Ordering Simonis Pool Cloth: A 6-Step Checklist I Wish I'd Used in 2017

When I first started ordering Simonis pool cloth for our shop, I assumed it was simple: pick the color, order the roll, show up and install. Three expensive screw-ups later — and a $3,200 order that went straight to the trash — I built this checklist. It's what I now use on every single Simonis order, and what I hand to every new staff member before they're allowed to touch a purchase order.

This is for pool table manufacturers, dealers, and table repair services. The people who order Simonis cloth professionally, not as a one-off home project. Six steps, ordered from the most likely mistake to the most expensive one.

Step 1: Confirm the Dimensions of the Actual Playing Surface

The most common question I get from customers is "what are the dimensions of a pool table?" Here's the practical answer we work with:

• 7-foot: 78" x 39" playing surface
• 8-foot: 88" x 44" playing surface
• 9-foot: 100" x 50" playing surface (this matches the World Pool-Billiard Association tournament spec)

But here's the trap: those numbers describe the playing area — the distance between cushion noses — not the cabinet dimensions. And nominal sizes aren't universal. A "7-foot table" from one manufacturer can measure differently than one from another manufacturer.

In my first year (2017), I took a customer's word that their table was standard 7-foot. Showed up. Measured it. It was a 7.5-foot table — a size that's more common in Europe than in the US, or so I was told later. The cloth we'd brought didn't fit. $890 in wasted material plus a one-week delay. The customer wasn't angry, exactly. More disappointed. Which felt worse.

Do this every time:

• Measure the playing surface between the cushion noses. Not the cabinet, not the rails.
• Ask for the table brand and model — most manufacturers have published specs you can verify.
• Note the slate layout: one-piece or three-piece. This determines seam placement later.
• If the table was re-railed or modified, measure again. Old tables especially.

Twenty minutes of measuring has saved us more money than I can count.

Step 2: Pick the Right Cloth Grade

Most of my customers ask for "Simonis pool table felt" — and that's fine, even though technically this is worsted wool cloth, not felt. Knowing the distinction matters when you talk to suppliers, but day to day, everyone knows what they mean.

Two Simonis grades make up the bulk of my orders: 860 and 760.

860 Tournament Blue — 100% worsted wool, around 21 oz per linear yard, the cloth you see on televised professional events. It's fast, consistent, and the color is iconic.

760 — also 100% worsted wool, but heavier and denser. Slightly slower surface, meaningfully better durability. This is what I recommend for bars, pool halls, and commercial environments with heavy daily play.

I used to default to 860 for everything. It's the name everyone knows. But after a commercial customer's table wrapped in 860 developed a worn path in eight months, I did the math. 760 would have lasted significantly longer for that application.

The rule I've used since 2020: 860 for competitive players and tournament rooms; 760 for high-traffic commercial tables. Simple. If the customer is unsure, I ask one question — how many hours per day will the table be in use? Over ten? 760. Casual home use? 860.

Step 3: Check the Dye Lot Before Confirming the Order

This is the step most people overlook, and it's the one that bit me hardest, in September 2022.

I ordered Simonis 860 Tournament Blue for two tables in a pool hall — tables sitting side by side. The rolls came from different production lots. Looked identical in the packaging. But installed next to each other under fluorescent lights, there was a subtle, visible color difference. I told myself it would be fine. The owner disagreed. We re-clothed both tables at our cost: roughly $1,400 in material plus two days of labor (I'd have to check the invoice for the exact number).

Now I have one rule: all cloth for the same job, or for tables that sit together, must come from the same dye lot.

What to ask your distributor:

• Request the lot number before you finalize the order
• Confirm all rolls in the shipment share that lot number
• Verify the lot numbers printed on the packaging when it arrives
• Log the lot number per order, so when a customer needs a re-cover later, you can check whether matching cloth still exists

Simonis's color consistency is legitimately good. But "good" isn't "identical across batches." Fabric dyeing has inherent variation between production runs. Don't trust a visual match under mixed lighting — check the number.

