Table maintenance

[lesedwards]

Thanks everyone,

Was just looking for a temporary solution until it is recovered. Plays great apart from that (and not being cleaned enough)
We'll just have to put up with it. On the blue spot there is one divot where it was when originally re-clothed and one where it is post stretching... It's about a year old.

They also use this white spot marker.

It gets everywhere... and is most pronounced on the green, brown, blue and especially black

It is as if it never dries out.

Is there a recommended brand for the spot marking product? One that does dry out?

I have been using a Peardon Pencil but it brushes off way to easy. I came up with the solution this week. White China Pencil. Works perfect.

[jigsaw333]

Thanks everyone,

Was just looking for a temporary solution until it is recovered. Plays great apart from that (and not being cleaned enough)
We'll just have to put up with it. On the blue spot there is one divot where it was when originally re-clothed and one where it is post stretching... It's about a year old.

They also use this white spot marker.

It gets everywhere... and is most pronounced on the green, brown, blue and especially black

It is as if it never dries out.

Is there a recommended brand for the spot marking product? One that does dry out?

[maryfield]

Because the balls have a tendency to roll of these adhesive spots, you tend to get punters banging the ball down onto the spot to try to stop it rolling off. You end up with exactly the result that the spot was meant to prevent. Put a sign up requesting players carefully spot the balls. Cloths have a finite lifespan, so it's either stretch if it's not already been stretched and there's nap left on cloth or replace.

[cyberheater]

Can you use a normal domestic iron?

[DeanH]

Is there anything that can be done if the cloth does not get stretched? any other remedies that won't damage the cloth?
I was told by said people the branded spots you can buy will 'damage' the cloth.

what are "branded spots"?

if you mean the glue backed plastic spots to protect the cloth from localised-over use, then yes the glue will collate dust and chalk and will not be good for the cloth in the long run, but if you have a high quality cloth then the localised ball action can cause the cloth to wear out quickly and have a hole at that spot.
It is a balance between longevity of cloth (expensive to replace) and a spot that is easy/cheap to replace; and some say that the spots can cause the ball to jump(kick), but a hole at the spot will definitely affect the ball upon impact.

[jigsaw333]

Is there anything that can be done if the cloth does not get stretched? any other remedies that won't damage the cloth?
I was told by said people the branded spots you can buy will 'damage' the cloth.

[maryfield]

Never seen holes in slate from spotting balls, in 25 years of doing tables. Holes in cloth, yes, but never the slate. The joints are a different matter and can easily get chipped when moving a table, necessitating the use of filler. As Geoff has stated numerous times, two pack filler or plaster of Paris can be used. Solution to worn spots is to stretch cloth if it hasn't already been done or a fit a new cloth. If you watch how the referees spot the balls on TV, they gently place the ball adjacent to the spit then roll it gently onto spots. Who hasn't seen the numptys who dunk the ball down hard onto the spot, particularly when getting beat.

[jigsaw333]

On topic but change of track. Extension to Thread "Balls - An argument..."

The tables in our CIU club practically have divots in them through wear.
An old table I once had in a club had some kind of resin filler applied to the joints and spot areas where damaged.

Again this "Table Fitter Guy" stated that the slate is indestructible and fillers were simple never used.
They even tried to say the divots didn't exist. Feel them for yourself...
I suggested a temporary solution of using some branded 'spots' NOT ideal but can stop the jumping blues and blacks until next covered. Can make it worse to but worth a try...

Anybody here that can provide a solution to worn out colour spots. Divots?
Can they be filled like my old table, is so what product is used?

Many thanks.

[inevermissblue]

Nevermind. As they say old habits die hard and you cant teach an old dog new tricks! Sorry I'm not being funny I'm just struggling to enlighten people of my research so I thought I would throw in a couple of phrases before I bow out. Peace...

[philip in china]

Slightly changing the subject. I use a table brush on my 12' table but still have a paintbrush on hand. I find that very useful for getting under the cushions and raking the dirt out from there. It is surprising how much you can find. I know the nose of the table brush does this but it doesn't do it as well as a paint brush.

I suppose chalk builds up around the black because that is where most play happens. Several times when I have achieved a 147 (and each time I have made a 155) I have not really had the cue ball beyond the blue spot until I taking the first 3 colours. Also build up is because that is the direction in which we brush. I tend to dump the build up of dust out of the centre pockets as I go past.

I do wonder if we are concerning ourselves unnecessarily here. With a sensible regime of brushing, blocking and ironing the cloth will wear out long before you need crampons to reach the bottom cushion.

[itsnoteasy]

I don't understand why you would get a build up of dust/dirt down the black end, are you not meant to do a final brush into the pockets to remove this.

[inevermissblue]

The green fluff is damaged/sliced nap for sure. However this is caused by playing the game. Lol. Also by the brush. Each sweeping motion pushes the nap down and the chalk will sliced it as it is a glass. The same can be said of blocking a table. The green fluff is more apparent on a table that is not looked after at all. So a vacuum is innocent from being the cause. This just picks it up! Tables that have not been looked after will give visual proof of green fluff once you get to the black spot end, without vacuuming! Lol.

[Terry Davidson]

The danger with using a vacuum is if it isn't very weak suction it will remove the nap. If you have a low pressure vacuum and then brush, block and iron the table it should be OK but the person doing this should open up the vacuum cleaner and look in the waste bag and see if there's a lot of green in there. If there is then you are sucking up the nap and that will reduce the life of the cloth.

I don't use a vacuum on my table as all of mine are high power suckers but I think a small hand-held vacuum would be OK. I have not experienced any chalk build-up with my table but perhaps that's because it's a private table and doesn't get the use of a club table, especially with those players who chalk their tips heavier than is really required (we've all seen them, chalking their cue for a minute or so when just a wipe would do)

[inevermissblue]

I must confess I used a vacuum on my table for the first time last week. It had not been used for some time and had managed to pick up a lot of cat hair despite being covered. Anyway as you say Geoff I knew my joints were all in good condition and I put an upholstery end on the vacuum and it worked perfectly. It removed all the hair, lint dust etc from the cloth and after a brush, iron and blocking it looked and played great again. There is no way I could of got it clean like that just using a brush.

Precisely! This is exactly my point. Anyone who only'cleans' a table soley with a brush is doing nothing good to it at all. The brush will force settled dust into three places;
1. Directly into the cloth, getting trapped inside the weave, adhering to the grease from fingerprints at potential damp.
2. Inside the brush making this process fruitless.
3. Straight up into the air, only to settle back down onto the table. Also fruitless!

Chalk dust is the only thing we are supposed to be brushing. However, if we only brush this down to the black spot end it will build up more and more over time. This does through past experience causes the ball to turn out of the both corner pockets.
So my suggestion is to capture the chalk as its brushed down to never allow a build up. This is all common sense.

So as to be clear. Would someone please try this experiment?
1. With only the table light on. Lightly vacuum one half of the table. Then brush it. There will only be chalk dust to brush.
2. Only brush the other half, and watch all the surface dust fly up into the air. This is what countless people do on a regular basis believing it to be the right way! I would hate all of that surface dust getting trapped time and time again into any tables I play on. To top if off they then proceed to pack it in even further by padding it down, before finally sealing the cloths fate with an iron! Ouch!!!

[philip in china]

Just need to be careful. The maid at my place has instructions never to vacuum my table.