Cleaning Simmonis Cloth
- Thread starter Rooster
- Start date
Rooster said:
Clean it of what? If it's just chalk dust, every few days I'll use Dave Hodge's Quick Clean on my Simonis 860, followed by a good brushing. Occasionally, and many many people will tell you NOT to do this, I'll use a handheld vacuum cleaner with rotating brushes. I don't use the vacuum every day and it hasn't adversely affected the cloth... yet.
I have 760 and I use a hand held vac. without the spinning brushes.
In fact, here is a link to the one I found. Its very inexpensive and works fine.
http://heartlandamerica.com/browse/item.asp?product=shark-transformer-vacuum&PIN=50141&GUID=07FF1F34-E1D9-4385-ADC2-0F8FB3492B60&BC=S&DL=SEH2
In fact, here is a link to the one I found. Its very inexpensive and works fine.
http://heartlandamerica.com/browse/item.asp?product=shark-transformer-vacuum&PIN=50141&GUID=07FF1F34-E1D9-4385-ADC2-0F8FB3492B60&BC=S&DL=SEH2
To clean 860 or 760 Simonis all you have to do is brush the cloth everynight and use a microfibre towel sold at your local Walmart. Get it slightly wet and wipe the table down. You want to do this at night when your finished so it will be dry for the next day.ginsu said:
ginsu said:
Two years on my home table that gets played on every day using the same routine. It works for me.
mr8ball
Active member
http://quick-clean.com/ Its the best. I use it on all my tables and the cloth last a lot longer and saves me money on covering them also. Try it you wone regret it. Good luck, DougRooster said:
I'll probably take it on the chin for this one but here goes. I use a Dirt Devil with a rotating brush on a daily basis. I wash the table with a fairly damp dish towel about every three days. It is damp enough that you can see the color change in the cloth that is wiped down.
I have used a steam iron (with and without steam) in an attempt to make the cloth faster: It doesn't help that much and I don't use it any more. Do not do this if you have wax in the seams.
I use Chalk Off between cleaning sessions and it is an excellent product especially for apparently bringing the color back. I think it does this by getting all of the minute particles out of the cloth and making it shine again.
I think that Simonis 860 is stronger than the typical $500.00 worsted suit. It will take some beating and it does need a good cleaning on a weekly basis.
The cloth has been on the GC III for nearly a year now and it looks the same as when I installed it. It also plays just as fast and some of my friends think that I have one of the fastest tables they have played on.
Oh yeah, I use Aramith ball cleaner on the Super Aramith balls about every 10 hours of play and the balls look brand new all the time. I wipe with a towel every few hours to get any marks off. I also find that wiping Pledge furniture polish in the automatic ball return pockets helps to keep marks of the balls.
I assume that I will have to change the cloth every two years. However, about one year after my last install of 860 the cloth looks and plays like I installed it yesterday. In reality the table gets about three hours of use nearly every day. Some days one hour others days 10 - 12 hour sessions.
Here is close up of the "abused" cloth
I have used a steam iron (with and without steam) in an attempt to make the cloth faster: It doesn't help that much and I don't use it any more. Do not do this if you have wax in the seams.
I use Chalk Off between cleaning sessions and it is an excellent product especially for apparently bringing the color back. I think it does this by getting all of the minute particles out of the cloth and making it shine again.
I think that Simonis 860 is stronger than the typical $500.00 worsted suit. It will take some beating and it does need a good cleaning on a weekly basis.
The cloth has been on the GC III for nearly a year now and it looks the same as when I installed it. It also plays just as fast and some of my friends think that I have one of the fastest tables they have played on.
Oh yeah, I use Aramith ball cleaner on the Super Aramith balls about every 10 hours of play and the balls look brand new all the time. I wipe with a towel every few hours to get any marks off. I also find that wiping Pledge furniture polish in the automatic ball return pockets helps to keep marks of the balls.
I assume that I will have to change the cloth every two years. However, about one year after my last install of 860 the cloth looks and plays like I installed it yesterday. In reality the table gets about three hours of use nearly every day. Some days one hour others days 10 - 12 hour sessions.
