The enemies of cushions

Nine ... corner

Nine ... corner

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What variables are the enemies of “good cushion health?” Overuse, under use, humidity, heat/cold or what?

I was chatting with a stranger who maintained if you didn’t use a table very much the cushions would get hard and lack responsiveness but if you then started really “exercising” the cushions by frequent play they would come back. I don’t know what to make of this and whether there is any truth to the supposition or if it’s just nonsense. What say you all?
 
Nine ... corner said:
What variables are the enemies of “good cushion health?” Overuse, under use, humidity, heat/cold or what?

I was chatting with a stranger who maintained if you didn’t use a table very much the cushions would get hard and lack responsiveness but if you then started really “exercising” the cushions by frequent play they would come back. I don’t know what to make of this and whether there is any truth to the supposition or if it’s just nonsense. What say you all?
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Likely not information you are after, but I believe that after one of our cats puked on the rail that section of rubber got hard as a rock. No cats in my new house with the old-but-redone (rubber-included) table :thumbup:

Dave
 
I know that sitting on the rails is not good for them. Otherwise, I'd think rubber just degrades over time. Amount of use shouldn't make much of a difference.
 
The air quality in the room is a major factor in cushion health. If the room is changing temps a lot and if the humdity is high, then low, then its hot, then its cold, the rubber will degenerate and play very inconsistently. My table mech (scruffy1...John Burns ) says that a pool table is made to be played on. Hitting the rails helps keep them in good condition. Many pool rooms in my area dont run the air when they should, as well as they dont run much heat either ( because of cost as well as they seem to not care about the tables condition ). Climate control is the way to go.
 
Actually the OP's friend was correct. The principal "enemies" of cushion health are no play and direct sunlight. I've seen 100 year old rails play great, because they were never in direct sunlight and got played every day.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Atlatlien said:
I know that sitting on the rails is not good for them. Otherwise, I'd think rubber just degrades over time. Amount of use shouldn't make much of a difference.
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I'm not sure what modern cushions are made of, but many types of rubber (natural and synthetic) will degrade quickly if they're in close proximity to a strong electric motor. Probably not a problem with a pool table but I'd be careful if I inventoried/stored cushions.
 
Atlatlien said:
I know that sitting on the rails is not good for them.
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Biggest killer is sitting on the rail, detaching the rubber cushion adhesion from the sub-rail........

I'll also add to it. Players the wrap their hand around/under the cushion and lean backwards/down while pulling on the cushion as they sight down shots, and then hoist themselves back to an upright position (and we all do it). All putting pressure (upwards/downwards) in directions the cushion adhesive is not designed to hold.

Now, this may sound a bit nit-picky, players laying cue cases on the table where half of it is leaning over the cushion, also putting pressure on the cushion adhesive it was not designed to handle. If you've ever removed cushion rubber from the sub-rails, you'd understand the adhesion isn't quite what you'd expect it to be assuming industry standard adhesives were used in the installation of said cushions.

And obviously environmental conditions play a huge factor as well (humidity/moisture, foreign liquids be-it acidic/protein/detergent based and/or alcohol based including drinks, Temperature variance and Sun U.V. exposure as mentioned earlier) all contribute to early rubber/adhesion breakdown and failure.

Should the adhesion of the rubber cushion come loose from the sub-rail, you now have a "bad spot" at that location of the rail, resulting in inconsistent play of the rail or the well known "dead spot" we've all encountered.
Hope this is of some help and informative for you.

Dopc.
 
Scott Lee said:
Actually the OP's friend was correct. The principal "enemies" of cushion health are no play and direct sunlight. I've seen 100 year old rails play great, because they were never in direct sunlight and got played every day.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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The part of the conversation that really surprised me was the claim that ignored rails that had lost some functionality could "come back" if they then were used frequently.
 
MitchAlsup said:
Oxygen--both in the form of O2 from normal Air and CO from smoking.
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People don't appreciate how corrosive and volatile a gas oxygen is. We figure that since we breath it, it must be pretty benign. Wrong.

Oxygen corrodes metal, aka rust. It spoils food; that's why long-term storage foods are vacuum-packed. It's one of the most flammable gases on the periodic table (ever used an oxygen torch? Wow!)

It makes sense that it will degrade rubber over time.

But what I've learned from this thread is that it's often not the cushion that's bad; it's the adhesion between cushion and rail -- which most often fails as a result of abuse.
 
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