You took huge step in elevating your game to the next level by investing in your own bowling ball, congratulations! You don't have to try and figure out a new ball every time you're on the lane and your scores show it. No more being stuck with a ball that’s too heavy or too light when you hit the lanes, no more pinched fingers from having to use a ball with holes that are too small…but what you may not realize is that owning your own ball is also going to entail more than the initial dollar investment.

Bowling balls actually require some maintenance in order to keep them performing at their peak. Bowling lanes are regularly oiled to protect the wood and keep the surface slick and smooth, because of that oil on the lanes your ball will pick up a small amount of that oil each time it rolls down the lane.  After a few games of picking up the oil from the lanes your ball will get a little bit of build-up that can hurt your performance by slowing down the ball and impacting the level of hook that you get if you don't take the necessary steps to keep your ball clean.

The only one way to fight oil build-up is to give your ball a good, old-fashioned scrub. Keep in mind that how often you wash your ball will depend on the material that it’s made out of. That cheap plastic ball you reserve for an easy spare, for example, absorbs very little oil, so you can get away with cleaning it just every once in a while. Now if you have a higher-end bowling ball made of materials like reactive resin or pearl coverstock it will absorb a significantly larger amount of oil. The rule of thumb is to give your ball a good cleaning once every six games.

Every bowler has his or her own favorite method of cleaning their ball. You may already have heard of bowlers who bake their balls in the oven at low temperatures to help dry out the oil, or others who let the ball sit in kitty litter (yes, you read that right: kitty litter), which also helps leach out some of the oil. You really don’t need to resort to these rather eccentric measures. You'll be just as well suited to purchase a cleaner formulated for bowling balls from your friends at bowling.com and rub it into the ball with a towel or terrycloth. Before you purchase the cleaner be sure to do some research on your specific ball to see what cleaning methods have proven the most effective for your specific ball, a lot of times for example balls need to be polished after they've been cleaned.

With a little bit of easy routine maintenance you'll be dominating your local alley for a long time!