Dartman said:
Vacuuming and a damp cloth wipedown work well with no added expense.
Simonis has published cloth care suggestions here -
http://www.simoniscloth.com/Simonis_cloth_care.htm
Thanks for that input Dartman -- There are some key words therein that should be closely paid attention to.
"The cloth can be brushed,
but to remove the chalk and talc powders, it
can be vacuumed with a
non-rotating brush-head attachment that does not allow for too much suction to be formed. Some small vacuums can pick up bowling balls,
but this will only
stretch the cloth on the table and possibly
harm the grouting of the slates as well. You should test your vacuum and brush attachment off of the table first to
make certain that it is not going to damage the play surface.
Less is more in this department. After all, you are trying to remove a fine powder from a smooth cloth, so don't overdo it.
The cloth can also be wiped with a damp (
not wet) clean towel. This should
only be done after the table has been vacuumed otherwise the dampness may cause the chalk dust to clump together (think of it as adding water to dry clay). Once the dampness has evaporated, a quick brushing is all you will need before playing as moisture will cause the fibers in the cloth to stand up and a quick brushing will smooth things out.
Stains on the cloth? Contact your local Dry Cleaners as they have some pretty interesting and effective techniques to resolve these incidents. Remember,
Simonis is a worsted wool, so be sure to mention that fact."
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I have seen beer stains on BBs cleaned using a tonic water dampened bar cloth and it seemed to work quite well. Before you did that on Simonis vs cheap BB cloth, I would first have a few guys over for some pool and cold ones and use scrap pieces as coasters -- stain 'em up good and tonic those bad boys. Tell the wifey that it is a night of experimentation and not to be considered as a night of pool with the fellas. :wink:
