Any Reason Not to Use a Brush or a Vac With a Brush Attachment on Cloth?

[boogieman]

Nobody’s mentioned the X-1
Does it work?

View attachment 719934

It's ok but not great. It's fine for spot treatment like if you see a huge pile of chalk dust from a break or miscue or something. IMO it's not really worth the asking price. A $2 microfiber towel will do the same job. For this price you can buy a robot vacuum.

 

[SpotOn]

I have solved this problem by changing to Taom V10 chalk. I used to use a battery operated vacuum with a clear canister and would get lots of chalk out of the cloth when using any chalk other than v10. Now I get NO chalk out of the cloth thus I don't find a need to vacuum it any longer.

 

[g0ds gReeN]

These particular tables are the fastest playing tables in Houston and they don't have to replace the felt that often. But they do anyways about once a year.

Where at in Houston? Last place I think I remember that had 3c along with snooker and pool tables was off Highway 6 somewhere.

 

[realkingcobra]

I’ve been told by a knowledgeable colleague, who has owned/operated a pool room for 30+ years to never use any type of brush on pool table cloth, regardless of whether it’s a hand brush or a brush attachment on the end of a vac – not a rotating brush.

Anyone here have any thoughts / expertise on this topic as to how a brush would detrimentally affect how Simonis 860 would perform / play over the long term? I’ve always found a brush attachment on a shop vac does a great job on our tables, not only sucking up the chalk, but dissipating the noticeable chalk marks.

We’re getting all our tables recovered soon and considering eliminating the brush from the vac as well as use of a table brush between vacuums, to see if it results in any difference in how the tables play over the long term.

Best shop vac attachment on the market, fits any 1 1/4" hose. Just eliminate the squeegee part, and use the brush only. Instead of like all other brush attachments, this has the brush bristles in the center of the attachment, which allows suction on both sides of the brush. Using a regular brush to clean the cloth is like using a broom to clean your carpet at home. If you don't lift the chalk and dust build up off the cloth to remove it, all you're doing is spreading it around, and filtering it through the cloth. You can tell how good of a job you've been doing cleaning your tables when you have them recovered. If there's any dust on the slate, it's not working. With this brush, I can clean the dust right through the cloth, even if the table was never vacuumed before. I've proven this point to bar owners for about 40 years now, by just vacuuming half the slate first, before taking the cloth off. Then you can clearly see which half I vacuumed! and if you turn it sideways, you can clean the tops of the rail cloth as well.

Ace Hardware and several other stores carry it.

 

[MattPoland]

I have solved this problem by changing to Taom V10 chalk. I used to use a battery operated vacuum with a clear canister and would get lots of chalk out of the cloth when using any chalk other than v10. Now I get NO chalk out of the cloth thus I don't find a need to vacuum it any longer.

I get that Taom is marketed as clean. And compared to Masters it is a fair representation. But be honest. You chalk your tip. You strike the cueball. Chalk puffs off the tip onto the table. If it didn’t, you’d never need to chalk and you’d never miscue. But Taom is a fine chalk. So it settles in between the fibers of the felt. It takes longer before it builds up enough to affect table roll. But sooner or later it will add up. Periodic (even less periodic) maintenance is still called for. For the sake of the audience, it’s worth not over exaggerating the chalk.

 

[dquarasr]

I get that Taom is marketed as clean. And compared to Masters it is a fair representation. But be honest. You chalk your tip. You strike the cueball. Chalk puffs off the tip onto the table. If it didn’t, you’d never need to chalk and you’d never miscue. But Taom is a fine chalk. So it settles in between the fibers of the felt. It takes longer before it builds up enough to affect table roll. But sooner or later it will add up. Periodic (even less periodic) maintenance is still called for. For the sake of the audience, it’s worth not over exaggerating the chalk.

Tru dat but needed maintenance is so much less frequently. I play about an hour a day. I bought V10 in December. Looking at it now it’s hard to tell it’s been used except that the outside paper is worn a little from handling. There is hardly any chalk missing from the original shape (I am a chalk brusher, not a core driller), so there’s not a whole lot that has ended up in the cloth.

That said I still perform maintenance of some kind on my Simonis about monthly.

 

[boogieman]

I get that Taom is marketed as clean. And compared to Masters it is a fair representation. But be honest. You chalk your tip. You strike the cueball. Chalk puffs off the tip onto the table. If it didn’t, you’d never need to chalk and you’d never miscue. But Taom is a fine chalk. So it settles in between the fibers of the felt. It takes longer before it builds up enough to affect table roll. But sooner or later it will add up. Periodic (even less periodic) maintenance is still called for. For the sake of the audience, it’s worth not over exaggerating the chalk.

Of my friends that play frequently on my table, four use V10 now. When I empty out the robot vacuum, the filth is still blue in there, from the two or three folks using Masters. Some of the Masters folks only chalk once every couple racks when they remember it and they don't play here nearly as much.

I used to pick up an insane amount of chalk dust off the table when we all used Masters, it's much much less now, but again, it's all blue. I'm not saying V10 doesn't get on the cloth but the quantity is almost nothing compared to traditional chalks.

My table gets a lot of play and I just put the robot vac to work once a week. It will even clean when the lights are off and I'm on my way to bed so it's a pretty easy routine. I have noticed a bit of green tinge on pocket facings after a year of V10, but a cap of woolite in warm water about once every two to three months on the pocket facings keep them clean.

I used to have to run the robot 2-3 times a week if I wanted to not look like I'd been intimate with Papa Smurf.

I'm guessing on an average use home table you might not notice the green tinge on the facings for a year or more but it does happen. We put the table through it's paces so it adds up.

 

[RT Ford]

Of my friends that play frequently on my table, four use V10 now. When I empty out the robot vacuum, the filth is still blue in there, from the two or three folks using Masters. Some of the Masters folks only chalk once every couple racks when they remember it and they don't play here nearly as much.

