Oil-Absorbing Balls Lead Bowlers On Crazy Quests to Clean Them
Doug Moye
this is an article in the wall street journal.
Oil-Absorbing Balls Lead Bowlers
On Crazy Quests to Clean Them
By BARBARA CARTON
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Like a lot of bowlers, Bill Hall, who runs the International Bowling Academy in
Las Vegas, thought he had come up with an easy, low-cost way to remove
accumulated oil from his bowling ball: sweat the oil out in a microwave. "Let's
be honest," Mr. Hall admits. "I didn't know what I was messing with."
Mr. Hall set the timer for five minutes and started nuking the bowling ball.
"About 2 1/2 minutes into it, it blew up," he says. "It sounded like the Fourth
of July. The door blew open and broke one of the hinges. The ball? It was
cracked. Chunks of it were not there."
For years, bowling balls were made of materials such as rubber and polyester
that weren't particularly absorbent. But, in the early 1990s, a new generation
of so-called reactive balls revolutionized the game. Made of urethane with an
added softening gunk called plasticizer, they hugged the lanes like Velcro, and
bowlers could easily make them hook toward the pocket, the space next to the
lead pin, where a high percentage of strikes are scored.
In 1999, bowling-ball technology took another leap forward when companies began
embedding tiny bits of ceramic and other materials in bowling-ball shells,
giving performance another kick.
Bowling scores shot through the roof. Between the 1994-95 and 1999-2000 bowling
seasons alone, the number of perfect 300-point games rose 37% to 41,473 -- even
as the number of bowlers declined 24% to 3.75 million, according to tournament
scores of professional and nonprofessional bowlers collected by bowling's three
governing bodies. But, along with better scores came another predicament: how
to get out of your ball all the oil bowling alleys apply to their lanes to
protect them from damage. The new balls were so absorbent that after about 40
games, they slid on their own sheen, often hooking too late, or too little, or
failing to hook at all.
With all these out-of-control balls, commercial degreasing products sprang up,
each bowling company recommending its own formulation. For example, Track
Magic's Clean N' Dull promised a nice degreasing, at $8 or $9 for at least 64
treatments. Pro shops also offered to sand off, or rejuvenate, the top oily
layer. But it cost $30 -- and after too many rejuvenations, the ball begins to
shrink.
Michelle Belanger, a paralegal and avid bowler in Round Rock, Texas, prefers
the frugal alternative of her hairdryer.
Clamping one of her balls -- her Lane #1 Red Cherry Pearl Buzz Saw/C2 --
between her knees, Ms. Belanger blow-dries a six-inch swatch at a time,
rotating the sphere so it doesn't burn. Then she wipes off the ooze with a
towel. The trick is not letting the ball get too hot. After a bowling ball
reaches between 120 degrees and 160, the plasticizer starts leaking out of the
urethane, says Neil Stremmel, research director of the American Bowling
Congress and the Women's International Bowling Congress, two governing bodies
for the sport.
Steve Smith, a Web designer in San Diego, says he once put his ball into a
350-degree oven and carefully positioned it on a cookie sheet so it wouldn't
drop on his foot when he opened the door. But after 20 minutes, Mr. Smith was
horrified to discover that his $150 ball had melted into a "bowling oval." Mr.
Smith tried marinating his next ball in acetone, a stinky solvent. He knew it
would also soften the shell, but he didn't realize how much. After three days,
the oil was gone, but the ball was so squishy he could pierce it with his
thumbnail.
Works for Cats
Mr. Smith has settled on another idea: Kitty Litter. He claims that bowling
balls submerged for a week in the stuff discharge 80% of their oil.
"Doesn't work," scoffs Mr. Hall, the Las Vegas bowling teacher, who says he has
tried that and just about every other method, including a run through the
dishwasher. A ball he boiled "came out slimier than when it went in," he says.
Tom Moffitt, owner of Ball Magic Pro Shop in Phoenix, says he spent four years
designing the "Revivor Oil Extraction Unit." Introduced to the market last
December, the $1,195 two-ball gizmo sweats oil out of the balls with forced hot
air. The balls rotate on rollers, like hot dogs on a 7-Eleven grill, so they
are evenly heated. Pads below collect the drained grease.
