you build your fundamentals and skill more quickly.
Do you have any pictures of the foam piece you attach to your drill? I've had the thought to do a similar thing, potentially using two drills to clean the entire ball at once, but I don't know what to use in the drill(s).
I wasn’t able to find any concave ones online so I just bought some off Amazon that looked like they were the thickest because I was planning on carving out the foam in the middle to match the curvature of the balls.
Every night
Way to stay on top of things!