Lava Soap to Remove Stains on Cloth

[KINGSCOURT905]

You do have to scrub it real good with a wet towel to make sure you remove all the soap after you’ve thoroughly scrubbed in the soap / water with a brush. And I warn you, unless you wet down and do this on the entire table surface, it will not look good at all.

Thanks, Chris, that is exactly the part I was nervous about, so it is good to hear it straight from someone who has done it. The warning about doing the whole surface is really useful too. My instinct was to test a small patch first, but if that would leave it looking patchy, I would rather know that before I start than after. Appreciate you spelling out the rinse step as well.

 

[Bob Jewett]

You do have to scrub it real good with a wet towel to make sure you remove all the soap after you’ve thoroughly scrubbed in the soap / water with a brush. And I warn you, unless you wet down and do this on the entire table surface, it will not look good at all.

In a previous thread, there was a video of a very, very wet table and a shop vac.

I suppose the pumice or whatever is in Lava soap could be a worry, but vacuuming after complete drying ought to fix that.

Did the cloth get looser after the wash?

 

[ChrisinNC]

In a previous thread, there was a video of a very, very wet table and a shop vac.

I suppose the pumice or whatever is in Lava soap could be a worry, but vacuuming after complete drying ought to fix that.

Did the cloth get looser after the wash?

No. That was not my video. Our table was relatively wet, but not wet enough to use a shop vac, just a fan set at the end of the table which dried it up in about 4-5 hours.

 

[Logandgriff]

I used to use Lava soap when I was a summer truck driver. If I used it too long it would take some skin off. I'd worry about what it does to Simonis.

 

[336Robin]

This was recommended to me by Ernesto Dominguez while he was here at our room a few weeks ago to recover all our tables, which hadn’t been recovered by him in 3 years. On a few of our most badly stained 860HR Simonis clothed tables before he recovered them, we experimented with the soap with amazing results, as it removed all the stains as well as bringing the tournament blue original color back to the cloth. Having owned and operated our poolroom for the last 30+ years, I wished I had learned this years ago - absolutely amazing!

You must use a very firm brush and really soap down the entire table including the cushion tops with the soap and water - really scrubbing in the soap and water with the firm brush especially on the stained areas, then completely rinsing out the soap off the cloth with a wet cloth / towel. Then set a fan on the end of the table to help dry the cloth. I took some before and after photos on my phone which I’d be glad to text to anyone who’d like them, just PM me.

I've helped clean tables using a gallon of clean water and a cap full of woolite.

The tables were vacuumed and cleaned really well x 2 or 3 before the scrubbing like you described.

It was amazing how the tables turned out. This was at Chandleys in Statesville which is no longer there
but it worked so well it extended the life of the cloth and no one complained.

 

[ChrisinNC]

I've helped clean tables using a gallon of clean water and a cap full of woolite.

The tables were vacuumed and cleaned really well x 2 or 3 before the scrubbing like you described.

It was amazing how the tables turned out. This was at Chandleys in Statesville which is no longer there
but it worked so well it extended the life of the cloth and no one complained.

When you say a gallon of water and the woolite can you explain a little more how you got that water/woolite on the cloth? With a soaking wet cloth doused in it just one small section of the table at a time, or just poured directly on the cloth?

 

[336Robin]

When you say a gallon of water and the woolite can you explain a little more how you got that water/woolite on the cloth? With a soaking wet cloth doused in it just one small section of the table at a time, or just poured directly on the cloth?

The woolite/water mixture was in a 5 gal bucket.

The clean cloth was doused in it and then wrung out really well so as it was not soppy.

Then scrub, douse, wring out as needed until the table is done rails and all.

This kept from over wetting things but eventually the cloth gets quite wet as you scrub and clean the cloth with the
towells.

When a table was done

Dry Cloths if you have them are used to scrub all cloth surfaces to try and absorb any
water they can then a large fan is turned on the table and you go to the next table.

Unless you have a lot of traffic, I would suspect this would give you at least 4 more months on the cloth if not 6 months.

Depends on what you want.

Simonis has become more expensive. I would be tempted to try some different cloths on a table
at a time before I did the whole place that way.

Good luck