Alternative to Simonis Pool Table Cloth

1/21/2010 8:03:54 AM

Alternative to Simonis Pool Table Cloth

It seems that this sport is brain washed to believe that Simonis is the only pool table cloth that worth buying. While Simonis does make a very good cloth, it not the only player in the game.

I recently recovered my table with Championship cloth. I had Simonis 860 but they recently had a significant price increase, I used the Tournament edition of Championship cloth, made by D&R industries. It is 24 oz instead of the Simonis 21 oz. It is very good cloth and plays fast. It just might be better than simonis.

I don't work for them and I am not advertising.

Has anyone else tried this cloth?

whammo

Alternative to Simonis Pool Table Cloth

Replies & Comments

probilliards on 9/29/2010 7:30:20 AM
There are many very good quality cloth brands available - even some that people never heard of made in Europe. Simonis has vertical quality control since it owns the mill and its only product is billiard cloth. While Championship is decent cloth all of their styles are made in a mill in Mexico which also makes products other then billiard cloth. Simonis has been in the cloth business well over 200 years so it's safe to say they have manufacturing down pat with the least amount of variance from bolt to bolt of cloth. The result of their efforts is a product that commands a premium price. The question I always hear when talking other cloth brands is - "how does it compare to Simonis".

johnwicks on 12/20/2010 7:47:06 AM
Pool table cloth generally comes in two varieties. Woolen cloth is much like the "felt" that most people refer to. It is a slower and generally heavier cloth, however it can pill up giving you little fuzzy bits to deal with over time. The other type of cloth is worsted cloth, which has a visible woven pattern akin to a nice suit. This is the cloth preferred by most professionals and used in almost all major tournaments

Renegade_56 on 12/21/2010 12:49:26 AM
And 860 is slower than 760, which is the most popular among top level players.

maxpaayne on 1/25/2011 5:00:03 PM
There are different sites available which offer a variety of imported branded snooker and pool table cloth. Some make their own pool cloth which is very good in quality and also reasonable in price.

bubbakid on 2/1/2011 9:02:46 AM
so where is the best place/ source to buy the cloth?

gizardlizard on 11/28/2011 11:40:00 AM
I had my table recovered with a material called Granito. It is the fastest material I have ever played on. It was pricey compared to Simonis though.

drmiller on 12/12/2011 12:03:58 PM
There are others, but Simonis is the best.

Most home table will come with some variant of Championship. It's a decent cloth, but not worsted.

If you want something between Simonis and Championship, go with Velocity Pro (worsted 85% wool). Mali is decent too.

FWIW, i was going to upgrade from Championship to Velocity Pro on my new table. However, I ended up getting a used Diamond which already has Simonis 860, so I'm more than a happy camper.

Mitch Alsup on 12/17/2011 2:49:19 PM
Just a note:

The speed of the cloth should be chosen to help one end of your game (or the other). In my case, I put the very fast Simonis 760 on an 8 foot table just so that I could develop delicasy in my cue ball control. One could go the other way (slow cloth) in order to develop the power end of your game.

In addition to the delicacy end of CB control, fast cloth allows one to see the physics of spin take place on the table. On fast cloth, the arc of a masse shot takes place over a couple of inches and is easy to see it take place. On a slow cloth, the same stroke would have the entirety of the arc transpire almost immediately. Similar effects occur as balls reflect off the rails.

In general, fast pool table cloth allows one to see the physics taking place, while slow cloth only shows you what has already taken place. If you are a careful observer of your game and stroke, fast cloths are better for your game, AND come with an advantage when friends come over to play; That is, the friends are used to slower cloth, giving you a big advantage.

angelinecurtez on 4/21/2013 5:51:10 PM
Yeah but I also agree that there are actually plenty of table cloth brands to be used that are of a higher quality compared to what you just said in your previous post. However, if they only know how to choose the best one, then I am sure that everything will be perfect.

Zeke on 4/22/2013 6:41:08 AM
There's no mention yet of "durability" - as in "longevity" in these critiques.

How a cloth "plays" is important; but will it need to be replaced in two, three or ten years - is also important. Then too, wool has some interesting properties. For one, it has a high melt point. We know ball spin friction, creates fade marks on the cloth. That's from the relatively high temps generated by the point of contact being so small and the ball spinning at high speed can induce "burns."

