Black Marks On New Blue Simonis Cloth

[stefunny823]

Interesting, I'm having the same problem on my home table. Just got 860hr in blue and use Kamui black clear. Sounds like this could be the culprit. I used a warm damp cloth yesterday and most of the spots came up. It is disappointing though since it does look like a car mechanic played on the table. Previous green didn't do this at all.


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[stljohnny]

Dave - The Cue in Maplewood.

I stopped by there last night and saw that they were able to clean them again, and a lot of the marks went away - but they didn't get them all.

I've attached some pics, but the spots don't really show up in them nearly as much as they do when you're standing at the table. Some of them look like smudges here, but at the table, they look different. These are from just one table.

I also noticed that on the rails there were a series of black stripes along the headrail ... that is absolutely from people who don't clean their shafts and break with their shaft on the rail. So, that makes sense anyway. (no pic of those)

The Kamui tip thing sorta makes sense... except that there's only a small handful of people that even know what a Kamui tip is there; not nearly enough to have caused all the marks on 5 tables.

He did get the 860 HR cloth, which is clearly not resistent to burn marks (maybe it's a ball issue more than a cloth issue?).

 

[stljohnny]

Interesting, I'm having the same problem on my home table. Just got 860hr in blue and use Kamui black clear. Sounds like this could be the culprit. I used a warm damp cloth yesterday and most of the spots came up. It is disappointing though since it does look like a car mechanic played on the table. Previous green didn't do this at all.

I don't recall seeing anything like this at the DCC or in another pool room that has all blue cloth. Maybe because those tables have lived long enough that the small marks just don't "stick out" as much as they do when it's brand new?

 

[realkingcobra]

It's from the dye in the chalk, coming off the tip of the cue when the cue ball is struck.

 

[stefunny823]

Do all blue chalks do that or are some brands better? I have 4 brands I use sitting on my table so no clue which is causing the black marks or if they're all doing it.


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[Manoman2444]

I would go with someone using a black sharpie on the side of their tips.

 

[stefunny823]

A friend experimented with 4 tips and 5 chalks - he said kamui blacks are causing it.


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[rookiepsu]

That is definitely chalk. You can see, in some of your pictures, where a chunk of chalk landed on the table and was smudged into the cloth by balls etc. I have the same on my home table and the X-1 pulls them up easily. I imagine a good vacuum and/or some microfiber cloth would work as well. If he's cleaning them with a solution of some type, odds are he's grinding them into the fibers which is making them even more difficult to remove.

 

[bdorman]

Based on your pictures I'm revising my earlier statement that it's tips striking the cloth. On our table the marks are more like "lines", 1/8" wide by 1/4-3/8" long (i.e. not a point). That's what makes me think they are from a tip sliding along the cloth.

Could be chalk stains although we don't have any. We use Master Chalk blue.

Is someone using red chalk (red is actually very close to black in the color spectrum)? Or maybe it's a particular brand of chalk? People have said that Kamui chalk is very sticky, but a $30 a cube I wouldn't know about that.

 

[Donny Wessels]

someone probably used red chalk

 

[Black-Balled]

Another thought, is there somebody who likes to sharpie the sides of their tip playing on the tables?
Chuck

That is my guess too...and he likes to suck his rock too!

 

[realkingcobra]

Based on your pictures I'm revising my earlier statement that it's tips striking the cloth. On our table the marks are more like "lines", 1/8" wide by 1/4-3/8" long (i.e. not a point). That's what makes me think they are from a tip sliding along the cloth.

Could be chalk stains although we don't have any. We use Master Chalk blue.

Is someone using red chalk (red is actually very close to black in the color spectrum)? Or maybe it's a particular brand of chalk? People have said that Kamui chalk is very sticky, but a $30 a cube I wouldn't know about that.

Cue tips can leave wear lines on the cloth, easy to see them too. Some of the blue chalks used today leave chalk dust on the cloth right were the cue ball was hit, it's not left in lines, but rather smudges that look kind of black....I've seen it a thousand times, but don't recall which brand of chalk it is. And yes, the Simonis X1 will remove the chalk residue before it becomes a stain, whereas rubbing it out only spreads the stain.

Glen

 

[ChrisinNC]

So one of my local pool rooms just made the upgrade to blue simonis on their (Valley) barboxes. After just 2 days, there's a bunch of a black marks all over the cloth. At first, I blamed the balls being dirty, though they were cleaned with the new cloth (don't know if the ball return rails were cleaned or not). I later thought it might just be grease from people's hands (they do serve food and there's a fried chicken place next door that a lot of people bring over).

