This thread refers mainly to poolrooms as opposed to home tables where I'm sure those of you that do, maintain very strict rules to maintain your cloth stays immaculate.
Probably the substance that had me most puzzled and took me a number of years to figure out, was usually white colored pasty particles that often appeared on certain tables - most likely on the foot of the table in the racking area. When you'd try to wipe them off, they would smudge. I finally figured out it was coming from certain types of roll-on underarm deodorant flaking off from players wearing short sleeved shirts, occurring when their arm or arms were stuck out over the table like when they are racking the balls or when they have their bridge hand extended out over the table for a shot.
Another less pleasant substance that comes to mind that occasionally shows up is drippage coming directly from the mouths or chins from players using tobacco based chew/dip products. Yes, although we don't allow smoking in inside public places here in NC, we do still have a number of regulars that choose to dip/chew while they are playing. As long as they keep their spit cups close by and don't try to spit in the trash cans, I've learned to live with that vice.
The other one I've seen often in our room is extremely unsightly black streaks across the cloth. It took me a while to figure out these were caused by customers (likely most often kids) using the butt end of their cues to strike the balls and sliding the rubber bumper butt end of the house cues across the table cloth surface. Luckily, these black skid marks from house cue butt bumpers generally come out fairly easily. Then there are the much sharper lines/streaks going across the cloth are from kids dragging the tip end of the house cues across the cloth. Although they don't really discolor the cloth, these streaks usually take a little time to come out even when you try your best to brush/vacuum them
Any other unusual substances showing up on tables come to mind that you guys can think of that you'd like to share, and if/how you were able to remove these blemishes from your tables?
Probably the substance that had me most puzzled and took me a number of years to figure out, was usually white colored pasty particles that often appeared on certain tables - most likely on the foot of the table in the racking area. When you'd try to wipe them off, they would smudge. I finally figured out it was coming from certain types of roll-on underarm deodorant flaking off from players wearing short sleeved shirts, occurring when their arm or arms were stuck out over the table like when they are racking the balls or when they have their bridge hand extended out over the table for a shot.
Another less pleasant substance that comes to mind that occasionally shows up is drippage coming directly from the mouths or chins from players using tobacco based chew/dip products. Yes, although we don't allow smoking in inside public places here in NC, we do still have a number of regulars that choose to dip/chew while they are playing. As long as they keep their spit cups close by and don't try to spit in the trash cans, I've learned to live with that vice.
The other one I've seen often in our room is extremely unsightly black streaks across the cloth. It took me a while to figure out these were caused by customers (likely most often kids) using the butt end of their cues to strike the balls and sliding the rubber bumper butt end of the house cues across the table cloth surface. Luckily, these black skid marks from house cue butt bumpers generally come out fairly easily. Then there are the much sharper lines/streaks going across the cloth are from kids dragging the tip end of the house cues across the cloth. Although they don't really discolor the cloth, these streaks usually take a little time to come out even when you try your best to brush/vacuum them
Any other unusual substances showing up on tables come to mind that you guys can think of that you'd like to share, and if/how you were able to remove these blemishes from your tables?
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