What is the proper way to brush/clean a pool table?

[nancewayne]

I've seen very small ridges created on NEW FELT caused by the edge of the brush when it was swiped using a half-moon motion. When a ball is rolling very slowly, it can be deflected off line slightly by those ridges. New felt should, (once it is cleaned, whichever way), be brushed the length of the table in straight lines.

 

[nancewayne]

Has anyone done any damage to the table by vacuuming with too much suction? Or catching a snag on the table and ripping it?

 

[Majic]

Has anyone done any damage to the table by vacuuming with too much suction? Or catching a snag on the table and ripping it?

I have..... and you have too...at the old Shooters. The filler used in the slate seams was pulled up and made little bumps under the cloth. Who knows why the filler was loose in the first place. Probably used something like plaster.

 

[Ponytail]

At Rusty's in Arlington and Fort Worth Texas, and at Magoo's in Tulsa Oklahoma this is what they do before you get your table. (They do this when someone brings up a rack from playing before the next person gets the table)

Use a pool brush, and brush down the rails. Direction does not matter.

When the rails are done, start at the head of the table, and brush to the foot of the table. At Magoo's and the Fort Worth Rusty's, this is done with the normal pool table brush, and a small 'general' brush. (looks like the head of a broom, only hand held size). NO SCRUBBING. Brush half the table length wise, then do the other side. Always brushing to the foot of the table.

After the bed has been done, brush under the rails with either a rail brush or the hand held 'general' brush.

Wipe down the wood on the rails with a damp cloth.

You're now ready for the next customer, and your cloth will last longer and play better.

At the end of the night, any simonis covered tables get a light rub with a damp hot cloth.

As for home use I do the same, and vacuum it as well with a dirt devil, and the hot damp cloth.

 

[sfleinen]

This one works well -- with a caveat!

I use a Craftsman 5 gallon Dry-Vac with a horsehair attatchment from my vacuum cleaner going in small circles. Then I brush the table cloth back down with a standard horsehair table brush from the headside of the table towards the footside of the table. Lastly, I use a damp cloth to wipe down the cloth in the same manner and use it to wipe the rails down.

For the pool balls, I use a damp wash rag to wipe them down and then a dry wash rag to dry them off.

This method works perfectly and takes about twenty minutes for my 9' table.

Folks:

I use this *exact* model vacuum on my table and it works well with the brush attached directly to the flexible hose. The non-flexible tubes kinda get in the way of keeping the brush at the proper angle to the cloth.

The only thing I would mark as a caveat to TX Poolnut's great info, is if you have nap cloth (not worsted cloth), to *NOT* to use small circles as mentioned, which are probably more appropriate for worsted cloth. Nap cloth has a direction or "grain." That grain flows from the head end of the table, to the foot end of the table. That is, if you stroked your hand down the table, it would feel smoother than if you stroked your hand up the table -- much like a cat's fur. If you use the vacuum brush "...going in small circles" suggestion on nap cloth, even if you use a horsehair brush afterwards to brush the nap back down from head to foot, you will still see small "swirlies" from the vacuum. That's because the nap itself was actually PULLED by the vacuum into that shape, and it's not so easy to restore it back to its original "grain." On nap cloth, it's better to use the vacuum in linear strokes, starting from head-end and ending up at foot-end.

Other than this particular caveat with nap cloth, TX Poolnut's method is the method I use, and works extremely well -- no damage to the cloth or otherwise. The brush attachment is the key to this; without the brush attachment, if one were to try to use any of the "hard" attachments directly, or just the hose itself, a great risk could be taken whereby if the aperture of the hose or attachment were angled incorrectly (e.g. the attachment pulls itself down to the cloth completely closing-off the vacuum aperture and "sticking itself" there), unless you power-off the vacuum to allow a gentle removal, you could take a chance in ripping the cloth trying to free it from its "stuck" position on the cloth. The brush attachment prevents this from happening, 1.) because the bristles always allow air in between them to replace excess vacuum, thereby preventing a "pull-down and stick" to the cloth, and 2.) the bristles themselves are strong enough where you can't press the attachment down into a perfect seal with the cloth to begin with.

Hope this is helpful,
-Sean

 

[nancewayne]

One important part of cleaning the table bed is brushing the table along the edge of the rails. That seems to be where more chalk accumulates than even the middle of the table.

At Rusty's in Arlington and Fort Worth Texas, and at Magoo's in Tulsa Oklahoma this is what they do before you get your table. (They do this when someone brings up a rack from playing before the next person gets the table)

Use a pool brush, and brush down the rails. Direction does not matter.

When the rails are done, start at the head of the table, and brush to the foot of the table. At Magoo's and the Fort Worth Rusty's, this is done with the normal pool table brush, and a small 'general' brush. (looks like the head of a broom, only hand held size). NO SCRUBBING. Brush half the table length wise, then do the other side. Always brushing to the foot of the table.

After the bed has been done, brush under the rails with either a rail brush or the hand held 'general' brush.

Wipe down the wood on the rails with a damp cloth.

You're now ready for the next customer, and your cloth will last longer and play better.

At the end of the night, any simonis covered tables get a light rub with a damp hot cloth.

As for home use I do the same, and vacuum it as well with a dirt devil, and the hot damp cloth.