Hainsworth cloth - where to buy

[Redphex]

Hi all

I got a quote directly from Hainsworth - 12ft bed & cushions pack:

Smart - £197.37 + £40 shipping
Match - £271.27 + £40 shipping
(don't know if VAT is included)

and there's that FJ Snooker Ebay shop with more or less the same prices.

Have been googling around but didn't find other webshops.

Does anyone of you have recommendations on where to buy? One of those two or do you know another shop?

[maryfield]

is it hainsworth cloth you want? Strachan 6811 tournament £ 190 plus £ 40 shipping. No VAT. The prices you have quoted will be plus VAT

[Redphex]

I want to try Hainsworth - been using 6811 until now but I am not sure it's the best choice for the local conditions.

[maryfield]

The Hainsworth Smart cloth has 5% Nylon added to the wool blend. This is why its more durable. I know of an overseas buyer who tried Hainsoworth Match on 4 of his tables cloth and he was very disappointed that the speed was not what it was purported to be. Fitting properly will also affect the speed the cloth plays. If you are set on buying Hainsworth you would be better buying direct as I doubt their price would be bettered.

[Redphex]

Well, I play mainly billiards and noticed that with the current cloth at home, the throw is quite a bit less compared to the match tables at the clubs I play at.

Has been like this with the current fitting of 6811gold and also the previous one. Also moving the table to a different location didn't change anything.

In other threads her in this forum Hainsworth got good reputation, so I'd give it a try.

[Slasher]

The Hainsworth Smart cloth has 5% Nylon added to the wool blend. This is why its more durable. I know of an overseas buyer who tried Hainsoworth Match on 4 of his tables cloth and he was very disappointed that the speed was not what it was purported to be. Fitting properly will also affect the speed the cloth plays. If you are set on buying Hainsworth you would be better buying direct as I doubt their price would be bettered.

This is different from what I have heard but opinions vary I guess, I have only played on the Hainsworth Smart and that was quite slow. I was considering the Match for next time around but I would like to hear more opinions.

[sharkster63]

I think that having good rubber such as Northern Rubber is more important than the cloth. I have Hainsworth Smart and ****ty rubber, I would trade in a second.

Cheers,

[Russ]

In other threads her in this forum Hainsworth got good reputation, so I'd give it a try.

I've only got a 7ft slate bed table, but fitted with Hainsworth Smart and it is very fast. I agree with the other post though, the cushion rubbers will make a big difference too and maybe replacing them at the same time would be the best option.

Russ

[Geoff Large]

What should be pointed out is other facts that make a cloth good or bad for speed

1 , thickness of slate ,
2, tempreture of cloth rubber and slate .
3 differant times of the year a cloth is manufactured , i.e winter and summer , one is going to have more moisture content when manufactureing which can cause the wool to fluff up , even when fully dried out the weave is not as good as summer woven cloth which is more open weaved if kept in dry conditions .
4 good quality Rubber
5 weight of cushion i.e steel blocks or good cuban mahogany is going to effect bounce better than low quality hardwoods .
6 thickness of cloth and lenth of nap
7 good quality balls
8 the most important = GOOD MAINTENANCE , keep cloth clean the nap blocked down and iron every 10 hours of use , stretch half way through cloths life if possible .
9 cloth fitted correctley and tight , cushion cloth to have been allowed to slightley slacken with time to give rubber its full bounce .
10 if new rubber fitted an acceptable time for the rubber to be worn in .

one thing I will point out that reared it's ugly head this past month is the white flecks you get from the man made fibres of the sacking on ripping it open to get the wool out to the weaving winding machines , small particles of man made fibres from this sacking will not accept dye , so remain white , and you can see this in the cloth where the particle of white fibre is trapped in the weave , there is one manufacturer who on a regular basis gets this problem over the years .
But they never admit there is a problem , they know it is happening but just send the cloth out anyway as perfect .
which can be very annoying when customers complain and you have to replace at youre own cost as the only thing the manufacturer replaces is the cloth not the labour or traveling costs .
you now have to accept that this manufacturers product is never going to be fault free .
it is easy to remidy too , stop useing the man made fibre sacking , use something that will accept dye if it gets into the weave of the cloth and then it cannot be seen .

Has anyone else seen these white flecks in the cloth ? I should point out I am talking about strachan 6811 tournament cloth .

We have therfore gone back to Hainsworth smart as our recomended cloth , but will supply the 6811 on demand when we recover tables .

[Geoff Large]

Hainsworth match is now being produced even thinner than last year , I found out this because the retaining cushion slips would not hold the latest batch in place , and in 36 years of never ripping a cloth on fitting has been spoilt because of this thin cloth .
So I would now not recomend the Hainsworth Match cloth .
Especialy if you are not a time served fitter , who is fitting it .
Why the thiness is a mystery , it could be a mistake and the machine that gives the nap its final lenth has somehow been miss set to a lower hieght , or they are trying to get it to play faster .

Geoff

[maryfield]

Yes Geoff. I have seen the poly/blend faults on the Strachan cloth. You think it would make sense to ditch the plastic wrapping to eliminate the problems.

[Geoff Large]

whatever they use to put the wool in must be breathable , I do not think plastic wrap is the answer ,whatever they use it must be able to take the Dye of the cloth , and this problem has been going on for years .
they know the problem but refuse to amend the shipping process of poly sacking of the basic wool .
if you phoned them tommorow thay would say we have no problem with our cloth , about 4 years ago it was realy bad and I returned many rolls that year , I know peradon sent 13 rolls back in one shipment at the same time .
you do not always spot the faults until you are at the Ironing stage then it's too late .
the cloth is fitted .
it may only be minor faults and some would say aceeptable , but It's not them in the firing line taking the flack from the customer .

[Slasher]

Hainsworth match is now being produced even thinner than last year , I found out this because the retaining cushion slips would not hold the latest batch in place , and in 36 years of never ripping a cloth on fitting has been spoilt beiuase of this thin cloth .
So I would now not recomend the Hainsworth Match cloth .
Especialy if you are not a time served fitter , who is fitting it .
Why the thiness is a mystery , it could be a mistake and the machine that gives the nap its final lenth has somehow been miss set to a lower hieght , or they are trying to get it to play faster .

Geoff

This sounds like a QC issue otherwise you would expect if they are deliberately changing the spec on a cloth that gets used in match play they would announce as such.
My local has 12 tables and have used 6811 Gold on the last three recovers and I can't say I ever noticed the white fleck issue, I should take a closer look

[Geoff Large]

It comes in batches , you may not see it for 2years then suddenly you get a roll or a few rolls with it in , i am sure it is QC problem but they know the source of the issue and yet it still happens .
I doubt they would send the faulty fleck cloth out of the uk as it gets expensive to replace it from th uk .
But there are plenty of fitters in the Uk that have seen this problem on a regular basis .
It's not just me , as quoted in previous thread I know Peradon sent 13 rolls back a few years ago .

Geoff

[Redphex]

So. .. To give a conclusion from my point of view. ..
I decided to buy Hw. Smart from the Fj snooker ebay shop because I rather pay by paypal than send my CC details around.

Transaction was perfect and shipping was fast.

Now to the cloth. Just had my first playing session after fitting it over the weekend.
It plays just the way I hoped for. Imo better than the two 6811 tournament installments I had previously. Hope it stays that way.