Wool also is least affected by overall temperature. The contraction and expansion rate of synthetics is huge - compared to wool. On extremely hot days, synthetic cloth will tend to be "looser" than wool. Conversely, on cold tables, the cloth will be tighter than wool.

If you play often enough to bother with a cover, sunlight will be a factor. Wool vs. Synthetics will react to sunlight quite differently.

Then there's the money angle. The cloth is one thing and anyone with a web browser can see who's got what fabric and at what cost. Comparative shopping allows us to determine what prices various coverings are. The labor however is roughly the same to recover a tabe - regardless of the material selected.

A great cloth installed by a butcher - is far worse than a cheap cloth installed by a wizard.

As yet undiscussed - despite being critically important; "how much play does your table get; what's the room temp swings and humidity levels typical for 12 months and; does sunlight hit the playing surface often enough to be a factor?

Lastly, covering the table when not in use has both pluses and minuses. If sunlight is an issue, covering may reduce "bleaching" but at the increase of the sun's rays being converted into trapped heat - making the cloth beneath the cover, even warmer then not having a cover at all. That problem could be reduced or eliminated by putting a UV "shade" on the window(s) that allow the sun in, or perhaps blinds.

Also, if you have hot air heat - and/or central air, lots more dust will be on the table.

While we're on the topic of cloth, "brushing" - recommended by almost the entire planet as the "proper" way to keep the cloth clean - is an absurd notion! Brushing cleans nothing. It merely evens out the distribution of dust so the whole table top remains flithy!

At least four times a year I use the brush attachment to the regular house vacuum and carefully and slowly vacuum the entire table, under the cushion angles and cushions themselves. I have looked at what the vacuum picks up and cannot believe anyone would suggest that brushing alone is "good maintenance."

user1534180160 on 8/13/2018 10:09:20 AM
Anyone used this Ozone Speed felt from amazon.com?

I am planning to re-felt my pool table with something reasonable for occasional play, however I am concerned about the 55% wool and 45% nylon blend on this advertised worsted wool felt.

Should I rather go for standard felt?

user1566208805 on 8/19/2019 3:00:06 AM
I play 9 ball almost exclusively. By far, the greatest thing I ever did was to start playing on only 9' tables with Simonis 760 and shimmed pockets. The precision that demanded, in terms of english, cue ball control, and just making sure you were "in stroke" as we used to say, by far gave the greatest strides in improving my game.

Watching some unbelievably great players, such as the late Cole Dixon, my old friend Smiley (initials S.C. - an aluminum worker from my hometown of Spokane, WA),who has one of. and possibly the finest stroke, and greatest command of english I've had the privilege of watching and playing with, allowed me to watch exactly what effects each spin had on shots, where they took affect, where to let them catch with regards to the object ball/rails for different effects. This was the biggest learning tool by far, in my humble but experienced opinion.

If you are keen on becoming a real shooter, you owe it to yourself to practice shooting on this type of setup. It can be a little intimidating at first, as it feels like the CB is never going to come to rest, but boy will you understand how precisely and how fine your aim must be to play against serious competitive shooters.

As of yet, the Simonis 760 cloth is in its own league in this regard.

I hear Brunswick now makes a cloth that may be faster, but this is because its Teflon coated, and this coating wears off quickly, with the resulting cloth feeling sluggish and inconsistent.

I'm not putting anything but Simonis on my 9' Gold Crown. This is no advertisement, and no, I get nothing from this. Not even a free 9' Simonis cloth, although, come to think of it, that was a pretty sweet plug for going with Simonis. You guys at Simonis ought to hook a brother up with a tournament blue or green 760 cloth for the trouble. What do ya say?

As another old 9 ball shooter from Spokane would say, "I'm the poorest and need the morest"

I hope you're still knocking them around.

Cheers,
Vic

BallBuster on 11/19/2019 9:39:38 AM
I buy my cloth from gameroomcreations on eBay. I've been buying Simonis and Championship cloth for decades but this cloth is 90% worsted wool and super tough.

The only caveat is that you should cut the rails yourself because they don't leave much overhang on the sides. You can cut each of your rails a tad smaller and that will leave you an extra inch overhang on the bed cloth.

New Worsted Pool Table Cloth for 8ft Table - High Speed Billiard Cloth Felt

Worsted wool billiards cloths are the choice of pool players around the world. Their nap-free, precision threaded weaves create the perfect playing surface and assure a faster and more accurate roll.