Table maintenance

[inevermissblue]

Can we start a thread that covers as many aspects of table maintenance as possible? Hopefully we can further educate eachother, but furthermore eradicate those non effective practises which indeed damage a table. My first question is; When pocket leathers become discoloured and dull, is there anyway to brighten them up to there original state?

[Son of Cliff]

Can we start a thread that covers as many aspects of table maintenance as possible? Hopefully we can further educate eachother, but furthermore eradicate those non effective practises which indeed damage a table. My first question is; When pocket leathers become discoloured and dull, is there anyway to brighten them up to there original state?

I would say no the best thing to do is change the leathers they are not expensive and they are pretty easy to change yourself, when the leathers are discoloured and dull it is showing that they have come to the end of there use, most leathers will have been damaged in some way with the leather being hit by the balls and compressing the leather into the brass, thus making the leather weak or on times cracked which might damage the balls while they are potted, also most players handle the pockets while they walk around the table and over time the leathers become ground in with dirt which in the past I have tried to clean but to no avail.

[bongo]

On www.cuesportscloth.com, there is a small book/leaflet which is about how to look after tables professionally, it is about Pool but it equally applies to Snooker.

Looking after tables professionally is not like have 4 black spots like i've seen on a proper full size table in a club once! (And 3 baulk lines, 2 blue spots and 4 green spots, YES! Supposed to be a normal Snooker table!!!, but they made a mess of it!!)

[Omehenk]

Sorry for this off-topic reply, but the best thing i ever saw on a snooker table was that they used Tipp-Ex to mark the colour spots!

[moglet]

Omehenk, this is not off topic if you understand the original post. The marking of the table has already got a thread: http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...ad.php?t=11977

I think inevermissblue was intending to try to collect all these issues into an easily searchable forum category.

[biggus stickus]

I have a question about table ironing. I dont really want to spend 200 pound or so on a table iron, are there any other ways to perhaps use a normal iron or similar?

[bongo]

I have a question about table ironing. I dont really want to spend 200 pound or so on a table iron, are there any other ways to perhaps use a normal iron or similar?

Never use normal iron, it must be a proper Billiard Table iron, the two types of iron (normal iron for clothes and billiard iron) have completly different purposes, a normal will not do anything and it will harm your table, it is likely to anyway.

[Redphex]

@bongo

what't the physical base of your claim?
both the "real" table iron and the normal (if it's not a steam iron) are just a heated plate of metal. Provided you don't stay with the iron on the same spot for too long, what harm can be done?

the "real" table iron has the only advantage of being rectangular - thus allowing more regular lines.

[drlog147]

any one know what temp the iron should be ?

[bongo]

any one know what temp the iron should be ?

Hi, The iron should be tested on a newspaper, if the iron discoloures the print, then it's too hot, but then, you want it hot enough, but not too hot to burn the cloth! To get more information, look at the link at the bottom of my post.

@Redphex-I have never used a table iron, and of course, I have never been to see how the irons are put together, and I would never want somebody to be very upset as their cloth burnt, so that is why I said that we must use a Billiards iron, of course, if you wish to use a normal iron and it works well enough, then fine, use it, but i'd rather be safe than sorry really, I know the Billiards irons (Snooker irons) are expensive, but then I would never try a real iron on a table, and I would never dare if it was my table, i'd just stick to a Billiards iron. I'm just staying with what the actually purposes of each irons are, and I have read many times before that it should be a table iron, whatever the reason. Sorry that I have not got a definate answer.

Lots of imformation about table maintenance can be found on www.cuesportscloth.com.

Have a Good Evening!
bongo, :snooker:

[Semih_Sayginer]

I have a question about table ironing. I dont really want to spend 200 pound or so on a table iron, are there any other ways to perhaps use a normal iron or similar?

yes you can use a normal iron, and do so very well.

best advice if you go this route though is to buy a "household" iron specifically kept for the job.

theres a few ways to test it. newspaper is one. the best IMO is to have test cloth to try out on first.

it may not be "as good" as an actual table iron because a table iron fits under the cushions well and requires less strokes to get the parts around the pockets ironed correctly but it is much better than not ironing a table at all.

if you can afford the £160 or so for a table iron its a good investment. if you cant or dont want to then a household iron can be used as a suitable substitute (although it wont be quite as good as a table iron)

[Watford]

Sue Thompson the UK 8 ball World Champ uses a normal iron on her table.

I was at a game in Preston last year and a lad cleaning the tables put the iron on a table before the game. He got called to the bar and left the iron on the table. After a while smoke started to fill the room. It was quite funny!

[100-uper]

As I understand it, pool table cloths do not normally have a nap. I was told by a wizened old billiard table fitter (whose wisdom has recently been called into question) that one purpose of the straight edges of a billiard table iron was to lay the nap in a consistent direction. Whether this is true or not I wouldn't like to say, and even if it were then perhaps it is less relevant in these days of very short napped snooker cloths.

[moglet]

Well spotted 100-uper, but in this world of shifting sands can we be sure that that particular table was covered with napless worsted cloth? I don't follow the technical stuff about about pool tables and their preparation too closely so I'm not certain whether the Americans iron their pool tables.
Leastwise, most fitters here seem to use the iron at an angle whilst making the run up the table, this is the way I do mine and it makes a better job than taking the iron up square to the table which tends to produce the "striped lawn" effect.

[TheStranger]

Well spotted 100-uper, but in this world of shifting sands can we be sure that that particular table was covered with napless worsted cloth? I don't follow the technical stuff about about pool tables and their preparation too closely so I'm not certain whether the Americans iron their pool tables.

If I'm not mistaken, American pool tables have napless baize; I don't think ironing is common at all out here in the States for pool tables.