Did Chalk-Off slow down your table?

oneshotwiss

oneshotwiss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had my 9 foot Diamond covered with the tournament blue simonis and haven't cleaned it with anything other than Chalk-Off. It seems to me that the speed of the cloth has slowed down a ton after only a few months. It's a drastic difference from when it was first recovered. Has anyone else noticed the same thing?
 
It is possible that the product is loosening your cloth,which will make it play slower. If it bothers you too much you may have to call someone out to restretch your cloth. Maybe do more vacuuming,keeping the Chalk off to a minimum. Cloth speed may also be caused by humidity too. Keep an eye on it when conditions change.Sounds like you have a great table though.Check out the Talk to a Mechanic section,lots of good guys out there to answer questions like this.
 
9-ball B nailed it. I use it too and it did not slow the table. This time of year with the forced air heat on the table plays best. It's dry. I keep an oversized dehumidifier running continously from May thru Oct. Once that heat starts coming on the table (mine is 860) plays faster, but not much. I vacuum weekly, use chalk off every two weeks, keep the balls polished.

If you like speed then 760 is your answer. Tough to justify with 2 year old cloth though.

BTW, my furnace humidifier is turned off, don't tell my wife. Having a heat vent almost over the table is also benefical.

regards......Paul
 
I don't know if you have tried it but Quick Clean is a better product in my opinion. Have tried them both, I did not like the warning labels on the Chalk Off either.. Take it as you wish, just one man's opinion.
 
vacuum 1 - sludge 0

vacuuming is the only way to go - if you add something to a cloth,it makes it heavier
 
Chalk off = Snake oil

sure alot of blue stuff comes up on the rag when you use it....but a wet rag does the same thing....its the lazymans way out. ive seen that Chalk off in use and it really loosens the cloth up from what ive seen

if you want a clean table. dont chalk your cue over the cloth. vaccum it when needed, once a week possibly once every two. brush the table before every use. keep your Rails/balls/pockets/hands as clean as possible. if you stop every halfhour to wash your hand and wipe the rails down for 2 minutes....it goes a long way .
 
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oneshotwiss said:
... It seems to me that the speed of the cloth has slowed down a ton after only a few months. It's a drastic difference from when it was first recovered. ...
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If you can make wrinkles by pressing forward on the cloth with your hand, have it restretched. Loose cloth is slow cloth.

Vacuum regularly. If the cloth was badly installed, the putty may come up, so you may want to avoid vacuuming the seams. In some tournaments, the tables are vacuumed after every match.

A damp towel is good for quick cleaning if you have generally dry conditions. For dryer conditions, try heating your table a little, such as with a string of small Xmas lights strung underneath. Monitor the temperature -- the slate should only be a few degrees above room temperature.
 
Or get yourself Championship 30/30, Simonis, is nice but if you do a few jump shots the cloth shows so many burns in it. Championship is a little faster, and more durable.

A ball cleaner definitely helps too, the ballstar machine is the one to get.
 
oneshotwiss said:
I had my 9 foot Diamond covered with the tournament blue simonis and haven't cleaned it with anything other than Chalk-Off. It seems to me that the speed of the cloth has slowed down a ton after only a few months. It's a drastic difference from when it was first recovered. Has anyone else noticed the same thing?
Click to expand...

It always slows down from when it's first recovered.
 
This may help to know:

I have been told, by David Hodges - Inventor and manufacturer of Quick-Clean, that Chalk-Off is a blatant rip-off of his product. He told me the product formula was changed, it does not work as well, and is potentially dangerous to your health with repeated exposure (such as playing pool daily)

I have even seen commercials (which may be old and out of circulation) that show David Hodges using the product and then an image of Chalk-Off pops up. The product David was using in the commercial was actually Quick-Clean, as it was actually a Quick-Clean commercial that was ripped off and edited to look like a Chalk-Off commercial. I know this is hard to believe, but I know David personally (I designed the Quick-Clean can label) and I have seen the commercial with David in it. If I remember correctly, the label/logo for Chalk-Off may have even been a rip-off of his label - with his personal photo still on it! (not sure about this though, its been a while)

I believe at one point David had a lawsuit in the works against the manufacturer of Chalk-Off, but I don't know the current status. I haven't spoke to David in a while, but I know those types of cases take a while...

Anyway, my suggestion would be to switch to Quick-Clean.

