Topic: Roughing up tornado balls in dryer

[akoudrin]

Most of the tornado balls I use are now very slick. I plan to rough them up using the method of putting the balls into an old sock and into the dryer.

I'm a bit worried that the balls will destroy my dryer. Should I put it together with other clothes or by itself? Is four balls a good number in an old sports sock (tied at the end, of course)? What about the length of time to do it for?

Any suggestions appreciated!

Alex

[SilentSam]

Put the balls in a sock and use a washer instead. 4 is a good number.

[akoudrin]

So a clothes washer, not dryer? And with other clothes in there?

Are you sure, because I heard about the dryer solution. Also the manufacturers claim the balls are "tumble dried for 5 hours", which makes me think the dryer...

[hacker]

You're kind of mixing up the 2 methods... For normal cleaning to get the dirt and silicone off, use the washer with jeans or towels and put them in a sock or mesh bag and let air dry.

As for roughing them up... when they refer to tumbling, they are putting them in an old dryer used only for this purpose (usually buy a used, small, cheap gas dryer with gas not hooked up)... the dryer is completely lined with sandpaper (60-100 grit) attached/glued to the inside.  As the dryer runs, the balls will drop onto the sandpaper and scuff the balls, bringing the fuzz back. You can only do this a limited number of times as the balls will get smaller and lose their roundness. You have to consider if it's worth the one time expense and effort of doing this? If you were a vendor, I would definitely do it, but for an individual it's your call.

[akoudrin]

I can easily clean the balls by hand. That's not a problem. I live in New Zealand so buying Tornado balls from the U.S. is very expensive. Hence I'm trying to prolong the life and quality of the balls I have.

So far the best method is just using a rough sand paper on them by hand, but that doesn't quite achieve the same roughness as the new balls, more like lots of scratches...

Any other suggestions appreciated.

[alaskan thunder]

I have run tournaments for years and we go through tons of balls. Tumbling is not a very effective method in my experience. Even though the balls come out scuffed, they don't last. They also tends to get weird wobbles due to not being perfectly round. I used a coffee can lined w/ sandpaper wrapped up in a towel. YMMV but I would suggest making a large order of new balls and using them sparingly...

[akoudrin]

Thanks for all your advice. In the absense of other means I'll keep hand sanding the balls and in some future point in time order a dozen or so balls from the States.