Well, in the last four weeks, they figured out that the Kegel wasn't actually washing the lanes as it oiled, it was just dragging crap up and down the lane so we were basically bowling on 60ft of slop from the foul line to the pin deck...
So, oil to 38 and a backend is a definite improvement in my book- the lanes are actually playing consistently again. For the last fortnight at least (touching every available wooden surface here) it's been pretty good.