A drop of oil placed on a bowling ball will be absorbed within three minutes,
says Mr. Stremmel. He says a bowling ball is capable of lapping up nearly a
shot-glass full, or slightly less than an ounce.
Most bowlers wouldn't notice the weight difference. But Mr. Stremmel says,
"We've had times where people go to tournaments and they'll take the same ball
they bought last year which weighed 15.95 pounds and this year it weighs more
than 16 pounds." Since 16 pounds is the maximum tournament weight and since
it's nearly impossible to remove all the oil, Mr. Stremmel says some
competitive bowlers will try to shed ounces by drilling the finger holes a
little deeper. But you've got to be careful. A bowling ball's core, made of
ceramic or some dense material, is sometimes only two inches below the surface.
Bowling-alley proprietors complain that thanks to the aggressive new balls, 60%
of the oil applied to lanes isn't there at the end of a professional match.
Since oil protects the lanes from abuse, alleys are applying much more of it
than they once did. Ball manufacturers acknowledge that they, in turn, develop
even thirstier balls, to cut through the oil.
"It's a dog chasing its tail," says Larry Lichstein, former player-services
director for the Professional Bowlers Association, the men's pro group.
The Kegel Co., a maker of bowling-alley oil and equipment in Sebring, Fla., has
three research chemists working full time to invent oils that won't adhere to
the new balls.
'From a Yo-Yo to a Star'
If anyone is ultimately to blame for the slipping and sliding, it's probably
Don McCune of Hammond, Ind., father of the Soaker. Mr. McCune "went from a
yo-yo to a star," he says, after discovering nearly 30 years ago that soaking
his balls for three days in toluene, a flammable solvent, made them softer,
tackier and easier to control. Ranked No. 20 among professional bowlers in
1972, with $23,828 in tournament winnings, he became an overnight sensation. He
won six national tournaments the following year, leading the 1973 Professional
Bowlers Association Tour in money winnings -- $69,000 -- and copping 1973
Player of the Year title.
Other solvents soon followed, particularly methyl ethyl ketone, known as MEK.
Mr. Lichstein says that at one 1973 tournament in Redwood City, Calif., about
40 bowlers were staying at the same motel and poured so much MEK into so many
bathtubs and five-gallon trashcans that the hallways filled with fumes and the
fire marshal threatened to close the tournament if they didn't stop.
The pro-bowling association, meanwhile, put a quick end to ball-doctoring
antics, establishing a minimum hardness for bowling balls: 75 on a D-scale
durometer. In simple English, that's a lot harder than a hockey puck. Bowling
authorities, eager to crack down on doctored balls, also published a list of
acceptable cleaning products (Windex) and unacceptable ones (gasoline and nail
polish remover).
Deprived of his secret weapon, Mr. McCune quickly dropped back to the nation's
No. 13 bowler by 1974, and he ranked 30th by 1975.
Tackier, more controllable balls finally entered the mainstream 17 years later
when Steve Cooper, a Newport Beach, Calif., bowling-ball maker, made a ball out
of an untested urethane that had been formulated for boat exteriors. "Urethane
formulas are just like cake recipes," Mr. Cooper says. So much of this and so
much of that. "This was just a different formula." On the suggestion of his
urethane supplier, he tried it. "My eyes almost popped out of my head after a
few balls," he recalls. Overnight, Mr. Cooper's Nu-Line Industries was swamped
with calls for the ball, the XCalibur Purple Pearl. "It just killed the pins,"
Mr. Cooper says. And gobbled up oil.
These days, Internet bowling forums are brimming with oil-extraction ideas:
showering with your balls, mummifying them in Saran Wrap and leaving them in a
hot truck cab, and slow-roasting them at 115 degrees with a meat thermometer in
the finger hole. Phil Cardinale, president of Track Inc., a privately owned
bowling-products company, says that once bowlers have destroyed their balls,
they send them back complaining of factory defects.
