Just a quick question to the masses out there. What is the state of your bowling gear? I recently watched a shield roll-off, and was astounded at the state of some of the gear. I believe that it cost a couple of people a spot. I am not saying that all of your gear should be new, but at least maintained and properly cleaned. Any thoughts?
Condition of your Bowling Gear
- Thread starter Rig
- Start date
Murderdoll
INSINR8R
My gear is relativly clean. I mean I clean them every few weeks and same with my shoes. I chuck them in the wash to clean them (not with the soles though)
~Mrs STORM~
Revless Wonder...
My gear is on quite good condition (especially my pride and joy...the DEUCE!!). I could prolly clean it more often, I might invest in one of those Storm cleaning kits...
That is great if you are cleaning your gear regularly. If George F. or Brando, or Belmo is looking at this, how often do you check your gear, and what do you do? I am thinking that it may be a lack of knowledge on how often to look at your gear to ensure maximum potential of your bowling equipment. It doesn't really matter what brand of ball that you choose to use, they will all lose effect without a proper maintenance program for your gear.
Brenton_Davy
900Global bowler
Hope my input will do.
I clean my equipment after every set of games. Given the way current coverstocks pick up dirt, oil etc, if this MINIMUM level of maintenance isnt undertaken, then you can safely expect your equipment to deteriorate quicker than it needs to be.
Resurfaces usually about every 50 games, depending on the coverstock.
About every 100 games, i also treat my equipment with Ebonite's "Hook Again" system. I find this also helps the longevity of my equipment.
I realise that for the masses these can be a bit costly, however, much less so than replacing balls twice as fast as necessary.
I clean my equipment after every set of games. Given the way current coverstocks pick up dirt, oil etc, if this MINIMUM level of maintenance isnt undertaken, then you can safely expect your equipment to deteriorate quicker than it needs to be.
Resurfaces usually about every 50 games, depending on the coverstock.
About every 100 games, i also treat my equipment with Ebonite's "Hook Again" system. I find this also helps the longevity of my equipment.
I realise that for the masses these can be a bit costly, however, much less so than replacing balls twice as fast as necessary.
With my equipment, they are cleaned every week, repolished every 2 weeks, and given a bath every 1-2 months depending on the amoumt of use, and if the reaction changes.
Balls are cleaned with Ebonites Energizer cleaner, and polishing is done in the following ways to each ball: All polishes are Ebonite
Big Blue - 320grit sand then polished with Particle Polish
Sharp Blade - 600grit sand then Particle Polish
Vicious - 400grit sand then Factory Finish
Sling Blade - 800grit sand then Factory Finish
Blade Pearl - 1000grit sand then Extender Polish and then Factory Finish
Big Blue Spare - Polished with Extender Polish
Good thing is that our synthetic lanes are much kinder to the surface of our balls. On our old wood lanes, the balls would be tracked up in 3 games, and almost needed a full resurface every month.
Balls are cleaned with Ebonites Energizer cleaner, and polishing is done in the following ways to each ball: All polishes are Ebonite
Big Blue - 320grit sand then polished with Particle Polish
Sharp Blade - 600grit sand then Particle Polish
Vicious - 400grit sand then Factory Finish
Sling Blade - 800grit sand then Factory Finish
Blade Pearl - 1000grit sand then Extender Polish and then Factory Finish
Big Blue Spare - Polished with Extender Polish
Good thing is that our synthetic lanes are much kinder to the surface of our balls. On our old wood lanes, the balls would be tracked up in 3 games, and almost needed a full resurface every month.
Bowling Ball Maintenance
Rig:
I clean my bowling balls before every tournament with Ebonite’s Energizer Cleaner. It gets deep into the pores of the ball to remove lane oil, dirt, belt marks & the general grime that your ball picks up. By cleaning your ball on a regular basis it will prolong the life & consistency of the ball & restore the “tack” to the surface.
Never do I resurface or touch up the surface of my ball. I try to keep them in their original surface condition for as long as possible. I will however polish them when they are starting to look a little dull. I use Ebonite’s Factory Finish & Extender Polish. The Factory Finish is the exact same polish used in the Ebonite factory & does what the name suggests – brings the ball back to its factory finish.
I figure when your ball is due for a resurface it probably has a couple of hundred games on it. After a couple of hundred games the ball has definitely lost some of its punch so it is probably time to look at something new.
Brando
Rig:
I clean my bowling balls before every tournament with Ebonite’s Energizer Cleaner. It gets deep into the pores of the ball to remove lane oil, dirt, belt marks & the general grime that your ball picks up. By cleaning your ball on a regular basis it will prolong the life & consistency of the ball & restore the “tack” to the surface.
Never do I resurface or touch up the surface of my ball. I try to keep them in their original surface condition for as long as possible. I will however polish them when they are starting to look a little dull. I use Ebonite’s Factory Finish & Extender Polish. The Factory Finish is the exact same polish used in the Ebonite factory & does what the name suggests – brings the ball back to its factory finish.
I figure when your ball is due for a resurface it probably has a couple of hundred games on it. After a couple of hundred games the ball has definitely lost some of its punch so it is probably time to look at something new.