Someone said it might be dirt on the slate that's getting brought up from the glue.

Someone else said it was the (normal) dark blue master's chalk reacting with... something.

The room owner is pretty disappointed by this and is considering removing the blue already. Anyone have any other possible explanations for this type of quick/sudden staining (and maybe some great ways to clean the cloth)??

I realize this is an old thread which I happened to see when I was researching previous old threads for an answer to my most recent question about removing grease stains from Simonis.

I was able to determine in our case that black streaks sometimes appearing on our cloth was most likely the result of kids/younger players dragging the rubber bumper butt of their cue stick across the cloth.

That’s part of the package of what you get when you have a family friendly pool room which allows kids of all ages to play often for the very first time, and often not supervised by an adult who knows any better!

 

[muskyed]

Chalk marks. I get them on my Simonis with masters chalk. Go right away soon as you vacuum.
Never have gotten a circle.

 

[realkingcobra]

Well, I hate to say it, but you're all wrong. The dark chalk shadows are coming from the lighting over the table, causing the refraction of light on the chalk dust to reflect the light, causing the chalk dust to illuminate. Change the lighting to a brighter daylight white light, and the chalk marks will disappear!!!

 

[muskyed]

Interesting, could be, but my light is bright daylight led, extremely bright. The marks do go away somewhat if you don't vacuum, but in actually are just getting blended in from use. They are very prominent after you chalk and hit the cue ball. Actually will leave a streak or trail. I don't chalk as much at home because of this. Learn something every day.

 

[realkingcobra]

Interesting, could be, but my light is bright daylight led, extremely bright. The marks do go away somewhat if you don't vacuum, but in actually are just getting blended in from use. They are very prominent after you chalk and hit the cue ball. Actually will leave a streak or trail. I don't chalk as much at home because of this. Learn something every day.

Its still the spectrum of light that is exposing the blackish looking chalk dust, trust me.

 

[boogieman]

Interesting, could be, but my light is bright daylight led, extremely bright. The marks do go away somewhat if you don't vacuum, but in actually are just getting blended in from use. They are very prominent after you chalk and hit the cue ball. Actually will leave a streak or trail. I don't chalk as much at home because of this. Learn something every day.

What chalk are you using? I notice it most with guys who use regular blue masters. There is a sky blue that is more color matched to tournament blue. I switched to Taom V10 and it's much cleaner, you really don't notice the dark spots.

Most are caused by chalk, you can use the X-1 tool, a vacuum, and once in a while you can use about a couple tablespoons of Woolite in a gallon of the hottest water you can stand. I use a microfiber towel (auto detailing kind found at auto parts stores or even walmart) and wring it out as absolutely dry as I can get it. I go over the whole table about once a month, then sit a clean box fan up there to help with the drying. It doesn't really get wet, but I like the fan to help dry it faster as we use the table often. Usually I'll do it on a night we're not playing or very early in the morning if we are playing later that night. You'll be surprised at just how blue the water gets from all the chalk. It's pretty crazy, even if you regularly vacuum. I vacuum once a week and wipe down with the Woolite water once a month.

 

[realkingcobra]

What chalk are you using? I notice it most with guys who use regular blue masters. There is a sky blue that is more color matched to tournament blue. I switched to Taom V10 and it's much cleaner, you really don't notice the dark spots.

Most are caused by chalk, you can use the X-1 tool, a vacuum, and once in a while you can use about a couple tablespoons of Woolite in a gallon of the hottest water you can stand. I use a microfiber towel (auto detailing kind found at auto parts stores or even walmart) and wring it out as absolutely dry as I can get it. I go over the whole table about once a month, then sit a clean box fan up there to help with the drying. It doesn't really get wet, but I like the fan to help dry it faster as we use the table often. Usually I'll do it on a night we're not playing or very early in the morning if we are playing later that night. You'll be surprised at just how blue the water gets from all the chalk. It's pretty crazy, even if you regularly vacuum. I vacuum once a week and wipe down with the Woolite water once a month.

Contact Tweeten Fibre Co, ask them about the dark chalk marks, they'll tell you what lights they recommend so rhe chalk marks don't show up.

 

[muskyed]

Masters chalk for me, doesn't really bother me, I just vacuum it up every few days of use. I do trust what is said, thats why I said, learn something every day. Always wondered why the chalk trails looked so dark in comparison to the color of the chalk. Will probably have to recover my table in a year or so, and may go with gray. Friend of ours has gray, and when we play at her house, with her gray chalk, the table seems to stay really clean.