Table cloth selection..

[Gibbo1967]

Hello Geoff, seen your historic replies. Have you had anymore feedback on which cloth is best yet? I was going to fit 6811, but my local fitter in Kent e mailed me this today: We've stopped using strachans after 70 years and now prefer Hainsworth's but you can face whatever you would like . I can still get it in but the Hainsworth's is made in pudsey whereas the strachans is imported . There's very little to choose between them and when strachans were winterbothams and made in Stroud it was the best". Any advice you have would be appreciated. Dave.

[philip in china]

A lot depends on what use you are going to make of it. In a private home a table gets only a small fraction of the wear it would get in a club. Also a privately owned table probably gets much more TLC than one in a club.

On one's own table a very fast paper thin cloth will be OK, which wouldn't last a fortnight in a snooker centre.

I can't claim to have noticed any markedly rapid deterioration in my 6811 gold, but I don't play to much of a standard!

[Geoff Large]

Both firms make quality cloths and you will only know what you like if you play on them to compare , I recommend Strachan 6811 tournament 30oz because it is the most used and reliable cloth out there for club and home use and match use too .

Some fitters have special deals with hainsworth to sell and push their brands , it reminds me of when I first left school and worked at Currys as a junior salesman aged just 15 at the time ( 1969 )
at that time Electrolux was the best vacuum cleaner but because Hoover where offering sales teams a free Christmas Hamper if they pushed punters onto the Hoovers we sold them the Hoovers , yes i got my Christmas Hamper but the feeling I got was not of great I did well there , but why did I just do that !
and probably why I am not a sales person anymore .

it is because of this I stick to what I know is the best cloth fit for purpose and that's the Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz and no offer of a Free Christmas Hamper will change that , and that's why I recommend it .

the only thing you should take into account is how much wool is in the cloth , Strachan 6811 Tournament is 100% pure new wool

how long will a cloth with 10% added man made fibers out last an all wool cloth ? in this case the 6811 will outlast the match cloth , I would not say Hainsworth smart is anywhere near as good as 6811 so keep away from Hainsworth Smart cloth .

the smart person would choose Strachan 6811 Tournament in my opinion .

How fast will the cloth be , from new the Hainsworth Match will be faster as it has a shorter nap from new , but the Strachan 6811 30 oz will get fast within a short space of time if ironed and brushed every 10 hours of use .

Strachan is not imported it is made in Stroud in the west of England , they would be breaking the sale of goods act if they still printed west of England on it .
and invested heavily in the factory in Gloucester http://www.wsptextiles.com/January/

Strachan produced cloths have just recently been bought out by Simonis but are still producing in Gloucestershire http://www.business-sale.com/news/ar...ner-38203.html
It could be that some export production may be transferred to Simonis European factory if it is lower costs to do this , but for the UK market I think it will stay in the west country .

I only know of one firm that could have continuous history going back 70 years and that's Thurston and they would recommend Strachan and still do , and they are not based in Kent , is it one of these firms that have used an old established name as a start up to give more foothold in the market , I know of a couple that have done this and it is Wrong to do it . they should have their own identity .
it would be wrong of me to have used say John Gent as a start up name with History going back to 1880s as I can trace my routes back from fitter to fitter who actually worked for Gent ,
I could have gone with a name that had History but decided to use mine and my wife's initials GCL Billiards .
I do get annoyed when firms make out they are something they are not .

who is this fitter who states things like this , looks like he is selling himself out just like I did to hoover all those years ago .

[dinovirus]

The first time anyone covers a snooker table with Simonis 860 will be the last time anyone uses anything else. Can't believe it hasn't happened yet, to be honest.

It's faster and more responsive than any other cloth discussed here, plus it lasts longer and requires no ironing. Better in every way.

[Gibbo1967]

Hello Geoff, thank you for your detailed reply. Yes I understand your analogy very well. Point taken. Hubble Sports is the firm : http://www.hubblesports.co.uk/snooker-tables/ He says he uses Smart as standard but can get me what I want if I chose something else.

[Gibbo1967]

Hello Dinovirus, I must admit to never having heard of that cloth before.

[philip in china]

Neither had I. I wouldn't know where to get it if I wanted it.

[itsnoteasy]

It's a pool table cloth.

[philip in china]

Then why would anyone recommend it for a snooker table?

[itsnoteasy]

Then why would anyone recommend it for a snooker table?

9 Ballers, what can you say.

[jonny66]

Is this pool table cloth available in a snooker table size, and green?

[itsnoteasy]

Is this pool table cloth available in a snooker table size, and green?

Just had a look they do actually do a snooker cloth, don't know if Geoff or other fitters have ever used it or seen it but it's napped unlike the 860 pool cloth.
http://www.simoniscloth.com/simonis-...nglish-snooker

[dinovirus]

Then why would anyone recommend it for a snooker table?