Brando
Thanks for the feedback. Basically what you are saying is that just wiping with a towel and throwing it back into your bag after bowling isn't cleaning your ball. We bowl because we believe we are good at it, if it was marbles, we would be going to marbles tournaments trying to kick everyone elses butts. Simply, wouldn't you make sure that your weapons are cleaned and ready?
Brenton_Davy
900Global bowler
In answer to COSHEA, I use Track Clean N Dull for the dull balls, and Track Clean N Sheen fo the polished stuff. I then use either Pro Grip polish for the reactives or Ebonite Particle Polish for the particles. I have found these to be the best products for my purposes.
Hi All,
One thing I do that hasn't been mentioned yet is that I have a towel in my bag, and whenever I am bowling I wipe the oil off my ball before I bowl each shot. The reason I do this is that if I don't, the oil that is there will seep into the ball and kill the ball reaction. If I wipe the ball off, the oil won't go into the ball and the ball will continue to react for longer.
I see far too many bowlers pick up their balls off the rack and bowl - without wiping the oil off. This is acceptable for plastic spare balls because the oil doesn't seep in and will make the ball go straight, this is what you want a plastic to do. But for any other ball, be it urethane, reactive or particle, wiping the ball with a clean dry towel every shot is a must.
I also clean all my balls with Ebonite Energizer cleaner when I have finished bowling, this applies after practice, league or tournament bowling.
My 2 cents worth.
David.
One thing I do that hasn't been mentioned yet is that I have a towel in my bag, and whenever I am bowling I wipe the oil off my ball before I bowl each shot. The reason I do this is that if I don't, the oil that is there will seep into the ball and kill the ball reaction. If I wipe the ball off, the oil won't go into the ball and the ball will continue to react for longer.
I see far too many bowlers pick up their balls off the rack and bowl - without wiping the oil off. This is acceptable for plastic spare balls because the oil doesn't seep in and will make the ball go straight, this is what you want a plastic to do. But for any other ball, be it urethane, reactive or particle, wiping the ball with a clean dry towel every shot is a must.
I also clean all my balls with Ebonite Energizer cleaner when I have finished bowling, this applies after practice, league or tournament bowling.
My 2 cents worth.
David.
brown beach boy
Sam Nucifora Jnr
Track Polishes
Hey there guys its funny because Brando and myself were just talking about this subject in Canberra and both agreed that it is better to keep the coverstocks at there factory condition. I also added to the conversation that if Track , Ebonite< and so do the studies that they do to release such ball with a certain coverstock and certain weightblock then why do we think we can change the coverstock to make it better. So im all for maintaining them to there factory condition and Track (clean n Dull) and (track clean n Polish ) does this. Just my thoughts.
Hey there guys its funny because Brando and myself were just talking about this subject in Canberra and both agreed that it is better to keep the coverstocks at there factory condition. I also added to the conversation that if Track , Ebonite< and so do the studies that they do to release such ball with a certain coverstock and certain weightblock then why do we think we can change the coverstock to make it better. So im all for maintaining them to there factory condition and Track (clean n Dull) and (track clean n Polish ) does this. Just my thoughts.
That all sounds quite feasible Brown Beach Boy, except the fact that, if you don't have a whole heap of balls to play with, than it is better to "ADJUST" the ball you have, to the condition you have to play on.
One has to consider not everyone bowls at the same speed, so if your a little slow, than a finer grade scourer on your dull reactive is a better option, than buying another ball. Also a lot cheaper, we all don't have the option of getting our equipment at cost price or less.
willey.
One has to consider not everyone bowls at the same speed, so if your a little slow, than a finer grade scourer on your dull reactive is a better option, than buying another ball. Also a lot cheaper, we all don't have the option of getting our equipment at cost price or less.
willey.
Bowling Ball Maintenance
Beanie has raised a very good point. Wiping your ball between shots with a clean dry towel must prevent oil absorbing into the coverstock to a certain extent. I guess it will also help the backend reaction & promote a consistent ball reaction.
Ebonite has a very good product in the Oil Free Towel. The towel is made of a microfibre material & has a unique feel to it. I have only recently tried the Oil Free Towel & let me tell you I was impressed. I did away with vigorous wiping to only wipe my ball over once. Like any other towel when it starts felling slimy you can just throw it in the wash.
Brando
Beanie has raised a very good point. Wiping your ball between shots with a clean dry towel must prevent oil absorbing into the coverstock to a certain extent. I guess it will also help the backend reaction & promote a consistent ball reaction.
Ebonite has a very good product in the Oil Free Towel. The towel is made of a microfibre material & has a unique feel to it. I have only recently tried the Oil Free Towel & let me tell you I was impressed. I did away with vigorous wiping to only wipe my ball over once. Like any other towel when it starts felling slimy you can just throw it in the wash.
Brando
Some people hassle me about how black my supposedly white towel is, how dirty it looks. But the way I look at it, if the oil is in the towel, then it isn't in the ball. That has to be a good thing.
Perhaps I should wash my towels more often. ](*,)
Thanks for suggesting the Ebonite Oil-Free Towel Brando, I'll have to give that one a try.
David.
Perhaps I should wash my towels more often. ](*,)
Thanks for suggesting the Ebonite Oil-Free Towel Brando, I'll have to give that one a try.
David.
