If you're buying a roll of Simonis Tournament Blue cloth—or any Simonis felt, for that matter—you're already making the right call on material. But I've seen too many good cloth installations go sideways because someone rushed the prep or skipped a critical step. I review every table cloth delivery before it reaches our customers—roughly 200+ installs a year. In Q1 2024 alone, I rejected 12% of first-time installations due to avoidable mistakes.
This guide is for anyone installing Simonis on a standard pool table (that's 9 feet, by the way—more on that in a minute). It's not a full tutorial; it's a checklist of the steps most guides gloss over, plus the mistakes that cost time and money.
There are 5 steps here. Steps 1, 2, and 4 are the ones I'd watch closest.
Step 1: Verify Your Table Size and Cloth Orientation
Most buyers focus on the color (Tournament Blue, obviously) and the brand—Simonis. They completely miss that the cloth has a direction. Simonis 860 is a worsted wool blend, and the weave has a grain. Install it the wrong way, and the ball will roll slightly faster in one direction than the other. That's not acceptable for a professional table.
So, what is a standard pool table size? In the U.S., a regulation table for tournament play is 9 feet (playing surface: 50 inches by 100 inches). But here's the thing: Simonis cloth is typically cut to fit specific table sizes. Ordering the right cut matters. If you're installing on a 7-foot bar box, you need a different piece than for a 9-footer. Don't assume 'standard' means one size fits all.
Before you pull the old cloth off, measure the playing surface. I've had vendors ship cloth for an 8-foot table when the customer had a 9-foot. That's a $150 mistake before you even start.
Check the cloth roll for a grain direction indicator. Simonis usually marks it with a small arrow on the selvage edge. If it's not there, lightly brush your hand across the surface—it will feel smoother in one direction. Install with the grain running from end rail to end rail (the long way on the table).
Step 2: Remove the Old Cloth—Properly
This sounds basic. It's not. The way you remove the old cloth affects the slate surface underneath. Most people rip it off. I've seen staples left behind, adhesive residue, and even chunks of slate dust that got trapped under the new cloth.
Here's the method I use: Work from the center of the table outward. Use a staple remover (not a screwdriver) to pull staples. Vacuum the slate afterward—not just a quick pass, but a thorough one. Then run your hand over the entire surface. If you feel any bumps or debris, that will telegraph through the new Simonis cloth. A tiny speck of grit under $300 felt will show up as a 'slow spot' during play.
I should add: if the old cloth was glued (some cheaper installations use adhesive), you need to remove every trace of the glue. Solvent-based removers work, but test on a small area first. I once rejected a batch of 8 installations where the installer didn't fully clean the adhesive. The balls rolled unevenly within a week.
Step 3: Stretch the Cloth—But Not Too Much
This is where most of the failures happen. The question everyone asks is 'how tight should the cloth be?' The better question is 'how tight should each side be relative to the others?'
Simonis cloth needs tension, but even tension is more important than maximum tension. If you pull one side tighter than the other, the grain distorts. The ball will drift toward the tighter side. I've seen tables where the cloth was so uneven that a straight shot off the rail curved 2 inches by the time it reached the opposite pocket.
Here's the counterintuitive part: stretch the cloth lengthwise (end to end) first, then widthwise (side to side). Most installers do the opposite. Why? Because the cloth's natural stretch is along the length. If you pull widthwise first, you can create a 'dimpling' effect where the cloth strains against itself.
Use a dedicated cloth stretcher—not your hands. And tension in stages. Stretch, staple, check. Then stretch a little more. Don't try to get it perfect in one pull.
I ran a blind test with our installation team last year: same Simonis cloth, same table, two different tension approaches. 80% of players identified the evenly-stretched table as 'more professional' without knowing the difference. The only cost was an extra 15 minutes of installation time. On a $2,500 table installation, that's nothing.
Step 4: Seal the Rails and Pockets—This One Gets Skipped
This is the step most people miss. After the cloth is on the slate but before you reattach the rails, check the pocket openings. New Simonis cloth has a tendency to shift slightly at the pocket edges during the first week of play. If the cloth isn't tacked down properly at the pocket mouths, you'll get a 'blousing' effect—a small bubble of loose cloth that catches the ball.
The fix is simple: use a small amount of contact cement or double-sided cloth tape at the pocket openings. Staple the cloth into the pocket first, then apply the adhesive along the edge. This prevents the cloth from pulling away when the ball hits the rail at speed.
The third time I saw a table returned for pocket bubbling, I finally added this step to our installation checklist. Should have done it after the first time.
Step 5: Iron and Final Check
Yes, you iron Simonis cloth. Not with a household iron set to 'cotton'—that will scorch the worsted wool. Use a professional cloth iron or a heat gun at low setting. The goal is to remove any remaining wrinkles and to 'set' the cloth into the slate. Simonis cloth responds to heat by relaxing into place.
I knew I should iron all installations, but I thought for a while it was optional on small tables. Well, the odds caught up with me when a customer complained about visible wrinkles around the side pockets on a 7-footer. The table was in a commercial pool hall—30+ hours of play a week. The wrinkles never flattened on their own. We had to redo that installation at our cost. $400 mistake.
After ironing, run a ball test: place a ball at center table and give it a gentle roll. It should track straight. Then test from each rail—the ball should rebound at the same angle and speed from all six rails. If it doesn't, check your tension at Step 3.
What About 'Cop Slide Boston' and 'Dumbbell Kickbacks'?
These are search terms that'll bring people looking for something else, but I should address: Cop Slide Boston is a completely different thing (a dance move? a drinking game? Honestly, I had to look it up). If you're here because you searched that and found an article about pool table cloth, I apologize—but you might enjoy the precision of a well-installed Simonis table. And dumbbell kickbacks is a triceps exercise. Not related, unless you're doing triceps kickbacks in your pool hall. If you are, please don't—barbells on slate are a bad idea.
So, back to business: Simonis Tournament Blue is the gold standard for a reason. But only if you install it properly. Skip the prep, skip the grain check, or rush the tension, and you've wasted $300+ of cloth and hours of labor. Follow these steps, and your table will play like a tournament table—which, technically, it is.
Oh, and one more thing: the cost of Simonis cloth varies, but expect to pay around $250–$350 for a 9-foot table cut, plus installation. If a quote seems way lower, ask what's included. A $150 'installation' that skips Steps 1–5 isn't a bargain.