Proper Ball Maintenance: Keys to Better Bowling
Part 2: Removing Absorbed Lane Oil to Restore Ball’s Surface.
The coverstocks of all performance bowling balls absorb some amount of lane oil. When the track area of the ball absorbs too much lane oil, the ball stops behaving as expected. When the ball stops behaving as expected it is time for the bowler to take some action because high scores become more and more challenging.
Without an effective and proper tool for removing excessive amounts of absorbed lane oil, bowlers are continually forced to replace their “go to” balls. This is not a budget friendly approach for the average league bowler. Today’s game requires balls to be specifically drilled and surfaced for differing lane conditions which means an arsenal is more important today than ever before.
Nearly 25 years ago, Innovative Bowling Products saw the importance of removing absorbed lane oils and how it relates to the average bowler’s ability to build an arsenal. That is when we developed and introduced our 2 Ball Revivor. Since then, we have been the industry leader in effective and affordable tools for oil extraction. The 2 Ball Revivor offers a lot of bells and whistles to greatly benefit pro shop professionals, but the price may be out of the reach of individual bowlers who wish to maintain the surface of their own equipment. This is why we later developed our One Ball Revivor.
The principles behind both machines are the same: gently warm the outermost surface of the cover-stock where absorbed lane oil is hiding and pull it to the surface, so it may be wiped away. Once the chosen time has passed, remove the ball and clean it with Vise Ball Cleaner.
In the early days a few copy-cats appeared, as well as other proclaimed techniques. 25 years later we are still here, Revivor sales are still very strong, and we no longer hear much about those copy-cats.
One false claim that has stuck around the longest is that along with lane oil, the Revivor removes plasticizers from the ball’s covers. Should you ever hear this, don’t believe it! Shortly after this false claim came forward, Brunswick Bowling preformed a scientific and detailed study of our Revivor Oil Extraction unit and determined that our “oil removal warming processes revives the ball reaction of oil-soaked bowling balls with no durability problems." The Innovative Revivor Oil Extraction Unit is recommended for this procedure.”
The entire Brunswick Article may be viewed by following this link: https://innovativebowling.com/BrunswickResearchRevivorResults.pdf
Before we move on, consider this: how many bowling balls have been left in the trunk of a car during very hot days? Those balls have endured much more abuse than taking a ride in one of our Revivors.
Our Single Ball Revivors and our Two Ball Revivors operate on identical principles. They each circulate warm air around the surface of the ball which pulls absorbed lane oil to the surface where it can be wiped away. The 2 Ball unit is automated with rollers so that the ball rotates over sorbent pads designed to remove the lanes oil. The Single Ball Revivor is a little more manual, in as much as you pull the ball out of the unit to wipe it down.
If you plan to remove excess lane oil and resurface the ball, first go over the ball with 500 grit Vise Sanding Pads on your ball spinner. This insures all the pores of the cover-stock are open and free from any ball polish. If you choose not to use sanding pads and go directly to the Revivor, the unit will still pull lane oil to the surface. It might only take a few minutes longer.
To use the 2 Ball Revivor: first check the condition of the Sorbent Pads for saturation of lane oil from previous usage. If they are very near clean, you can continue to use them. We recommend replacing used pads with new every 6 to 8 balls (depending upon the lane conditions you face). You should set the temperature range to between 120 to 140 degrees and set the time duration to 20 to 30 minutes. After time has passed remove the ball and clean with Vise Ball Cleaner. If you started the process by altering the surface, you will need to return the surface to the grit finish of your choice.
Using the Singe Ball Revivor: The temperature at which the unit operates is preset by us at the factory. This temperature is one that we know is effective for removing lane oil and safe for the ball’s coverstock. The timer of the unit can be set in 30-minute increments, up to a maximum of 2 hours.
Place a ball in the unit, keeping track of the orientation (label up / label down). After the time that you selected has elapsed, remove the ball and clean it well with a clean towel and Vise Ball Cleaner. Return the ball to Single Ball Revivor opposite the orientation of the first step. Set the timer as you did earlier. After the selected time has elapsed, remove the ball and again clean with Vise Ball Cleaner.
The above process should return the behavior of the ball to very near the way it behaved as a new bowling ball. If you feel it necessary to repeat the process, it can’t hurt but consider this? If the first one hour brought the ball back to 95% of its out of the box reaction and how much time are you willing to spend attempting to recover the remailing 5%?
As soon as the personality of one of your bowling balls begins to change, it is time for you to Revive and/or Resurface.