How to Clean Aramith Pool Balls: A Facility Manager's Checklist

I'm an office administrator for a 200-person company. I manage supply ordering for our two locations—roughly $80,000 a year, maybe $75,000, I'd have to check our system. That means I've bought everything from Beats Studio Pro headphones for our conference rooms to Samsung Earbuds 3 Pro for employees who keep losing theirs, and I've also looked up 'what are the top-rated elliptical machines?' for the gym. But the product I get the most questions about is simpler than all of that: how to clean Aramith pool balls.

This checklist is for anyone who manages a break room, rec room, or small commercial space with a pool table. It's specifically about Aramith balls—including the Aramith Tournament pool balls we keep for league nights. If you run a pool hall with 15 tables, your cleaning frequency is different, but the steps are the same.

First, why does this need a separate checklist? Because Aramith balls aren't the cheap polyester balls you might have grown up with. They're made from phenolic resin. That material is tougher and holds its surface finish longer. But the finish is also sensitive to the wrong cleaner. You can scrub a cheap ball and get away with it. Do that to a tournament ball and you might ruin the roll. According to Aramith's maintenance guide (aramith.com), warm water, mild soap, and a soft cloth is the right way to clean them.

How Often Should You Clean Aramith Pool Balls?

It depends on how much table time they get. Our office table gets used maybe 2 hours a day. We clean the balls every other week. If you have a commercial table in a bar or pool hall, I'd do it weekly. The cue ball, though, is different. The cue ball gets chalk transfer from every single shot. Wipe it down every day if the table is in steady use.

Oh, and if you have a ball return system, add an extra cleaning reminder. Balls rolling through the return tracks pick up dust and chalk from places a table brush can't reach.

What You'll Need

• Two lint-free microfiber cloths
• Warm water, not hot
• A drop of mild dish soap
• A clean, dry towel for final drying

Optional: a dedicated Aramith ball cleaner. I don't use it for every cleaning, but it's nice if the balls have been sitting for a while.

The 6-Step Cleaning Checklist

Step 1: Brush the table first

This step used to seem pointless. 'The table looks clean, just wipe the balls.' Then I watched chalk dust fall from the rails onto balls I'd already wiped. Chalk dust is abrasive. If you roll clean balls across a dusty cloth, you're dragging abrasive particles across the surface. Brush the cloth and the rails before you touch the balls. If you have a small vacuum tool, even better.

Step 2: Inspect every ball

Hold each ball under good light. Look for chips, scratches, or heavy smile marks from the rack. A tiny chip won't always be visible on a fast shot, but you'll notice it when the ball wobbles. Pull any damaged ball out and order a replacement. (Should mention: we keep an extra Aramith set in the cabinet for exactly this moment.)

Step 3: Wash with warm soapy water

Fill a bowl with warm water. Add one drop of mild dish soap. Work with one ball at a time. Dip it, wipe it with a soft cloth, and move on. Don't soak the balls, don't use hot water, and don't use anything like Windex, bleach, or acetone. Harsh chemicals can strip the finish. If you see a product that says 'cuts through grease,' it's probably too strong.

Step 4: Dry and buff with a clean microfiber cloth

If you used soap, rinse the ball in clean water first. Then dry it immediately with the second microfiber cloth. Use a quick circular motion. Flip the cloth often so you're not just moving chalk around. For Aramith Tournament pool balls—the ones used in the Mosconi Cup—this dry wipe is all the 'polish' they need. Old-style paste polish is an outdated idea. The new finish is designed to stay smooth without a coating.

Step 5: Let them air dry for 10 minutes

You might think a thorough dry wipe is enough. It usually is. But the ball return tracks and the rack can have tiny amounts of moisture, and it's better to be safe. Lay all 16 balls on a dry towel and leave them for 10 minutes. I learned this after I rushed once and a damp ball left a watermark on the cloth. Not a huge deal, but it makes the cloth look dirty and players notice.

Step 6: Give the cue ball special attention

The cue ball is the workhorse. Every player tips it with chalk. Over time, chalk residue builds up and can affect cue-ball spin and speed. In my experience, the cue ball gets dirty about twice as fast as the object balls. Check it after each session. A quick wipe takes 10 seconds and makes the next player's shot more consistent.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using a multi-purpose spray cleaner. I assumed 'any basic cleaner would do.' It didn't. The balls looked great for about an hour, then a player complained the table felt 'sticky.' The residue from the spray changed ball roll. We had to clean everything again.

Cleaning the balls but not the table. This is the same mistake as Step 1, but it's worth saying again. Dirty cloth is the enemy.

Over-polishing. More polish isn't cleaner. It's actually a film you then have to remove. The modern phenolic resin surface is made to shed chalk and dust. A dry microfiber buff is the right ending.

Forgetting about the spare set. The backup balls in our cabinet are rarely used, so they collect dust. Dust is sticky. Wipe the spares once a quarter, even if they haven't touched cloth.

Only cleaning on someone's birthday. If you don't schedule it, it won't happen. Put it on the maintenance calendar. Our office cleans balls every other Tuesday. It takes about 20 minutes, and no one has to be asked.

The Bottom Line

The fundamentals are simple: keep the balls clean, keep chemicals away, and wipe the cue ball more often than the rest. What was best practice in 2020—heavy polish, commercial wax, a lot of elbow grease—is now unnecessary for Aramith's modern finish. The execution has changed, but the basics haven't.

This process works for every Aramith set we manage, but my experience is based on four sets in an office setting. If you're running a pool hall with 20 tables, your cleaning frequency will be different. And if you're buying balls for the first time, spend the extra money on Aramith. You'll spend more time playing and less time replacing them.