Wetting Cloth

[Crash]

Due to my lack of experience, after 9 months the cloth (860) lost its tightness around the cushion facings. It didn't affect play or even noticed by anyone but me. It wasn't bad enough to take the rails off and pull the cloth tighter. I got a wild hair and dampened the cloth around the facings. It worked. I don't think this would be a way to make a bad installation good but it did restore a good installation to its original appearance.

Next time I cover my rails I'll take up a bit more slack through the feather strip around the facings and pull just a little bit tighter.

 

[Grilled Cheese]

That's strange, I've read the opposite here. I read here that wetting the cloth slightly will help loosen it, rather than tighten it. That is how you can get rid of real bad stretch shadows near the rails.

 

[Crash]

http://www.valley-dynamo.com/pdf/september2006/Recovering the slate.pdf

In the article they describe wetting the cloth at the ends of the rails before installation though I've never seen or heard of anyone doing it.

From the article ...

7. Place both ends of the felt into some water to soak. You need about 4’ per end. The
reason for the water is that the felt will shrink when dry and will make a much tighter
and smoother fit.