This is a great little video. so many snooker halls don't carry out basic table maintenance. Lots of good little things in this clip. Thanks for posting
Very good video but I don't quite agree with leaving the balls set up on the table, as the weight of a ball, though not much, will in time cause gradual indentations into the cloth, making uniform setting up of the balls difficult, especially the pack of reds.
agreed and this is why I would say to the owner of my local club to keep the ball sets behind the counter and have customers bring them back when they finish.
Use an established ball cleaner to clean balls. Cleaning by hand individually takes ages and still doesn't do as good a job as a mechanical ball cleaner. Make sure you use a proper fluid in the cleaner too - not car wax or furniture polish, as these will leave a residue on the balls which will affect the playing characteristics (throw, response etc)
No because the cloth for American Pool has no nap at all. After brushing the table, it's worth while to wrap a slightl damp cloth around a table brush like a napping block and use it to clean off any surface dust and chalk after brushing, then allow 10 mins for the surface of the cloth to dry completely before playing.
From my experience of Rileys, they do not maintain their tables at all, ripped, dirty stained cloth, broken pocket rails and cushions like Kerbstones lol.
Oh, how I wish American Billiard halls took such care of their tables! In bars, I don't expect much, but if the sign says "Billiards" or "Pool", I expect to find maintained, clean, even tables. All to often, you see all the regular players fighting for the one best table, which is usually the newest, least abused table, but still abused and shameful. You also see that no serious players ever touch the house Cues, because they are not tipped properly or not tipped at all, warped, and often not even smooth on the shaft. How a business can claim to be a Billiard Hall and have no interest in keeping their tables in good condition, I don't know.
Well, this video is for those who maybe owned a gunshop, that then decided to try their hand at owning a snookerhall... For absolute fools, so clearly marked out that any idiot could own a pool/snookerhall. Sad part is, 90% of this maintainance is taken totally for granted by most owners!!!
Whoever recorded this video, doesn't know enough about American Pool tables or cloth because like napped snooker cloth, it is best to regularly brush the cloth and then damp wipe the cloth to remove surface dust, but it is also good practice to iron the cloth at least once or twice in a week so as to keep the cloth fibres flat and play speed consistent.
Very good video. Can you speak to the use of a vacuum to clean the cloth? Is this generally frowned on? I heard it can do a good job removing chalk dust/debris from underneath the cloth? Thank you.
Never use the type of vacuum that has revolving brushes!! A small hand held vacuum can be used and is effective in removing dust that might otherwise return to the cloth if only using a brush. Be careful not to pull or stretch the cloth though, or tear the cloth through careless use. Rule: be gentle! (and of course - GO WITH THE NAP!)
Generally a vacuum cleaner isn't prefered because it can cause the filler between the slates to break and sit on the slate beneath the cloth, especially if a table mechanic uses plaster paris for filling the gaps between the slates, instead of bees wax. You could use a small hand held vacuum like a dust devil, etc, but trying to find one that has decent power, but it's better to use a vacuum cleaner hose with the nosel fitting to vacuum all the dust, chalk and nap fibres after brushing/napping.
The iron should never touch the cushions. It will harden the rubber causing inconsistent results when a ball hits the cushions. No mention of cleaning the ball rails either where dust will collect after being brushed into the pocket.
