Can cheap balls ruin your felt?

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MSmithAZ said:
Hey folks,

Just got my first table. I played a lot back when I was a teenager but very little since (40's now). So I can beat many, but I'm still considered a beginner by anyone with talent. My table came with $99 balls (Spencer Marston Hot Shot) and I put Championship Tour 30/30 felt on the table (mainly because I wanted it to stay good looking for longer). The installers recommended I replace the balls with Super Aramith Pro. The reason mentioned was that they said the cheaper balls will ruin the felt. I didn't get into details, but I'm assuming they meant maybe burn marks? They said it's not an emergency situation, but don't wait 3 months either. While perusing a local billiards store I casually mentioned this to the worker and he scoffed saying "Never heard of such a thing". The installers would have nothing to gain by telling me this, but also, the worker at the pool store wouldn't either of telling me the opposite. So I think both were being honest for what they knew. So....is it true? Could the cheaper balls ruin the felt? I have no doubt better balls will play better, but budget-wise, I wouldn't mind putting off spending $350 if I don't have to.

Thanks!
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I know you are new but it's not felt it's cloth.
 
I was taught at a very young age when I first started to play by old Jimmy Wise to never call pool table cloth felt.
Felt is something that you put under ash trays or drink coasters, cloth is what’s on pool tables.
 
For $100 I would absolutely buy Dynaspheres or UPPER END Aramith. Just because a box says phenolic it doesn't mean high phenolic content. Even Aramith admits their sets below SAP have a lower phenolic content and are less quality. Any other set is suspect.
 
Yes they will. When I bought my table it came with cheap balls that varied in diameter by .040. That did not allow a tight rack no matter how hard you tried. So I bought good balls. I play a lot more pool than I would have with those cheap balls. For one thing I can rack faster and I feel like playing pool more and that all adds up to felt wearing out faster.

I made gear shift knobs out of those cheap balls and sold them on fleabay. Will cheap billiard balls make your hotrod go faster? Well of course they will, and the reasons why are.....
 
I used to use cheaper balls on my table because it increased my productivity a great deal when doing certain shot making drills because I would just shoot object ball into object ball without the need for replacing the cue ball. (I don't like getting chalk marks on my nicer set). Anyway, I did notice that I was beginning to streak up my cloth with the cheaper balls. Now are these brand new balls you have cheap? Not sure about that.
 
Burn marks aka ‘breaking stripes’ are going to happen. Things wear. Same with the burn marks you’ll start seeing around the pocket facings and along the cushions.

I have three year old Simonis 860HR with no chalk infestation and it sees modest play with clean Aramith and Dynasphere phenolic balls and I still have the burn marks from breaking. They’re unavoidable if you ask me.

I’d go with what the retailer said and just keep what you have unless you really want to upgrade. Unsure if the installer was giving good advice.
 
cjr3559 said:
Burn marks aka ‘breaking stripes’ are going to happen. Things wear. Same with the burn marks you’ll start seeing around the pocket facings and along the cushions.

I have three year old Simonis 860HR with no chalk infestation and it sees modest play with clean Aramith and Dynasphere phenolic balls and I still have the burn marks from breaking. They’re unavoidable if you ask me.

I’d go with what the retailer said and just keep what you have unless you really want to upgrade. Unsure if the installer was giving good advice.
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As a suggestion, use a Break Cloth cut from a 2.5" swatch of old cloth - use pinking shears to avoid fraying - under the cue ball during your break-shot. Makes all the difference in the world to cloth appearance and longevity. - GJ
 
Cheap balls wear faster and get rough. Rough balls pick up more dirt and are harder to clean. Obviously, rough and dirty balls are harder on cloth.

So yes, cheap balls will wear cloth faster. Actually, it isn't about the cost...what we really mean is that low quality balls will wear cloth out over time.

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garczar said:
That's normally just burn marks. Any ball will leave burn marks. Some less than others and also cloth types vary as to how bad the mark up.
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No I mean dark blotches in the rack area. I have a dirty mind but seriously they should stop streaming stained cloth. :ROFLMAO:
 
logical said:
Cheap balls wear faster and get rough. Rough balls pick up more dirt and are harder to clean. Obviously, rough and dirty balls are harder on cloth.

So yes, cheap balls will wear cloth faster. Actually, it isn't about the cost...what we really mean is that low quality balls will wear cloth out over time.
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The OP has a set of new phenolic resin balls. How much longer will the cloth last if he upgrades to a $200 to $300 set of balls?
 
Bob Jewett said:
The OP has a set of new phenolic resin balls. How much longer will the cloth last if he upgrades to a $200 to $300 set of balls?
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Probably very little extra cloth life. Might have more burn marks(cloth figures into this too) but that's about it.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The OP has a set of new phenolic resin balls. How much longer will the cloth last if he upgrades to a $200 to $300 set of balls?
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I have no idea how much he plays or just how cheap and dirty he let's his balls get.

I can't answer your question...but I can't tell if it even was a question or you were disagreeing. A set of balls will last a lifetime on most home tables.
 
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