Here is close up of the "abused" cloth
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Before someone asks. That photo shows how I place 4-5 layers of electrician's tape inside an el cheapo rack to make a tight rack. I do not think I need an expensive rack when electrician's tape does an excellent job.
Using Bob Jewett's table speed test I find the table is a fast today as the last time I tested it and it seems to play as fast as the day I installed the cloth. I call its Bob's test, because he presented here on AZB. It works as follows. Hit the CB at lag speed and time the return from the footrail to the head rail (where the CB just makes it back to within one inch of the head rail). On a 9 foot table it should take about 7 seconds if timed with a stop watch. This is about 100 speed and is roughly equal to a competition table. And that is what mine measures.
The numbers may be slightly different depending on table length etc, and you would have to ask Bob for all the variations on other tables.
Using Bob Jewett's table speed test I find the table is a fast today as the last time I tested it and it seems to play as fast as the day I installed the cloth. I call its Bob's test, because he presented here on AZB. It works as follows. Hit the CB at lag speed and time the return from the footrail to the head rail (where the CB just makes it back to within one inch of the head rail). On a 9 foot table it should take about 7 seconds if timed with a stop watch. This is about 100 speed and is roughly equal to a competition table. And that is what mine measures.
The numbers may be slightly different depending on table length etc, and you would have to ask Bob for all the variations on other tables.
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I also use Quick-clean on my Simonis 860 (camel color) and also recommend it--but I've noticed I still have lots of cue tip sized spots all over the table; I'm assuming that's where the chalk has gotten deep into the cloth--is this where the vacuum or wet cloth will work best?
The wet cloth removes most of the white spots. Sometimes I really scrub the white spots going in all four directions and a circular motion. Then I use the Dirt devil to straighten out the weave from head to foot of the table.
In a few places my buddies have simply played too strong a masse and it takes three or four atempts, over three or four days before the white spots come out but they almost aways come out. I do have a few that can't be removed but not nearly as many as some of the other tables I have seen with a similar amount of use.
In a few places my buddies have simply played too strong a masse and it takes three or four atempts, over three or four days before the white spots come out but they almost aways come out. I do have a few that can't be removed but not nearly as many as some of the other tables I have seen with a similar amount of use.
sherlock said:
Those white spots are actually little burn marks created from friction between the cue ball and the cloth on hard draw shots, masse shots, breaks, jumps, etc., and near impossible to remove. I've got them all over my table, including a burn track from the spot I always break from to the rack. They're unavoidable.
Rooster said:
I have a little hand held vaccum (the shark) I will clean it about once a week with this. It has no rotating bristles, it is like a glorified dust buster. It picks up a lot more than a dust buster, and has a wider pattern, therefore it doesn't take that long to do the whole table. It has different attachments that allow me to get under the rails too!
Then for the other days I use my version of Quick Clean! It is Blue Coral Upholstery Cleaner. You can get it in any automotive store or in Wal-mart's auto section.
It is great to use on wool, and that is what Simonis is!
Take the brush totally off the top of the can, cause you don't' want that hitting your cloth!
Then I spray it on like Quick Clean and take it off with the microfiber wand from Quick Clean. I have seen these wands at Wal-mart too!
It is much cheaper than Quick Clean, and in my opinion it does a better job! It smells a lot better too! It takes care of those white spots too! My table looks excellent and everyone that sees it thinks that I don't play on it! (Yea right!)
You get more per can, and it cost less than half of what Quick Clean costs.
Therefore I use it every time I am finished playing.
Any questions just PM me.
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Most people in this thread seem to agree their vacuum doesn't damage their cloth. But I was told by one of my table mechanics that it's not damaging the cloth fibers that you should be worried about when using a vacuum, it's the fact that the vacuum tends to grab the cloth and stretches it. Therefore making the entire cloth loose on the table after time.
I just wonder if the people who are vacuuming frequently have loose cloth?
I just wonder if the people who are vacuuming frequently have loose cloth?
Yeah, I had to restretch my cloth after about six months. Now it is fine and stays that way. I am not sure if I had it tight enough the first time. So I am in the definite maybe on the stretching the cloth problem.
In the last six months I have had no problems. It does seem that water will loosen the cloth a little, then it stretches back out.
In the last six months I have had no problems. It does seem that water will loosen the cloth a little, then it stretches back out.