Doug Moye
Director at Large-Greater Detroit Bowing Association
Certified lane Inspector
counter-lane maintainece supervisor-assistant pro shop operator
sports official (baseball-FP softball-football)
Foundation Member
general pest
ICQ#31748410
Joe Zachar
asking about how to get the oil out of the balls, I wrote about my experience with
"baking" and posted it to ASB. Shortly after that I received an e-mail from
Barbara Canton stating she wanted to interview me about getting the oil out of
bowling balls. I didn't want to end up like the "microwave guy" so I didn't reply
(hee hee). I can do without the 15 minutes of fame, if you know what I mean.
Joe Z
VINCENT M GRZAN
bottle, retails from 9.99 to 12.99. WORKS UNBELIEVABLE. It is basically a
degreaser. Applied once a week, your ball should stay relatively oil free.
Doug Moye <bowl...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010620234413...@ng-fo1.aol.com...
EldredP
(Doug Moye) writes:
>Steve Smith, a Web designer in San Diego, says he once put his ball into a
>350-degree oven and carefully positioned it on a cookie sheet so it wouldn't
>drop on his foot when he opened the door. But after 20 minutes, Mr. Smith was
>horrified to discover that his $150 ball had melted into a "bowling oval."
>Mr.
>Smith tried marinating his next ball in acetone, a stinky solvent. He knew it
>would also soften the shell, but he didn't realize how much. After three
>days,
>the oil was gone, but the ball was so squishy he could pierce it with his
>thumbnail.
I'm sure this person is intelligent. But why, after destroying ONE ball, would
he try messing with ANOTHER...?<g>
Eldred
--
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
F1 hcp. +16.36...Monster +366.59...
Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.
Kenny Rambo
"EldredP" <eld...@aol.comSPAM-OFF> wrote in message
news:20010621083300...@nso-cb.aol.com...
Michael Downey
> Ultimate has a new product out called BLACK MAGIC Rejuvenator. Orange
> bottle, retails from 9.99 to 12.99. WORKS UNBELIEVABLE. It is
> basically a degreaser. Applied once a week, your ball should stay
> relatively oil free.
No diss intended to the product,but I can accomplish the same thing with
Pro Formula 409 if I wipe the balls down either right after or right
before use.
I guess I don't understand how the "Black Magic" could be totally
effective in the case of a bowler who bowls several times a week across
heavy oil conditions.
MHD
Smokey
>
> Ultimate has a new product out called BLACK MAGIC Rejuvenator. Orange
> bottle, retails from 9.99 to 12.99. WORKS UNBELIEVABLE. It is basically a
> degreaser. Applied once a week, your ball should stay relatively oil free.
Well, I find "plain old" 409 does a ** MOST EXCELLENT ** job in
cleaning/degreasing my reactives. While it can't do anything about the
ABSORBED oil (that's what the Pro Shop "'juve job" is for! ;) ), it
helps restore THE SURFACE to "top condition". Plus, it gets rid of the
"ancillary" crud picked-up from the PIT at the end of the lanes and the
BALL RETURNS.
Ken
Brad
>
> Ultimate has a new product out called BLACK MAGIC Rejuvenator. Orange
> bottle, retails from 9.99 to 12.99. WORKS UNBELIEVABLE. It is basically a
> degreaser. Applied once a week, your ball should stay relatively oil free.
Dawn dishwashing soap is a degreaser, too. Works great to get oil and
crap off your hands, so would probably do the same for a bowling ball.
I'm lazy, so I'll just stick to baking the ball every once in awhile,
though.
Brad
>
> I wondered what happened to that story. A while back, when people in ASB were
> asking about how to get the oil out of the balls, I wrote about my experience with
> "baking" and posted it to ASB. Shortly after that I received an e-mail from
> Barbara Canton stating she wanted to interview me about getting the oil out of
> bowling balls. I didn't want to end up like the "microwave guy" so I didn't reply
> (hee hee). I can do without the 15 minutes of fame, if you know what I mean.
