Q&A for How to Clean a Bowling Ball

Yes, you can.

If you bowl with a hook, the oil buildup will affect the reaction of your ball. For instance, if you were previously balancing on the edge of the lane before your hook, an accumulation of oil can cause you to not catch that last little bit of lane and fall into the gutter. Similarly, if you aren't flirting with the edge of the lane, the oil buildup can cause your ball to react later and with less intensity, causing you to miss the pocket.

I wouldn't do that. The furniture polish would leave a slick residue on the ball, which would cause it to slide down the lane uncontrollably.

Baby wipes are mild enough to clean your ball in a pinch without doing damage to it, though these will not be as thorough as degreaser wipes, alcohol/ammonia based wipes, or specially formulated bowling wipes.

Certain kinds of glass cleaner may use ingredients that are harmful to your ball, but Windex (specifically) and ammonia (which is the main component of most glass cleaners) are approved cleaning agents by the US Bowling Congress.

If rubber has scuffed your ball and left behind a difficult to remove mark, and if all other methods have failed to remove this mark, use a very small amount of acetone to spot clean only the mark. Be sparing in your usage. Acetone will deteriorate the surface of the ball.

It will affect how it rolls, it's speed, and the hook.

No, acetone will harm the shell of your ball, and it won't hook right afterwards.

You can look online to find bowling websites, which should have the option to purchase bowling wipes.

There are "bowling ball rejuvenators" (sold online; Google the term) that are essentially buckets with hot-air blowers in the removable lid. They heat the ball to a still-safe temperature, which causes the oil to "sweat" out of the ball. At that point, you can remove the oil with a suitable liquid cleaner and cloth (as described in many posts above).

To bowl strikes consistently you will need to bowl with a hook. The reason for the hook is so the ball impacts the pins at the optimum angle. Bowling straight down the lane requires much more speed and power to produce at best random strikes. Thus why the pros roll a hooking ball.

Some people have two (a strike ball and spare ball). The strike ball is the one that hooks and then the spare ball is one that goes straight. That way your aim is more accurate to pick up the spare.

You can, though it will not clean as well as an ammonia-based cleaner. The formula is not as strong, so it will not de-grease as well.