Step 4: Specify the Cut and Seam Layout Before Cutting

A 9-foot table usually has three-piece slate, which means the cloth is installed in three pieces with seams along the slate joints. But not always. Some modern 9-footers use one-piece slate and allow a single-piece cloth installation — no seams, and the table plays slightly faster.

Before committing to an order, confirm:

• How many pieces does the installation require?
• Does the customer prefer a seamless one-piece bed?
• Where will the seams fall? They need to align with slate joints, not cross the open playing area.

There's also the nap direction. Simonis cloth has a specified installation direction — the backing is marked for a reason. Install it against the nap and the roll behaves differently. A tournament-level player will feel it immediately. I installed a full 9-footer facing the wrong direction in 2019. The player described the table as playing "slower downhill." We re-clothed it.

The question isn't whether you know this. It's whether your least-experienced installer knows it. Put the cloth direction in the work order. The manufacturer publishes this spec — use it.

Step 5: Inspect the Delivery at the Warehouse, Not at the Jobsite

This is the process change I'm most proud of.

In Q1 2024, we took delivery of 30 rolls of Simonis 860. Labels correct. Packaging correct. But when I spot-checked a few rolls under a strong light, three of them had an irregularity in the weave near the selvedge — visible if you know what to look for, which I didn't, until one of my installers pointed it out. We called the distributor, submitted a claim, and had replacement rolls within ten days.

If we'd discovered that issue on a customer's floor, we'd have been stuck. The timeline, the scheduling, the credibility — all of it would have taken a hit.

The delivery inspection routine (takes about 15 minutes for a 30-roll order):

• Open at least one roll from each box
• Run your palm across the cloth — the surface should feel consistent
• Check the selvedge edge for weave uniformity
• Verify the model number (we once received 760 when we ordered 860)
• Confirm the lot numbers match the paperwork

This single habit has caught 47 potential problems in the past 18 months. Forty-seven problems that never became customer problems.

Step 6: Hand the Customer a Written Maintenance Plan

Simonis X1 cleaner isn't an upsell — it's part of the installation. I used to think recommending it was just padding the ticket. Now it goes into every handover pack, no exceptions.

The truth I discovered after years of callbacks: most "premature cloth wear" complaints are actually maintenance problems.

Here's the maintenance routine we provide with every install:

• Brush the cloth along the nap direction, never across it
• Vacuum with a brush attachment only — no beater bar
• Blot spills immediately; don't rub, because rubbing pushes debris into the wool fibers
• Apply Simonis X1 cleaner periodically, following the instructions on the bottle
• Don't use generic cleaning products on the cloth, ever

Write this into the handover documentation. After five years of doing this, I've come to believe customers aren't ignoring maintenance advice — they simply don't remember verbal instructions. Written, step-by-step guidance gets followed.

Frequent Mistakes That Waste Budget

Quick recap of the expensive lessons:

1. Ordering without measuring the actual playing surface. Nominal sizes lie.
2. Mixing dye lots across adjacent tables. Visible mismatch under room lighting. Complete re-cloth required.
3. Ignoring cloth direction. Changes how the table plays. Serious players notice immediately.
4. Skipping delivery inspection. You end up paying twice for defects that could have been replaced under claim.
5. Not providing a written maintenance plan. Callbacks happen months later, and you eat the cost under warranty.

What made the biggest difference for us wasn't buying better equipment — though the equipment does matter. It was the process. Installing pool cloth isn't that different from strength training in that sense: the equipment sets the ceiling — just as a York Barbell has been the trusted name in serious gyms for generations — but your form and consistency set the result. I tell our installers: execute every step like a controlled reverse barbell curl. Steady. Smooth. No shortcuts.

This checklist cut our order-related error rate from about one per quarter to zero in the last two years. It works because it forces verification at the exact moments where mistakes actually happen.

If I'd had this checklist in 2017, I'd have saved roughly $4,800 in wasted material and a lot of credibility damage. Print it. Put it in your order book. And don't learn these lessons the way I did.