When it comes to our billiard accessories, there’s no compromise. We want to keep them nice and safe so they last longer. And alongside, we are equally concerned about how they look. No doubt billiard accessories (because of their different colors) have great looks, especially balls.
Have your pool balls become dull and you wondered how you can turn your billiard balls back to white color?
So in this article, I’m going to share how you can give back their original look i.e. by cleaning and polishing them.
Yes, I’ll be taking you deep into the process of polishing your pool balls.
So keep reading this article till the end. But before that, let me tell you why pool balls turn yellow or their colors fade.
Pool balls turn yellow because most of them are made of phenolic resin, and when they are exposed to UV light, heat or air, it causes them to turn yellow. It is also due to the age of balls.
However, if your balls are made of polyester resin, they’ll turn grey instead of yellow.
There is a misconception among people that storing their balls in dark caused them to turn yellow, but that’s not right. Logically, they turned yellow because of exposure to heat and their aging.
There are multiple methods to clean your pool balls. However, to make this process less messy, I’m going to share the easier and best method first.
Have you ever washed your clothes in a traditional way, I mean an old traditional way when there were no washing machines? If yes, then this process would be like a walk in the park for you.
Follow the step by step guide to clean your pool balls:
In case you were wondering how to clean pool balls with bleach or baking soda, either of the two can be used as a detergent here. But make sure you use them in the right quantity as mentioned above.
Now this is a little expensive way of cleaning your balls. And most likely, casual players would be content with the bucket cleaning method.
However, if you have the budget, and you are short of time, then this approach might seem ideal for you.
There are quite a few of these magic erasers available, all you have to do is to use them on your balls after a game or two to keep them nice and clean.
I’d like to clear some misconception among the billiard enthusiasts, who often opt for random and ineffective ways to clean their pool balls.
You might have read it in some places that people even clean their pool balls in the dishwasher, however, this method is not recommended. For the sake of your pool ball’s safety, you can’t put pool balls in the dishwasher.
This process may seem simple and easy to apply, but it causes damage to your pool balls.
As mentioned at the top, most of the pool balls are made from phenolic resin or polyester resin blend. The heat produced in the dishwasher process impacts both types of materials.
Dishwashers can make your billiard balls less durable and lose their shine.
I know, just because you want to make your pool balls look more shiny and clean, you might fancy the idea of applying car wax on pool balls. But if we look at it from another perspective, this wax can severely impact your play.
Here are some of the downsides of applying car wax on pool balls:
If your pool balls lose their shine, you start wondering if you can polish your pool balls? The answer is yes. But it entails a risk of impacting your pool play.
Polishing balls requires wax, which I don’t recommend unless your balls have completely lost their shine and you are short on cash to buy new ones.
So below, I’ll share a step by step guide to apply wax on your balls in such a way that it doesn’t impact your play much.
Though the process of cleaning pool balls can be a painstaking one, we still recommend you to clean your pool balls regularly because it does impact the quality of play.
Here are some of the advantages of cleaning your pool balls regularly.
One of the benefits of cleaning billiard balls regularly is it increases the lifespan of these balls. Because the dirt particles are regularly banished from them, they remain in good shape for a long period.
And as it goes without saying, the cleaner the balls are the more smoothly they’d glide across the table. The debris of chalk on pool balls often makes them move slow. Regular cleaning will keep such particles at bay and eventually improve the quality of play.
You can’t buy a new set of pool balls every month unless you are a professional who earns from billiards. By regularly cleaning the ball, you can ensure that your pool balls last longer and save you some cash.
One of the reasons why we have to change table felt is due to debris and dust on it that’s hard to get rid of. Specially chalk and wax (if you applied it on your pool balls). But when you keep your pool balls clean, there is very little chance of your table felt catching dust particles from other sources. Hence, the table felt also lasts longer.
When pool balls become yellow or dull, we feel an irresistible urge to clean them or polish them. But the thing is, it’s important to keep all the factors associated with their polishing and cleaning in mind because little mistake can cause big damage. But hopefully, after reading this detailed article, you’d be able to decide what to apply on your pool balls and what not. And what are the best ways to polish and clean your pool balls.
