any way to speed up cloth

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will14.1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My friend has a table with 860 cloth and it seems to be getting a lot slower, fairly quickly. The cloth is only about 9 months old and he doesn't play for hours every day, so I don't think it should be worn down. He brushes it at least once a week. Is there anything you can do to help speed up/clean up the felt of a table? Any suggestions would be appreciated greatly.
Thanks
 
yes

Hi,

There are a couple commercially available products available for cleaning the pool table cloth. I
can't remember which one "stole" the "idea" from the other, but "Chalk Off" is the one that
comes to mind. Probably from the commercials embedded within some great youtube-available
matches. :)

Dismissing any environmental changes that are causing the cloth to be deemed slower, I would
try one of these first.

If that fails, and you don't mind some experimentation, (which I would only do if I had the
$300 in mind to spend on new cloth), AND you think it is clean:

Laundry starch, the spray type, worked reasonable well for some worsted-wool cloth I have.
I would cover the rails first with newspaper and masking tape. I also ironed mine, at a medium
setting, as a slightly higher setting causes a slight burning of the starch. (and yellowing)

I was VERY pleased with the results, but of course I think the cloth I used (expensive
business suit) cloth, is actually of better or at least different quality as the "real stuff".

If you have any slight tears or holes covered with Scotch tape, use even a lower iron setting.
In fact the "right" setting causes the scotch tape to almost "become the cloth", where a higher
setting will cause glue to be spread out from under the tape, and you will have a small area
that is rougher, defeating the original intent.

Good Luck! Maybe you could sell me the old worn Simonis? :)
 
First rule out humidity in the room. Too humid and the cloth loosens and slows down.
In many cases just turning on the AC helps.
If humidity is not the culprit check that the cloth is tight on the table. If not, restretch/reapply it.
 
will14.1 said:
My friend has a table with 860 cloth and it seems to be getting a lot slower, fairly quickly. The cloth is only about 9 months old and he doesn't play for hours every day, so I don't think it should be worn down. He brushes it at least once a week. Is there anything you can do to help speed up/clean up the felt of a table? Any suggestions would be appreciated greatly.
Thanks
Click to expand...

It is almost definately stretching that would help the problem but your friend should get a table mechanic to do that for him.

Wear isn't the issue since...assuming the cloth is kept clean, wear will increase speed not reduce it.

Tightening the rail bolts will also help since a lot of speed can be lost when balls rebound off losse cushions.

I suggest you take your post to the table mechanics forum where you will get excellent advice.

Regards,
Jim
 
Yeah, the table mechanics area would probably be your best bet but I thought I'd toss my 2 cents in first. I used to work in a pool room and when the tables would get to playing slower we would spray the table with a fine mist of Windex. Brush the table real well, you could even vaccuum it, and then spray it on lightly and let it dry. Doesn't hurt to polish the balls too.
MULLY
 
will14.1 said:
My friend has a table with 860 cloth and it seems to be getting a lot slower, fairly quickly. The cloth is only about 9 months old and he doesn't play for hours every day, so I don't think it should be worn down. He brushes it at least once a week. Is there anything you can do to help speed up/clean up the felt of a table? Any suggestions would be appreciated greatly.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Stretch the cloth. If you get wrinkles by sliding your bridge hand across it, it was put on much too loose.

Vacuum the cloth. Regularly. It pulls the chalk dust out of the cloth rather than rubbing it down into the cloth.

Heat the table. Really. If your room is humid, this should help a lot. The cloth should be just warm to the touch.
 
av84fun said:
It is almost definately stretching that would help the problem but your friend should get a table mechanic to do that for him.

Wear isn't the issue since...assuming the cloth is kept clean, wear will increase speed not reduce it.

Tightening the rail bolts will also help since a lot of speed can be lost when balls rebound off losse cushions.

I suggest you take your post to the table mechanics forum where you will get excellent advice.

Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...
I agree with Jim. My new 860 suffered a slow down after a few months. I had the installer come back out and stretch the cloth. Also, using a spray cleaner, or a light vaccuuming every now and again, really helps.

-td
 
Take this for what its worth...Since I live in Arizona.

Take a wet rag to the cushions....Wipe them down completly and then let them dry

As they dry the cloth shrinks and tightens the bounce which speeds up the table...You can do the same thing for the bed of the table but IMO doing the rails has the best effect.

FYI - Be CAREFUL on the tightening the rail bolts......Don't go wacky crazy....You can overtighten them and start to crack things, break things, and strip out things quite easily.
 
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