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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Golf ball cleaning - update

This is rather out of place on this blog that I fill with funny stuff I find on the Internet, but it's my home away from home in the blogging world, so this is where I post it.

My original post on cleaning golf balls was here.

Okay, so now I've found and cleaned a couple thousand golf balls, I've simplifed my process.

1. I take a couple dozen golf balls and soak them in a pail of water and about 1/4 cup of Clorox Clean Up (cleaner with bleach) over night. I buy the big gallon jugs at BJs, but you could probably use some kind of cheap detergent and some laundry bleach.

2. I wash each ball with a terry-cloth rag or old wash cloth - this will usually take about 90% of the dirt and  grime off the ball. If it's perfect at this point, dry it and toss it in your "keeper" bag for later use.

3. At this point, if I realize the ball is scuffed up or badly discolored, I toss it in the bag of balls to use for practice. There's not much you can do for them unless you've got the equipment to refinish them (and I don't).

4. There are a select few balls that have some magic marker ID marks on them, or some stuff that didn't wash off but looks like it could be cleaned. I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (sponge - can get in grocery store) on this stuff. They are expensive, so I try to use them as a last resort.

5. If the ball is looking better, go back to #2.

6. Last  step - if it's a really nice ball except for some magic marker ID written on it, I TRY (operational word is try) a little nail polish remover on it. This is not kind to the ball - it may take some of the sheen off the finish of the ball along with some of the magic marker. To be honest, I have reached the point where I leave the markings and use the ball anyway.

That's it. If you've got some suggestions to add, I'm glad to hear them - but I don't want to spend much time on any one ball anymore - I've got tons of them and there seem to be tons more out there on the golf courses to retrieve.

Happy golfing.


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