I used to pick up an insane amount of chalk dust off the table when we all used Masters, it's much much less now, but again, it's all blue. I'm not saying V10 doesn't get on the cloth but the quantity is almost nothing compared to traditional chalks.

My table gets a lot of play and I just put the robot vac to work once a week. It will even clean when the lights are off and I'm on my way to bed so it's a pretty easy routine. I have noticed a bit of green tinge on pocket facings after a year of V10, but a cap of woolite in warm water about once every two to three months on the pocket facings keep them clean.

I used to have to run the robot 2-3 times a week if I wanted to not look like I'd been intimate with Papa Smurf.

I'm guessing on an average use home table you might not notice the green tinge on the facings for a year or more but it does happen. We put the table through it's paces so it adds up.

Remember...there's a lot of dust in the air in an average home, so it's not just chalk dust that accumulates on the table. I always advise my customers that don't have a table cover, to get one, to help keep the table clean. They're generally lousy shots, but cats also like playing on pool tables, so a cover helps to keep cat hair off the fabric also.

 

[boogieman]

Remember...there's a lot of dust in the air in an average home, so it's not just chalk dust that accumulates on the table. I always advise my customers that don't have a table cover, to get one, to help keep the table clean. They're generally lousy shots, but cats also like playing on pool tables, so a cover helps to keep cat hair off the fabric also.

Good point on the dust. I have a cover but I don't use it. If I had a cover on I'd probably not play as often. There's something nice about just walking to the table and playing without having to unfold a cover. Folding and unfolding that cover seems too much like work!

 

[RT Ford]

Good point on the dust. I have a cover but I don't use it. If I had a cover on I'd probably not play as often. There's something nice about just walking to the table and playing without having to unfold a cover. Folding and unfolding that cover seems too much like work!

Only takes a minute to take it off or put it on. I don't particularly like tying on my shoes, but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

 

[ChrisinNC]

Good point on the dust. I have a cover but I don't use it. If I had a cover on I'd probably not play as often. There's something nice about just walking to the table and playing without having to unfold a cover. Folding and unfolding that cover seems too much like work!

Once you learn the efficient way to fold up a pool table cover, it takes less 45-60 seconds to neatly fold up and remove and only 15-20 seconds to unfold to place back on.

A table with a cover kept on it will not only keep the table much cleaner but will also allow it to maintain the true vivid color of the cloth as when it was newly installed.

 

[boogieman]

Only takes a minute to take it off or put it on. I don't particularly like tying on my shoes, but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

Once you learn the efficient way to fold up a pool table cover, it takes less 45-60 seconds to neatly fold up and remove and only 15-20 seconds to unfold to place back on.

A table with a cover kept on it will not only keep the table much cleaner but will also allow it to maintain the true vivid color of the cloth as when it was newly installed.

I believe it but I'm much too lazy to even put forth 30 seconds of doing something that I didn't have to do. I get there are benefits but my table is one of the cleanest ones in town and the burn marks from play mar the cloth's looks more than color loss. Again, not doubting it at all but I don't like busy work. It's in a clean basement without much natural light.

About once a year I have to clean very fine spider webs from the rafters, that's about the only time I put the cover on.

 

[Texas3cushion]

Where at in Houston? Last place I think I remember that had 3c along with snooker and pool tables was off Highway 6 somewhere.

Anywhere down bellaire between hwy 6 and beltway 8. you'll find many places. Goodays, US BIDA, and Trish off beechnut that has both carom and pool tables.

 

[FranCrimi]

Is a vacuum the lesser of the evils? Doesn't it stretch and loosen the cloth over time?

 

[SeniorTom]

Good point on the dust. I have a cover but I don't use it. If I had a cover on I'd probably not play as often. There's something nice about just walking to the table and playing without having to unfold a cover. Folding and unfolding that cover seems too much like work!

lol, I have a very nice cover but I rarely put it on because I play daily, and gets tiring putting it on and off.

 

[WoodyJ]

I use a shop vac floor brush like this:

Note how the front edge of the brush is shorter than the back. Hold it level so that the front is higher than the back so it won't suck the cloth off the slate.

Mine's wide enough so that I only have to make 4 passes down the (9') table for full coverage. Then I use an X-1 every few times.

Amazon.com

 

[realkingcobra]

I use a shop vac floor brush like this:

View attachment 720560

Note how the front edge of the brush is shorter than the back. Hold it level so that the front is higher than the back so it won't suck the cloth off the slate.

Mine's wide enough so that I only have to make 4 passes down the (9') table for full coverage. Then I use an X-1 every few times.

Amazon.com

No vacuum is strong enough to pull the cloth up if it's installed tight, BUT if plaster is used in the slate seams, the suction IS strong enough to spread little plaster pebbles everywhere under the cloth.

 

[ChrisinNC]

No vacuum is strong enough to pull the cloth up if it's installed tight, BUT if plaster is used in the slate seams, the suction IS strong enough to spread little plaster pebbles everywhere under the cloth.

Don’t some table mechanics use Bondo in the seams, for that reason?

 

[RT Ford]

No vacuum is strong enough to pull the cloth up if it's installed tight, BUT if plaster is used in the slate seams, the suction IS strong enough to spread little plaster pebbles everywhere under the cloth.

If a vacuum has enough suction to displace the plaster in a seam, it's strong enough to stretch the cloth. The stretching of the cloth is gradual but the cloth will loosen eventually.

 

[realkingcobra]

If a vacuum has enough suction to displace the plaster in a seam, it's strong enough to stretch the cloth. The stretching of the cloth is gradual but the cloth will loosen eventually.

I've been vacuuming tables for 40+ years, myth busted!