I was a pretty early adopter of this stuff (at least it seemed like it, now it seems like it's starting to really catch on more than before at least) and now realized that although it makes the ball zip around like wax should, it leaves AWFUL residue on the ball and eventually clouds up the playfield with dirt pretty early on.

I don't think I have any pictures (I'll take some when I get back to the machine in a few days), but I had a game at Pinfest with a brand new ball and later that day I was servicing the game with Vic & jrpinball and one of them pointed out how I REALLY should get a new ball before mine destroys the playfield. I was shocked (since I just bought it) and looked at it, and it looked awful and pitted. However, it was just this strange coating of dried up wax and indents from hits into the wax even though the wax was already dried (of course, it was put on days ago) and the excess was wiped off after being applied. I scrapped off this weird thick coating with my fingernail and the shiny ball was still fine underneath but it was impossible to wipe off with a rag and would have had to be scratched off very carefully with a fingernail all the way.

I bought a brand new ball at that point and a few hours later it looked the exact same and I just let it go for the rest of the show, but the playfield also looked horribly dirty after it was over).

I think I'm just going to go with Mill Wax at this point. There's so much silly controversy over it here (and Novus) but some friends I have with museum quality EM machines use Mill Wax and it does just fine. (CORRECTION: Actually, mid-posting I read up on it a little and maybe I'll just go with Novus, we'll see, still no plans to clearcoat ever anyways)

I feel like I may have let it sit a little too long and it hardened and it was too difficult to wipe all of it off (where Vid's guide or somewhere else I read says with a good wax it's not really possible to have it sit for "too long", so don't worry, just don't leave it for too short of a time) but even on a machine I did much quicker I believe I noticed similar results on the ball.

Just figured I'd let you all know. I'll grab some pictures when I get back to NJ in a few days.

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This wax debate is so frustrating. A few months ago I was paid by a friend running a pinball establishment to go through his only EM that he just picked up for the place and heeded all warnings and used Naphtha and this wax and it looked okay (still really not that shiny though), and warned him that other cleaners may work better but they could be a danger. Next time I pop in he just said he had one of his other workers go through it with Novus anyways and another wax and it looked 10x better then, and did just fine too. These warnings are starting to not even be fact anymore. Also I talked to some experienced guys at Pinfest and they said alcohol and magic eraser squares for cleaning as long as you're gentle. After reading Pinside electing magic eraser as the next worse-than-satan product for ages, you should have seen my expression! Tried it on a rough playfield and it worked well until I tried to scrub out a yellowed part which it then ate through. My fault, though. So there is worry, but maybe sometimes we worry a little too much?

Mother's Carnauba seems like the Pinside wax of choice right now so I'll probably order some of that. I only picked up Johnson's because I was in a rush a few months ago and needed something I could get in a store, and no stores around here carried Mother's Carnauba without the harsh cleaner in it.

Going to just do it right this time and order some of that online.

What do you use for general cleaning beforehand, JR? Naphtha seems like a popular & harmless choice but I'm really just not seeing results no matter how hard I scrub, I'm thinking that's more for playfields that have already been serviced rather than ones that need it after not being touched for decades, even though nobody really seems to specify. It looks good until it dries, and removes surface dirt, like using just water on a dirty piece of anything for instance, but ends up drying and looking bad again of course. Doesn't get the job done for me personally. Surveying my options.

Thanks for the input! Pinside had a fit over it because it's silicone and not real wax apparently:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mill-wax

There's so many differing opinions out there, lol. This is such a crazy subject of this hobby.