After Wasting $3,200 on Cheap Pool Table Felt: Why Simonis is Actually the Cheaper Option

Let me save you the $3,200 mistake I made

I've been handling equipment orders for a regional chain of pool halls for about six years now. When I first started, I assumed pool table cloth was pool table cloth. Felt is felt, right? That assumption cost us roughly $3,200 in premature replacements, lost booking revenue, and the kind of embarrassment you feel when a regular leans over the table and says, "This cloth is already slow, huh?"

Three years and six complete re-felts later, I can tell you this without hesitation: Simonis is not the most expensive cloth you can buy. It's the cheapest. Here's exactly why.

What I learned the hard way about the "bargain" alternative

Our first purchase, I went with a non-branded wool-nylon blend. It was roughly 35% cheaper than Simonis 860. On paper, it looked fine—same weight spec, same thickness claims. I thought I was being smart with the budget.

Ten months later, we were ordering replacement cloth. The cheaper stuff had developed visible bald patches on the break spot and the rail mouths. The nap was basically gone. Shots that should have rolled true were wobbling. The players noticed. The league nights got louder—not in a good way.

Here's the math nobody tells you:

Cheap cloth: $350/table + $200 installation = $550. Lasts 10 months.
Simonis 860: $520/table + $200 installation = $720. Lasts 30+ months in a commercial setting.

That's $660/year for the cheap stuff versus $288/year for Simonis—and that doesn't account for the two days of downtime per replacement, the lost table revenue, or the annoyed customers. The cheap option cost us 43% more annually.

The 860 vs 790 question (and why 860 wins for most operators)

I went back and forth on this one for weeks, honestly. Simonis 790 is faster—more like tournament speed. It's what the pros play on at the Mosconi Cup. It's also thinner and slightly less durable. The 860 is the workhorse. It's 70% worsted wool, 30% nylon, and it's designed to hold up.

For a commercial room with daily play from average skill levels? 860 is the right call, period. The extra durability saves you money over time, and the average player won't feel the difference in speed. If you're running a private club or a dedicated tournament space, maybe 790 makes sense. But for 8 out of 10 operators I've talked to, 860 is the no-brainer.

Speaking of that famous color—yes, Tournament Blue matters. It's Pantone-matched (though I don't have the exact code in front of me) and it provides the optimal contrast for the red and yellow balls. It's not just tradition; it's actually functional.

The cleaning part nobody talks about

This is the part I really messed up the first time. I assumed cloth maintenance meant an occasional brush and a vacuum. Wrong.

Simonis recommends their X1 cleaner for a reason. I put it off for the first six months—thought it was just an upsell. By month eight, I was scrubbing chalk rings with a damp cloth, which we learned the hard way is a bad idea. The moisture interacted with the wool in ways I don't fully understand, but the result was ugly staining and a rough patch.

Now we use X1 every four weeks. One bottle covers about 12 tables per application. At $28 a bottle, that's a negligible cost compared to the alternative. The cloth stays tacky, the balls roll cleaner, and I'm not having the "we need to replace this" conversation for another two years.

Wait, is Simonis always the answer?

I can hear someone thinking: "Okay, but what if I'm doing a home table that gets used three times a year?"

Fair question. If you're putting cloth on a home table that sees light use, you can probably get away with a mid-tier option. The ROI calculation changes when you're not running 40 hours of play per week. But here's the thing—even if it lasts you 10 years versus 5 years on a home table, the premium per year is still tiny. And resale value matters. A table with Simonis cloth is an easier sell down the road.

The real cases where I'd say skip Simonis:

• You're on a hard budget and the table is for casual family use only. The cost difference matters more when you're not making money off the table.
• You're buying a table that's already been re-felted with something else. Reverting to Simonis after a non-standard cloth can sometimes require extra labor to correct the old installation.
• You're dealing with a table that has significant structural issues. New cloth won't fix a warped slate or loose pockets.

But for a commercial room? A league-heavy bar? A club that's serious about the game? Simonis is not an expense. It's an investment with a guaranteed return.

Where to actually buy it (and avoid the headaches)

Don't just Google "Simonis 860" and click the first result. I've seen counterfeit cloth being sold, especially on third-party marketplaces. The packaging should have the Simonis logo, a serial number, and the fabric should feel dense and smooth—not fuzzy.

I buy directly from authorized distributors now. Mueller Sporting Goods, Billiard Factory, and a few regional suppliers are reliable. If the price looks too good to be true (like half off), it absolutely is. You're either getting seconds, old stock, or a knockoff.

The bottom line

Nobody likes spending more upfront. I didn't either. But the confidence I have now when a customer asks "How long will this cloth last?"—and being able to say "Two to three years, easy, with basic care"—is worth the difference.

The cheap cloth was supposed to save me money. It ended up costing me $3,200 in wasted materials, labor, and credibility. Since switching to Simonis 860 with Tournament Blue and using the X1 cleaner on schedule, I've had zero premature replacements. Zero complaints about slow cloth. Zero embarrassments in front of the regulars.

So no, Simonis isn't cheap. But it is the most affordable cloth you'll ever buy. If that makes me sound like a shill, so be it. I'll take that over another angry league night captain any day of the week.