Because it's better.

[dinovirus]

For background I know this because I used to play a lot on a snooker table that had 860 on it at a pool room in the US. Apparently they got it because the Rolling Stones had played a concert in the town and they have it in their contract that every time the play a gig they want a full-size snooker table in their hotel suite. So the concert promoters reached out to a local table supplier and they (at great expense) brought in an English-style table. However, not knowing what to cover it with they just went ahead and used Simonis 860. The Stones probably never even hit a shot on the table, but after they left town the supply company sold the table to the poolroom who thought it would be cool to set up, so they did. I was living near there at the time and as a snooker guy I could never find any tables anywhere else in the US, so I played on it quite a bit and I was consistently impressed with how well the 860 played. The owner of the room of course never brushed or ironed the table pretty much ever (I think they vacuumed once a week and that was about it) but it didn't matter, the table played great all the time.

The thing that was most noticeable about the table was that it maintained it's speed so well. Normally new 860 plays about the same speed as new snooker cloth, but with most snooker cloth if you don't keep it well maintained it loses its speed fairly quickly owing to the longer wool fibres acting against the balls. With the Simonis this is not an issue.

Now, one factor is that of course Simonis has no nap, but I've argued for years that this is better, because a napped cloth is actually fairly dumb. I mean, in what universe is it somehow better to use a cloth that causes the balls to veer off? Like you buy an expensive table with a hardwood frame and precisely milled slates, then spend hours working to get it perfectly plumb and level so that the balls roll true -- and then for some reason you install cloth that makes the balls roll crooked? Makes no sense. Plus it also makes snooker harder to learn and play, which hurts a lot in the long run because it keeps newcomers away from the sport.

The maintenance is really a major factor though. Here in North America it's hard to find snooker tables at all, never mind finding ones that are maintained properly. In fact in all of Canada there are probably only about maybe 20 of them that are properly looked after -- and all of those are in Montreal and Toronto (at least the ones not in private homes anyways). All of the rest are in poor shape and rarely even cleaned, and never mind blocked or ironed. Which results in slow, sluggish, and difficult conditions. Then when you have slow tables with tough pockets you really take a lot of the fun out of the game, which leads to fewer people playing it, which leads to fewer tables, and before long you have to look 'snooker' up in the history books. That makes no sense to anyone.

[jonny66]

For background I know this because I used to play a lot on a snooker table that had 860 on it at a pool room in the US. Apparently they got it because the Rolling Stones had played a concert in the town and they have it in their contract that every time the play a gig they want a full-size snooker table in their hotel suite. So the concert promoters reached out to a local table supplier and they (at great expense) brought in an English-style table. However, not knowing what to cover it with they just went ahead and used Simonis 860. The Stones probably never even hit a shot on the table, but after they left town the supply company sold the table to the poolroom who thought it would be cool to set up, so they did. I was living near there at the time and as a snooker guy I could never find any tables anywhere else in the US, so I played on it quite a bit and I was consistently impressed with how well the 860 played. The owner of the room of course never brushed or ironed the table pretty much ever (I think they vacuumed once a week and that was about it) but it didn't matter, the table played great all the time.

The thing that was most noticeable about the table was that it maintained it's speed so well. Normally new 860 plays about the same speed as new snooker cloth, but with most snooker cloth if you don't keep it well maintained it loses its speed fairly quickly owing to the longer wool fibres acting against the balls. With the Simonis this is not an issue.

Now, one factor is that of course Simonis has no nap, but I've argued for years that this is better, because a napped cloth is actually fairly dumb. I mean, in what universe is it somehow better to use a cloth that causes the balls to veer off? Like you buy an expensive table with a hardwood frame and precisely milled slates, then spend hours working to get it perfectly plumb and level so that the balls roll true -- and then for some reason you install cloth that makes the balls roll crooked? Makes no sense. Plus it also makes snooker harder to learn and play, which hurts a lot in the long run because it keeps newcomers away from the sport.

The maintenance is really a major factor though. Here in North America it's hard to find snooker tables at all, never mind finding ones that are maintained properly. In fact in all of Canada there are probably only about maybe 20 of them that are properly looked after -- and all of those are in Montreal and Toronto (at least the ones not in private homes anyways). All of the rest are in poor shape and rarely even cleaned, and never mind blocked or ironed. Which results in slow, sluggish, and difficult conditions. Then when you have slow tables with tough pockets you really take a lot of the fun out of the game, which leads to fewer people playing it, which leads to fewer tables, and before long you have to look 'snooker' up in the history books. That makes no sense to anyone.

I agree with this 100%, there's hardly any nap on the pro cloths to make the balls roll true, why not just use a synthetic material with no nap? Then it could be on all tables and not just tournament tables. Nobody else on here seems to agree, I can only assume they enjoy watching their shots drift off line.