recovered my table, can i brush the felt every night?

judochoke · Oct 21, 2019

recovered my diamond table with siimiones green 860 hr, looks great. can i lightly brush the felt after playing each night? im ushing a pool brush, and its getting the chalk dust off pretty good, then i use a small hand held vaccumm to pick everything up. will this hurt the felt doing it every night???

my last felt lasted 9 months before it got nasty. im hoping to get a lot more time out of this green, as its pretty expensive to recover.

but now i can see how the pros can move the balls in a major tourament. with new cloth, all you have to do is touch the cue ball and you can get full table draw.

i like to use the foam spray on my old cloth, maybe once every two weeks on the new felt???? thanks for any indo. judo

RiverCity · Oct 21, 2019

judochoke said:
recovered my diamond table with siimiones green 860 hr, looks great. can i lightly brush the felt after playing each night? im ushing a pool brush, and its getting the chalk dust off pretty good, then i use a small hand held vaccumm to pick everything up. will this hurt the felt doing it every night???

my last felt lasted 9 months before it got nasty. im hoping to get a lot more time out of this green, as its pretty expensive to recover.

but now i can see how the pros can move the balls in a major tourament. with new cloth, all you have to do is touch the cue ball and you can get full table draw.

i like to use the foam spray on my old cloth, maybe once every two weeks on the new felt???? thanks for any indo. judo

Brush it daily.

Vacuum when you think it needs it. Daily is ok if your vacuum isnt too strong, but is overkill IMO.

Avoid the spray shit entirely, its not needed.

Cloth on a home table should last for years, not 9 months. My cloth has been on the my table for 4 years, and still has many years left in it.

I use the simonis static gimmick on mine for chalk marks, and a 3M pet roller for any lint, hairs, debris etc.

I only vacuum mine once every couple of months, and after I do, I pour a bowl of steaming hot water (as hot as you can stand having your hands in), and use a lightweight microfiber towel to wipe the surface. Wet the towel, and wring it out as dry as you can get it, then very quickly wipe the surface. Try as hard as you can to not get the cloth too wet (ie wring the fook outta the rag). I also wipe down the nose of the cushions the same way.

Bavafongoul · Oct 21, 2019

Absolutely and regardless of what you might otherwise hear from some, always brush
the cloth in one direction starting with the baulk line or break line or in the kitchen if you
prefer to the foot of the table. Brushing is recommended (fgbradleys.com) so get some
really good table and rail brushes in addition to a table vacuum like a hand held Dirt Devil.

Bob Jewett · Oct 21, 2019

judochoke said:
recovered my diamond table with siimiones green 860 hr, looks great. can i lightly brush the felt after playing each night? im ushing a pool brush, and its getting the chalk dust off pretty good, then i use a small hand held vaccumm to pick everything up. will this hurt the felt doing it every night???

my last felt lasted 9 months before it got nasty. im hoping to get a lot more time out of this green, as its pretty expensive to recover.

but now i can see how the pros can move the balls in a major tourament. with new cloth, all you have to do is touch the cue ball and you can get full table draw.

i like to use the foam spray on my old cloth, maybe once every two weeks on the new felt???? thanks for any indo. judo

Don't use the spray stuff.

If your last cloth only lasted 9 months with three hours a day of play, it was either cheap cloth or you weren't cleaning it correctly.

Vacuuming after eight hours of play is not too often. That pulls the chalk dust out of the cloth. A brush tends to spread the chalk around and work it into the cloth.

In the old days some table mechanics used plaster of Paris for the seams between the slates and that could crack and get pulled up by the vacuum. I hope your installers used something more permanent. I think a little hand vac is not strong enough for the job.

RiverCity · Oct 21, 2019

Bavafongoul said:
... always brush the cloth in one direction starting with the baulk line or break line or in the kitchen if you prefer to the foot of the table...

This advice is not needed for simonis, it came from the days of directional nap cloth.

Brush simonis whatever direction you need to.

L I F D 1 · Oct 21, 2019

Bavafongoul said:
Absolutely and regardless of what you might otherwise hear from some, always brush
the cloth in one direction starting with the baulk line or break line or in the kitchen if you
prefer to the foot of the table. Brushing is recommended (fgbradleys.com) so get some
really good table and rail brushes in addition to a table vacuum like a hand held Dirt Devil.

Yes, exactly.
I don't think I would vacuum.

L I F D 1 · Oct 21, 2019

RiverCity said:
This advice is not needed for simonis, it came from the days of directional nap cloth.

Brush simonis whatever direction you need to.

Napp runs top to bottom, Brush with the napp, One Direction.

RiverCity · Oct 22, 2019

L I F D 1 said:
Napp runs top to bottom, Brush with the napp, One Direction.

Not simonis, its a non directional weave.

Speaking of how they say to clean their cloth, they recommend the static thing, the X1, I was talking about earlier. And imagine that, they demonstrate it going long rail to long rail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_rkN-8c8w

They do mention leaving parallel "tracks" similar to vacuuming a carpet for aesthetic reasons. However its not necessary.

L I F D 1 · Oct 22, 2019

RiverCity said:
Not simonis, its a non directional weave.

Speaking of how they say to clean their cloth, they recommend the static thing, the X1, I was talking about earlier. And imagine that, they demonstrate it going long rail to long rail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_rkN-8c8w

They do mention leaving parallel "tracks" similar to vacuuming a carpet for aesthetic reasons. However its not necessary.

