Ranking Ball Cleaners...and a question?

[rollerotr]

I'm rather new (recently started bowling after 25 years) to reactive resin and the use of specialized ball cleaners.

I already have 3 balls, a ball spinner, and a half dozen or so brands of ball cleaner. Crazy, I know.

My league and practice bowling center doesn't really do a good job of cleaning their lanes, so I always have a fairly dirty ball after a few games. I usually clean my ball at home on the spinner. I haven't found huge differences between the cleaners except one: Brunswick Neotac Hook It. The other cleaners i'm rating are Lane Concept's Extreme Clean, Reacta Clean, TacUp, and Powerhouse Power Wash.

Using Brunswick's Wax & Buff towels (seem like paper towels to me), the grime is easily seen on the towel. I can rub, scrub, and buff with the last four mentioned cleaners on the spinner until the towel looks clean. Then using the pink, sweet, nasty smelling Hook It seems to take the cleaning to another level. It leaves the towel with a dark imprint of my hand! Then it usually takes a couple of towels to get the ball clean.

Here's the question: Am I taking off more than oil, grime, and belt marks with this aggressive cleaner? Like maybe coverstock!?

Ranking: 1 weakest - 10 strongest
Extreme Clean - 1
Reacta Clean - 2
Power Wash - 4
TacUp - 5
Hook It - 10

[bowl1820]

First off when you ask about ball cleaners, remember everyone will have a different opinion.

The strongest cleaners I've seen are Hook-it and Clean-N Dull. They in my opinion penetrate the pores better, thats why they seem to get more stuff off. I have never seen anything that says they remove coverstoock and Ive used them for years.

Now Tac-up is a fair at the alley cleaner, I have been using it for awhile now. It doesnt penetrate the pores, like Hook-it. But it cleans the surface pretty good (now I havent had a real bad black rubber mark to try it on to see how well it removes it.)

[The Mayor]

I definitely agree with everything bowl1820 said. Clean N' Dull is great on the matte/sanded finish stuff. A really good deep cleaner like Hook-It. These cleaners wouldn't be USBC approved if they were disintegrating the coverstock (as acetone and alcohol can do). As for the other cleaners, I find Reacta Clean to be stronger than Power Wash. The ball is much more tacky (for me) when cleaning with RC than PW. The most important thing is that you clean your stuff. You've already grasped the importance of this, so you're off to a great start.

[rollerotr]

Thanks for reply. If I uploaded a video of me at the ball spinner using the above mentioned cleaners, I think it everyone that watched would be convinced that Hook It is the only one that really does the job on my Cyclone, Critical Theory, and Bandit balls.

I wondered about the coverstock because the quart bottle of Brunswick Neotac HookIt says nothing on the label about using on a ball spinner. By your answer, I'm assuming it's safe to use on the spinner.

I hate to throw away my other cleaners, but why would anyone use a cleaner that doesn't do the job?

[littlelegs]

I'm looking to try a better/stronger ball cleaner at the moment so it seems Hook It may be the next purchase. :)

[rollerotr]

Being into reducing my cleaning time, has anyone tried Hook It and found it to be less effective than another cleaner?

[JerseyJim]

I haven't tried Hook It, however the original Lanemasters Performance ball cleaner is one of the strongest cleaners I've used.

[Special_K]

im currently used Ultimate bowling products:Black Magic Rejuvernator ill know later today what it can do

[MattXAlot]

Hook-It and Clean N Dull are both abrasive cleaners meaning they cant be used during league competition, only before and after. They actually change the surface as an abralon pad would so naturally you should see a better result vs a cleaner that is approved for anytime use such as Tac-Up is.

[bowl1820]

Hook-It and Clean N Dull are both abrasive cleaners meaning they cant be used during league competition, only before and after. They actually change the surface as an abralon pad would so naturally you should see a better result vs a cleaner that is approved for anytime use such as Tac-Up is.

Hook-It and Clean'N Dull are NOT ABRASIVE cleaners!

Hook-It is a good strong spray cleaner.

Clean'N Dull is a gel cleaner. The name has been miss understood since it came out when it came from A.P.P.(Advanced Polishing Products). It does not dull balls, the original ad said it "Leaves Dull balls dull and shiny balls shiny"


Yes they are for use only before and after competition, now. (They use to be usable at anytime. But their status was changed recently, but not because they contained abrasives.) cleaners can be in the before and after category for other reasons than having abrasives.

Now Hook-It Plus does have abrasives.

[JAnderson]

These cleaners wouldn't be USBC approved if they were disintegrating the coverstock (as acetone and alcohol can do)

Don't expect USBC to protect your equipment.

Acetone softens plastic and plasticizers and can make the ball (as measured by a durometer) illegal.
Alcohol is approved for use by USBC during competition and won't alter the surface of the ball.

I've had problems with Clean'n'dull when using it in conjunction with a spinner while not having problems using it by hand (same ball). While I suspect it is a combination of things, I've spoken to enough pro shop operators that have experienced the same thing to be able to offer the advice: if you've never used clean-n-dull on a ball on a spinner, don't do it just before going to bowl a big event.


Am I taking off more than oil, grime, and belt marks with this aggressive cleaner? Like maybe coverstock!

We'd need a chemist to explain plasticizers and reactive resins and what could possibly denature them. (I think denature is the correct term). With off-the-shelf cleaners designed specifically for cleaning bowling balls, you probably don't need to worry about harming the ball or the reactive resin.

There are plenty of house-hold, simple de-greasers that will also do the job just fine.

[striker12]

ok from what people are saying hook it is a great ball cleaning im useing power house and it makes the ball shine abit but dose not take no dirt off my ball and even if i rub it abit harder it still wont come off thats when i ahve to tak my ball out to the local proshop to get it taken off my ball but lucky he dose not charge me much