Aramith tournament champion balls, white spots after playing.

[The Stig]

Ive got a set of Aramith tournament champion balls that i use for practicing, the balls are great so i have no prob with them.

Ive noticed that after each practice session with the balls they are covered in white spots, it looks like they develop measels after a 2 - 3 hour practice lol, thats obviously chalk thats being picked up some how. I use green triangle chalk on a Phoenix black laminated tip which is 9.5mm.

I clean the balls each time before i play so its a fresh, clean set of balls each time but no matter how well you clean them they will have white looking speckly spots all over them after you have finished.

Is this the norm, does anyone else notice the same ?

[DeanH]

I have never noticed this with my set of ATCs.
What do you clean them with?
Usually a rub with a dry clean cloth with suffice or if really dirty a quick wash down of soapy water.
You can use that ball cleaning fluid they sell but I havenever used it.
Is the table recently brushed down when you play?

[pearce]

We've had a similar problem with black spots coming off the leathers after the tables were recovered and new leathers put on. I was initially told it was burn marks but I could scrape them off with my thumbnail. It's still happening after eight months and Paddy Morgan will change leathers in a couple of weeks time. We found it was the leathers by cleaning the balls and then hitting them hard into the pockets. The spots reappeared.

[T.C.]

I have the exact same problem, its been driving me mad for years. I even got a new set of ATC's and still had the same result. I have to clean them after every 5/6 hours use. I use the Aramith Ball Cleaner fluid which does a fantastic job, just wish i didnt have to do it so often. Thanks Pearce, id never considered that it may be the leathers on my table.

[The Stig]

We found it was the leathers by cleaning the balls and then hitting them hard into the pockets. The spots reappeared.

That makes a lot of sense, it was baffling me as to why the balls were getting marked in this way each time i practiced.

I use the Aramith Ball Cleaner fluid which does a fantastic job, just wish i didnt have to do it so often. Thanks Pearce, id never considered that it may be the leathers on my table.

Ditto, its a novelty when you first clean them, it gets a bit of a pain after when you have to clean them after each practice before you play again.

[vmax4steve]

We've had a similar problem with black spots coming off the leathers after the tables were recovered and new leathers put on. I was initially told it was burn marks but I could scrape them off with my thumbnail. It's still happening after eight months and Paddy Morgan will change leathers in a couple of weeks time. We found it was the leathers by cleaning the balls and then hitting them hard into the pockets. The spots reappeared.

Do you have black stick on table spots ?
If you do you will find that the black spots are caused by these whenever a colour is hit hard. If the black spots appear on reds then it maybe the pocket leathers, but they are usually brown aren't they ?

[pearce]

Definitely not black from table spots as we cleaned balls and hit them into pockets making sure that we didn't go over any table spots. I should say that when they reclothed the tables, they soaked the leathers in something to make them more pliable and easier to work with.

[mick.hinde]

The white spots on the balls would figure as being from the leather pockets. I have used atc's at the club with no marks on the ball simply by spending hour after hour missing the pockets!!!

[The Stig]

I wonder how or if they get round this in professional tournaments as the pocket leathers will be brand new especially on televised tournamnts, would you say its new leather or older leather that would be the most probably cause or both ? I had a practice last night and again the balls are covered in white spots/chaffe marks, they don't half take some cleaning after.

[T.C.]

i tried putting a cotton cloth over the pocket leathers to see if that stopped the white spots, but they still appeared. So i then cleaned the balls again and just hit some around the table, none entering the pockets. The white spots appeared again. So my conclusion is that its not the pocket leathers but something forming on the balls as they contact each other?????? Anybody have a contact at Aramith that could help us out?

[Ricky2112]

Could it be that the slate was filled with filler to level before the cloth was put on and not cleaned before the cloth was laid on. you could be picking up dust particals through the cloth from either slate dust or filler dust which would explain white and black spots.
Just a thought as I have just bought a table and stripped it down and there was loads of dust under the cloth. Try lightly hovering the cloth if possible then brushing it.

Cheers Ricky

[moglet]

These white or dull spots are almost certainly abrasion marks due to higher than normal friction during ball to ball contact. They will normally be around two to three millimetres in diameter, where the gloss has been scuffed. Those marks that result from chalk kicks clearly show where the chalk grit has been pressed into the ball surface.
There are many threads that discuss the effects of both cases.