NO , No that's wrong, I'm not going to do that.
I carry one of these in my kit, rarely without it, that guy in the video is a salesman.

buckshotshoey · Oct 22, 2019

I vacuum on a regular basis. IMO, a table brush is just for removing chalk marks in between games, not for a thorough cleaning. I use a 1 gallon shop vac. BUT.... make sure you use the horsehair attachment. It won't lift the cloth, and helps move the chalk dust so it can be lifted away.

I really dont think it matters which way you vacuum... head to head, or side to side. AMOF, I dont think any of you will know it if i did do it side to side. I believe I could walk into a pool hall, vacuum their tables with half of them long ways, and half of the sideways, and no one would be the wiser. Not if it's done right ..not half assed. Especially on a worsted cloth.

Qaddiction · Oct 22, 2019

The only time I use a brush is to get any dirt out from under the rail where my vacuum can't reach. I believe when you brush you either push the dirt down into/under the cloth, or up into the air only to settle back down on the table again. Use a vacuum to remove the dirt from the cloth.

rexus31 · Oct 22, 2019

I use a shop vac with a 15" horse hair attachment every other use. When I sold my last table, there was ZERO chalk dust under the cloth. The cloth (860HR) was 4 years old and had significant time left in it. The new owner reused it. Vacuuming regularly is fine if you have a good attachment.

garczar · Oct 22, 2019

Using a brush on worsted, napless cloth is really only good for removing chalk marks after play. A medium suction vac with a brush attachment works way better to clean it. Brushes are really meant for old-school nap cloth. That cloth needs brushing and its to be done head-to-foot.

cue4me · Oct 22, 2019

I don't believe you should brush the table - while it removes some it mostly spreads the chalk and drives a lot of it into the cloth.
Vacuum it as you desire.
Between vacuuming use a dry microfiber cloth and wipe the entire table including the pocket faces and cushion edges. This really does a good job lifting the chalk off the cloth.
For a really thorough cleaning, follow-up with a damp microfiber that is as hot as you can stand in your hands. This last step does a great job getting the cloth clean.

garczar · Oct 22, 2019

cue4me said:
I don't believe you should brush the table - while it removes some it mostly spreads the chalk and drives a lot of it into the cloth.
Vacuum it as you desire.
Between vacuuming use a dry microfiber cloth and wipe the entire table including the pocket faces and cushion edges. This really does a good job lifting the chalk off the cloth.
For a really thorough cleaning, follow-up with a damp microfiber that is as hot as you can stand in your hands. This last step does a great job getting the cloth clean.

Yep. That's the ticket.

jimmyco · Oct 22, 2019

recovered my table, can i brush the felt every night?

It really does not matter what time you do it.

JackOfNoTrades · Oct 22, 2019

This is a fantastic thread. A big thanks to the OP.

I reckon I can get a little microfiber towel pretty hot. I’d wear gloves if that’d help. Hot with water but wring it to be as dry as can reasonably be achieved — this is what I’m getting. (I’ve got Simonis 860, I don’t know if it’s HR or not though.)

Is a 2.5 HP shop-vac overkill? And the brush attachment only, never use that wide ‘scoop’ end with the hard plastic edge?

Thanks and /cheers

PS: I’ve seen that X1 (?) square cleaner device that Simonis makes, but is it worth the investment if I always follow the above? Those kids that put my table together said just use a lint roller. Nicest fellas you’d wanna meet, but I’m following y’alls advice here ;-)

garczar · Oct 22, 2019

JackOfNoTrades said:
This is a fantastic thread. A big thanks to the OP.

I reckon I can get a little microfiber towel pretty hot. I’d wear gloves if that’d help. Hot with water but wring it to be as dry as can reasonably be achieved — this is what I’m getting. (I’ve got Simonis 860, I don’t know if it’s HR or not though.)

Is a 2.5 HP shop-vac overkill? And the brush attachment only, never use that wide ‘scoop’ end with the hard plastic edge?

Thanks and /cheers

PS: I’ve seen that X1 (?) square cleaner device that Simonis makes, but is it worth the investment if I always follow the above? Those kids that put my table together said just use a lint roller. Nicest fellas you’d wanna meet, but I’m following y’alls advice here ;-)

Using the brush attach. will prevent pulling up and possibly loosening the cloth. If table really gets dirty you can add a little Woolite(1capful/gal) to the hot water.

franko · Oct 22, 2019

Thanks

RiverCity said:
Not simonis, its a non directional weave.

Speaking of how they say to clean their cloth, they recommend the static thing, the X1, I was talking about earlier. And imagine that, they demonstrate it going long rail to long rail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_rkN-8c8w

They do mention leaving parallel "tracks" similar to vacuuming a carpet for aesthetic reasons. However its not necessary.

That video sold me on the static X-1.

KenRobbins · Oct 22, 2019

franko said:
That video sold me on the static X-1.

It's like a magic trick, isn't it? If he used a damp microfiber cloth after using the X1, the damp cloth will pick the rest up and much more then the X1. The only difference between the two, you can get a big pack of microfiber cloths for around 10$ and actually clean felt or can choose the X1 and have felt that "looks" clean.

recovered my table, can i brush the felt every night?

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