Simonis Pool Table Felt FAQ: Mistakes I Learned the Hard Way (and How to Avoid Them)

I've been installing and servicing pool tables since 2017. I've made some expensive mistakes in that time, and I've documented every one. This FAQ is for the people who ask me the same questions over and over—and for the ones who don't ask and end up paying for it. If you're dealing with Simonis cloth, a Bluetooth speaker, a Concept2 rower, or a phone with a muffled speaker, this will save you money.

Frequent Questions

What's the real difference between Simonis 860 and Simonis 760?

I get this one constantly. The short answer: 860 is the tournament standard—heavier, more wool, and faster. 760 is lighter, less expensive, and a bit more durable for recreational use. But I learned the hard way back in 2019. I convinced a bar owner to go with 760 to save money. For six months it was fine. Then the cue ball burn marks started showing. We re-felted the whole table with 860, and that double labor round cost us $600 and a week of goodwill. Everything I'd read said cheaper cloth was smarter for high-traffic bars. In practice, I found the opposite: the extra cost of 860 was cheaper than the cost of re-felting twice. I'm not a textile engineer, so I can't speak to exact wool percentages. What I can tell you from an installation perspective is that 860 holds its playing surface far longer in commercial settings. As a dealer, that matters for your callback rate.

How do I clean Simonis pool cloth without ruining it?

The worst mistake I ever made was using a household vacuum with a rotating brush on a fresh installation. It pulled a thread near the pocket, and that was a $350 re-felt. So here's the checklist I give every client. First, use the felt attachment with no beater bar. Second, brush gently in the direction the cloth naps—not side to side. Third, for spills, blot with a dry microfiber cloth; don't rub. Fourth, use Simonis X1 cleaner only after vacuuming, and spray it on the cloth, not the cushions. I learned that cushion rule after soaking a set and watching the rubber degrade. That was a $180 mistake. And fifth, never use a steam cleaner. I'm not a professional cleaner, so I can't recommend every brand out there. But I can say this from experience: a 12-point pre-clean check has saved us an estimated $8,000 in potential rework. Five minutes of verification beats five days of correction.

Is Simonis X1 cleaner worth it, or can I just use rubbing alcohol?

Here's the thing: I tried both. I started with a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and water because a forum said it worked. After three weeks, it left a dull film on brand-new 860 cloth. When I compared that table side by side with a table cleaned with Simonis X1, the difference was obvious—the X1 table still had that smooth, slightly chalky feel that makes 860 play fast. The alcohol table felt tacky. Why does this matter? Because cloth speed is the soul of a pool table. I ran this comparison in 2023 on two identical tables in the same room. The alcohol-treated table measured slower on a standard ball-stop test. So yeah, X1 is worth it. It costs about $10 more per bottle, but it lasts months. The conventional wisdom says make your own cleaner to save money. My experience says you'll lose more in performance than you'll save. This pricing was accurate as of January 2025; verify current numbers before budgeting.

What do a Bluetooth speaker, a Concept2 rower, and a smartphone have in common with billiard cloth?

They all get damaged by the same thing: dust. We treat pool tables like furniture, but they're precision surfaces. If you have a Concept2 rower in the same room as a Simonis table—which is actually a common home gym setup—the rower's fan kicks up dust from the floor. That dust lands on the cloth and acts like sandpaper. I saw it in a customer's home in September 2022: the cloth near the rower was visibly worn after eight months, while the other side looked new. So I now tell people to vacuum the room before playing, not just the cloth. Same logic applies to a Bluetooth speaker: dust clogs the grille and muffles the bass. And for a phone speaker? The fix is the same. How to clean phone speaker safely: use a dry, soft toothbrush or a slightly sticky adhesive tab. Do not use compressed air—I've pushed dust deeper into two phones that way. The lesson is consistent: prevent dust from settling, and you spend a lot less time cleaning.

How often should a billiard table be re-felted?

That depends on usage. Home tables on Simonis 860 can go five years with proper care. A commercial table might need re-felting after eight months. The honest signal is when a ball doesn't roll straight after brushing, or when you see wear lanes along common ball paths. The bigger mistake I made early on was waiting too long to avoid the cost. In 2021, I deferred a re-felt on my own table by two months. The cloth compressed so much that a stray ball slide left a permanent groove. New felt cost $400. The groove would have been avoidable. My rule for commercial tables: inspect the cloth every month. For dealers, ask customers to send you a photo every quarter. This was accurate as of late 2024; I can't predict how new ball materials will affect cloth life. But prevention is always cheaper than replacement.

What's the most common mistake you see from table owners?

It's not the vacuum. It's not storing a ball set on the felt. It's ignoring humidity in the room. Humidity changes how the cloth plays and can rust the slate underneath. A customer in a damp basement had their Simonis cloth develop a mildew smell. The cloth was still smooth—that's the strange part—but no cleaner removed the odor. We had to re-felt. That was a $500 job. Now I tell every customer: buy a $20 hygrometer and keep the room between 40% and 50% humidity. This gets into HVAC territory, which isn't my expertise, so I'd recommend a professional for serious moisture problems. But from a maintenance perspective, a dehumidifier is the cheapest insurance. Why does this matter? Because replacing a felt that looks fine feels wasteful—until you have to replace it because of moisture damage. Prevention over cure, always.

Any final advice for someone buying Simonis cloth for the first time?

Yes: order from a dealer who can tell you the production date. I've seen 'new old stock' cloth that sat in a warehouse for years. It can look perfect, but the backing may have degraded. That happened to me in Q1 2024 on a $3,200 order—every roll had an adhesion problem. We caught it because we install tables. If you're a retailer, you'd have shipped those rolls to customers and dealt with callback after callback. So verify the batch date, keep the receipt, and test a small sample before you cut the full table. That's 15 minutes of work versus a 3-day production delay. And per FTC advertising guidelines, be careful about how you claim durability for your own resale—make sure your supplier's specs back it up. In the end, the best advice is: use the right cloth, clean it the right way, and check the room before it becomes a problem.