I can't remember, but I assume your baking story did not have a happy
ending. If so, then if Barbara Canton wanted to write a legitimate news
story, she wouldn't have only written about the few bad examples and
instead also included the MANY examples where baking a ball at 130
degrees or so brought it back to life with no problem. But, since when
are news reporters ever unbiased anyway.
NetNut
has to be wiped several times or the oil will re-absorb into the ball. I
doubt many proshop owners are going to really take the time to keep wiping a
ball that it should be wiped to get all the oil out. I could be wrong.
I still think that the best method to remove oil from a ball is to put the
ball in the dishwasher. Make sure to put your dishwasher on noheat. This
way the dishwasher water will only get as hot as your hot water heater is
allowed which is about 120 degrees. The reason I like the dishwasher is
that the ball is heated with the water which makes the oil ooze out and the
soap and spray constantly cleans the oil as it oozes out of the ball. I
can't imagine a better method to rejuvenating a ball.
TonyAtRest
>way the dishwasher water will only get as hot as your hot water heater is
>allowed which is about 120 degrees. >
Unless your water heater thermostat is turned up higher than that.
Tony
"I'm living in this movie, but it doesn't move me...."
Buzzcocks, 1976
Smokey
>
> The original post was very interesting. Ball baking is great but the ball
> has to be wiped several times or the oil will re-absorb into the ball. I
> doubt many proshop owners are going to really take the time to keep wiping a
> ball that it should be wiped to get all the oil out. I could be wrong.
You're wrong. :)
I watched my local Pro Shop run a ball through a commercial
"Rejuvenator". He periodically SET A TIMER, I believe it was 10-20
minutes, which he used to REGULARLY wipe the oil off the ball. IOW,
every 10-20 minutes, the "latest oil coat" was removed. Depending on
the ball and how much oil was absorbed determined how many "wipes" the
ball got.
> I still think that the best method to remove oil from a ball is to put the
> ball in the dishwasher. Make sure to put your dishwasher on noheat. This
> way the dishwasher water will only get as hot as your hot water heater is
> allowed which is about 120 degrees. The reason I like the dishwasher is
> that the ball is heated with the water which makes the oil ooze out and the
> soap and spray constantly cleans the oil as it oozes out of the ball. I
> can't imagine a better method to rejuvenating a ball.
This certainly is a good method. However, don't you have to run the
ball through "a few cycles" as each "supply" of soap eventually gets
"saturated" and therefore ineffective?
Ken
Fish Taco Joe Schmuckatelli
wrote:
>The original post was very interesting. Ball baking is great but the ball
>has to be wiped several times or the oil will re-absorb into the ball. I
>doubt many proshop owners are going to really take the time to keep wiping a
>ball that it should be wiped to get all the oil out. I could be wrong.
As mentioned in the article, and as has been discussed here before,
the rejuvenating machine has the ball(s) sit on rollers, which have
oil-absorbing wicks on them. No need to wipe the ball off by hand --
the machine does it for you.
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NimBill
You are as full of shit as a Christmas Goose. The oil drips off and all is
well.
Who are you? Bob Jones Brother?
NetNut
myself. Sorry u think I'm full of shit.
"NimBill" <nim...@aol.comtisme> wrote in message
news:20010623212316...@ng-cr1.aol.com...
NimBill
Sorry but I never said one thing derogatory about you. I also said nothing
derogatory about the "Rejuvenator" nor any other method of bringing balls back
to like for a short tour.
I'm just a hard headed old fart. 4 Tours in VietNam and I know everything. Like
I know you are Bob Jones and therefore full of shit!
Look bubba just in case I am wrong why don't you post some credentials.
My name is Bill Rollins.
I'm a Level 2 Certified Bowling Coach and you aren't.
To get there I had to be Level 1 Certified for some time.
I could also be a Bronze Level Coach if I thought it was worth the money but I
don't because I do not see bowling as having a possibility of going Olympic in
my lifetime.
Sorry folks but I am 54 and both my Grandfathers lived well past 90 and I just
do not see bowling making the Olympics.