David's website is www.quick-clean.com (I think, if not, google it)

Personally, I don't know much more than what I have explained, I just thought this might help.
 
I tried Chalk off once on my table before I had it recovered with Simonis 860. I wasn't overly impressed. Now, I just use a slighly damp (wring it out completely) microfiber cloth and just brush over the areas with chalk. It picks it right up with no mess and no funky chemicals.
 
JCurry said:
I tried Chalk off once on my table before I had it recovered with Simonis 860. I wasn't overly impressed. Now, I just use a slighly damp (wring it out completely) microfiber cloth and just brush over the areas with chalk. It picks it right up with no mess and no funky chemicals.
Click to expand...

Now he uses it on his hair to keep his "MIKA LOOK" at it's best :)
 
Bob Jewett said:
If you can make wrinkles by pressing forward on the cloth with your hand, have it restretched. Loose cloth is slow cloth.

Vacuum regularly. If the cloth was badly installed, the putty may come up, so you may want to avoid vacuuming the seams. In some tournaments, the tables are vacuumed after every match.

A damp towel is good for quick cleaning if you have generally dry conditions. For dryer conditions, try heating your table a little, such as with a string of small Xmas lights strung underneath. Monitor the temperature -- the slate should only be a few degrees above room temperature.
Click to expand...

It is a one piece slate so there are no seams and the cloth was installed by Diamond so I'm sure it was done right and doesn't appear to wrinkle at all when I press forward on it
 
instroke2 said:
Or get yourself Championship 30/30, Simonis, is nice but if you do a few jump shots the cloth shows so many burns in it. Championship is a little faster, and more durable.

A ball cleaner definitely helps too, the ballstar machine is the one to get.
Click to expand...


I have a Diamond ball polisher that I use constantly to keep the balls clean. I have thought about trying the 30/30 in the past. Does anyone know if Diamond will install other kinds of cloth besides Simonis?
 
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I have been using Quick-Clean for over a year now and I have noticed my table slowing down also (more so than I think it should). I'm wondering if repeated use of these cleaners is causing a slight buildup of residue over time.

I'm going to use a slightly wet (water only) cloth to clean my table for the next couple of months. By just using a water only wet cloth the table should become faster over time since it should lift some of the residue (if any) from the Quick-Clean that I have been using. It will be interesting to see what happens.
 
oneshotwiss said:
... It seems to me that the speed of the cloth has slowed down a ton after only a few months. ....
Click to expand...
It might help to know how slow it actually is. Here is how you can measure the speed of the cloth:

Shoot a lag shot that barely doesn't hit the second cushion. (This may take a couple of tries.) Time the shot from when it hits the first cushion until it comes to a stop. Suppose that's T seconds. Take T*T*2 -- that's the speed of the cloth. For example, if it takes 7 seconds for the cue ball to leave the far cushion and stop just before it gets back to the rail you shot from, the speed of the cloth would be 7*7*2 or 98 -- call it 100.

Fast cloth is over 100. I've seen carom cloth on a heated table that was 200-speed. Rugs on bar tables might be 50 or 60 (but you have to include a length adjustment to the calculations for short or long tables).

A speed of 100 also means that the rolling resistance of the cloth is about the same as you would get with a slope of 1 in 100 or a 1% grade on a completely smooth surface. 50-speed cloth would be like a 2% grade.

So, if you have time and a stop watch, please measure the actual speed of your cloth.
 
you should not use any water on your table.....or chemicals for that matter. ...vaccum and brush, thats all you need....ive had the same Champoinship tour edition on my table for 2 years now...it plays almost as good as new(it has slowed some but it still plays very good....all i do is vaccum and brush....keep rails/balls/hands clean and dont chalk cue over the table.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
If you can make wrinkles by pressing forward on the cloth with your hand, have it restretched. Loose cloth is slow cloth.

Vacuum regularly. If the cloth was badly installed, the putty may come up, so you may want to avoid vacuuming the seams. In some tournaments, the tables are vacuumed after every match.

A damp towel is good for quick cleaning if you have generally dry conditions. For dryer conditions, try heating your table a little, such as with a string of small Xmas lights strung underneath. Monitor the temperature -- the slate should only be a few degrees above room temperature.
Click to expand...

Hell, Christmas Lights, a Disco Ball, Strobe lights.......we have a PARTAY!:grin:
 
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