Crease in cloth
J-Flo,
I'm not a mechanic, but I am very interested in the subject. I did have the same problem as you, and I solved it.
This is a long story. My apologies for that.
I bought a package of Gorina Basalt from an individual who had apparently bought it a few years earlier. When I installed it, I stretched it very tightly with the aid of a canvas stretcher.
Even with the tightest of stretch, one crease mark, that ran the length of the table, was very obvious. It showed as a dark line. The crease was more obvious with variances in the light angle...light from above, less obvious...horizontal light coming from a window, very, very obvious.
After three months of lots of play and lots of brushing, it was as prominent as ever. One day, I accidentally dropped a bit of alcohol hand cleaner on the cloth. I got a wet rag and lightly scrubbed the spill, hoping to minimize any damage from the cleaner. After it dried, the alcohol stain was gone, but the area I wet down was darker than the surrounding cloth.
I tried the wet cloth again, this time extending the area. After drying, same result......no stain, but just a larger darker area. I determined that the water could clean as intended, but it would cause the affected area to be darker.
After another few weeks, I thought WTH, so I got a quart spray bottle with distilled water and sprayed down the entire bed. Then I used a rectangular microfiber sponge to rub down the cloth in one direction and then back again. In other words, from head to foot, then back retracing the same path. I scrubbed the whole bed using a light pressure.
In thirty minutes, the table was dry. The cloth was uniform in color, free of the dark shadow and the evil crease mark was gone forever. All the burn marks were gone as well. The stretch was still as tight as ever. The cloth appeared to be perfect.
Now, I know there are many differing thoughts on applying moisture to worsted billiard cloth. This was my own table, so I had no qualms about trying anything to get rid of that crease mark.
Also, this table is in the extremely dry high desert of Southern New Mexico.
Water evaporates here in a heartbeat.
I have used the same process at least 7 or 8 times in the six months since I first tried it.
Looking back, I think the crease had disturbed the orientation of the fibers on the surface of the cloth. When I washed the surface, I think all the fibers were relaxed and allowed to "settle" back into their normal orientation.
Again, regarding the moisture on worsted cloth issue....in researching how wool fabrics are made, it seems the wool is washed or soaked maybe six or seven times in the process as it goes from the sheep to the store counter. From that, one would conclude that water is not hostile to wool cloth if applied under proper conditions.
Lastly, I would emphasize that I did all this as a make it or break it attempt to get rid of a huge flaw in the looks of my cloth. If it had not been successful, I was prepared to buy new cloth and start over.
It worked for me...it may or may not work for you.
Joe
