The Clean Gleem 8 ball cleaner is the smaller capacity version of the Clean Gleem commercial grade billiard ball cleaner. You can read our review of the original, full capacity Clean Gleem ball cleaner here
Why is cleaning & polishing your billiard balls important?
Before we jump into the review, it is important to spend some time up front talking about the importance of keeping your billiard balls clean and polished.
Besides the balls looking nice, keeping them clean is important because the condition of the balls significantly impacts the playability. Pool is all about friction. Friction between the cue tip & the ball, the balls and the cloth & balls with other balls . Balls that are dirty or covered with chalk will react very differently than balls that are clean and polished. Balls that are dirty can skid, will not take English, follow or draw consistently. It can also have inaccurate effects on the interaction of the balls impacting other balls with regard to the accuracy of cut shots, caroms, etc. It is important to keep the billiard balls clean to assure the balls play consistently & properly and in addition, it will also prolong the life of the table felt.
Review of the Clean Gleem 8 ball capacity cleaner
Unboxing
The Clean Gleem arrived in perfect condition, well packaged to assure there could be no damage during delivery. You can be confident the unit will arrive in perfect condition given my experience. The box was sturdy and the unit was well cushioned inside with good amounts of foam panels on the bottom, on all sides and on the top of the unit. The unit fit very snugly inside the box with no opportunity for movement and the foam all around assured protection for the unit itself.
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Setting up unit was a snap. There was no assembly required. I Just pulled the Clean Gleem 8 right out of the box, plugged it in, and it was ready to go
My impressions of the unit
This unit has some significant features that make it a much more compelling unit for the home over the full sized unit. First of all, the smaller footprint makes it much more convenient to place in your home and the unit is significantly lighter, which makes it much easier to handle. It fit very nicely on a small table and was able to be conveniently located in the room with my pool table. I also appreciated the movement of the cord from the side of the machine to the back of the machine which allowed me to hide the cord and gives it a cleaner look. While smaller in footprint, it does not skimp on the way it is constructed. Like the full sized Clean Gleem, this is a solid, well made unit. The exterior of the unit is an aesthetically pleasing heavy wood cabinet.
Designed & built exactly like the full sized unit, the cover where the balls sit simply lifts off giving easy, convenient access to the motor and rollers. The rollers are heavy and covered with a durable thick carpet-like material. The machine is open underneath, providing extraordinarily easy access to the powerful motor and belt drive system that power the machine. Overall, I think the unit is very solid and well made.
Cleaning and polishing the balls
Prepping the balls:
Following the instructions, there are three ways to prep the balls for polishing 1) You can apply a small drop of ball cleaner to each individual ball first using a soft cloth and letting them dry & film, then place them in the unit for cleaning. 2) You can prepare a cleansing mixture using ball cleaner & alcohol in a spray bottle and lightly spray the balls when rotating in the unit 3) if the balls are not overly dirty and just need freshening up, you can simply dampen them and put them in the unit for cleaning. I appreciated having all these choices, which gave me options on which prep suited me most. I also I appreciated not having to use a proprietary ball cleaner & being able to use the standard Aramith ball cleaner which I have always used and trusted
Cleaning and polishing with the Clean Gleem 8:
The process was super convenient and easy. I simply dropped 8 balls into the chambers, set the timer for 5 minutes and let the unit do it’s thing.
The notches between the chambers make it very easy to place and remove balls from the unit
The chambers the balls sit in are well padded and hold the balls snugly while they are rotating. As the balls are spinning, they vibrate against the chamber pads assuring that the entirety of the ball was getting cleaned and polished. The balls spin at a nice velocity and I like that each sits in it’s own chamber, protecting them as they spin.
The unit is powerful and the balls spun at a nice velocity. I found the unit to be surprisingly quiet and very stable on my small end table while in use. .
The following video illustrates the Clean Gleem 8 in use during this review
The results met my expectations. The unit did a good job cleaning and polishing the balls. While the timer has a 10 minute setting, I found 5 minutes was adequate to get the job done.
In Summary
The Home Market
I really like this unit for the home market. I realize many casual players that have pool tables at home may be reluctant to spend this kind of money for a commercial ball cleaner, especially with the popularity of the do it yourself (DIY) options that are out there. I myself had a DIY ball cleaner for many years. However, there are advantages to this unit over DIY options, which include: 1) a good commercial ball cleaner will last for many years & over the long haul, will stand up better and will provide more overall value as a long term investment. 2) It will save you time over building, assembling and maintaining your own unit 3) There is no concern over damage to the balls as each sits in it’s own padded chamber. Many DIY units have the balls rotating and banging together. 4) You can leave this out in your pool room and it will be convenient and look great
The Commercial Market
While this ball cleaner can certainly meet the needs of a commercial establishment, I would recommend the full sized unit. I find the advantage of being able to clean a whole rack of balls to be much more compelling for use in a commercial setting. Either one of these units however, represent a significant lower price point than other commercial ball cleaners in the market and are definitely worth your consideration. These units are made well and I expect will stand up to the extensive use it will see in a commercial setting.
Overall Assessment
I really like this unit, especially for the home market. The Clean Gleem 8 ball capacity cleaner does as good a job as other ball cleaners on the market at a significantly lower price point. It’s super quiet to run, has a small footprint, looks great, is super convenient to use and does a good job cleaning the balls. I really appreciate that I can use the cleaner of my choice and that I can replace the pads with simple parts available at big box stores. The unit is built to last & I feel you will get a nice return on your investment in terms of longevity. Also compelling to me is that the Clean Gleem is made in the United States.
All of this earns the Clean Gleem 8 capacity ball cleaner our 5 star rating. If you are in the market for a commercial ball cleaner, Clean Gleem is worth your consideration.
