How to Bring Shine to a Bowling Ball

Cleaning your bowling ball after sessions and periodically polishing and resurfacing it increases the performance of your ball and your overall score. Bowling balls pick up oil, lane cleaners and dirt from lanes. This affects the condition and surface texture of the ball, which can decrease the fluidity of its movement when rolling down the lane. Service your ball at home with household cleaners, bowling ball polish and sand paper.

Wipe your bowling ball down with a clean microfiber towel after each frame to remove dirt, oil and cleaners that your ball picked up while rolling down the lane.

Apply bowling ball cleaner or rubbing alcohol onto a microfiber towel and wipe your ball with it when you are done bowling.

Place your bowling ball into a bucket so that the finger holes face downward. Pour dish detergent into the bucket. Fill the bucket with warm water and allow the ball to soak in the solution for 30 minutes.

Remove the ball from the bucket. Rinse the ball with warm water to remove the soap. Wipe the surface of the ball dry with a microfiber towel.

Apply bowling ball polish onto each side of your bowling ball. Rub the polish in a circular motion over the surface of the ball with your fingers. Buff the ball with a clean microfiber towel until all the polish is rubbed in and the ball looks shiny.

Sand the surface of your ball gently with 1000-grit sandpaper to remove extra polish. Wrap the ball up in a towel and let it sit overnight.

Tips

Reapply more polish and rebuff the ball, if the desired shine is not achieved.