There's a huge range of options when it comes to clothing your pool table, but with so many colours and styles of cloths to choose from, which one should you choose? Different cloth styles will play differently, but the differences between them are pretty straightforward.
Transcript:
"In this video, we're going to cover up the subject of pool cloths. You might think it's quite simple to just choose...I don't know, blue or green for example. But as with everything in life, it's a bit more complicated than that. So, I'm going to take you through all the differences between the different types of cloths that are available. The first thing we'll look at then are English pool table cloths.
The standard cloths that come on our pool tables are made by one of two manufactures. They're both based in England. We've got Hainsworth, they're based up in Leeds, and we've got Strachan, which are based just up the road from us in Bristol. They're actually based in Stroud. Strachan is sometimes pronounced as "strawn" and you may well have actually recognized the brand of Strachan. They're used on the competition tables using the Snooker World Championships for example, but also the Pool World Championships are also used on tables that are fitted with a Strachan cloth.
As standard on our tables, you can choose from a range of colors. So, depending on what the manufacturer is, it will depend on the different colors that they keep in stock as standard. Pretty much on every table you can choose from green, blue, red, or burgundy, for example. But some manufacturers will also keep colors such as black, or they may well keep gray in stock. So, depending upon the table that you're choosing, you'll be able to see on our website that all the different standard colors are listed in there. And you'll be able to see there's zero cost against them, you can pick whichever color you fancy. And there'll be no extra charge for choosing that particular color. Now, you may choose to upgrade your cloth to a wider range of colors, and I'll take you through those options now.
If you choose to upgrade your cloth, what's the benefit you're getting from that? Well, it's two things, really. The production process that that cloth goes through is more lengthy, it's a finer grade of cloth. But also, the second thing and probably the most important, is it gives you a wider range of color choices. Smart is the most popular choice for upgraded cloths, and this is made by Hainsworth. As I said, they are based up in Leeds. And you can see from this sample card here, there's a choice of 23 different colors to choose from.
In terms of choosing which color, it's up to you which one do you prefer. A lot customer are trying to pull the room together, and will want to choose a cloth color that maybe matches their curtains, or matches the color on their sofa, or the decoration in their room. And the Smart cloth range is fantastic. It gives you a huge choice of different colors, so you can get exactly the sort of color that you're looking for.
Now, if you want, we can send you out one of these sample cards and you can go through that in your home. But if you come down to our showroom, we've got these large sample sets available, and here's a very small sort of set of these different ones. And because they're so large, you've got opportunity to put them down on the table, and see how that color of cloth complements maybe the color that the table's going to come in in. And it gives you a very wide range of choices, so you can get exactly the look that you're after.
Okay, so on to American cloths. First of all, let's just talk about how they actually feel and how you can identify an American cloth. So, rather than the English cloth which has got the fuzzy surface to it, this has got a very smooth surface. You can actually see the weave of the cloth as you look at it. And as you put your hand across it, it feels very smooth, and it's not direction at all. You can put your hand in any direction, it feels exactly the same. And because it doesn't have the fuzzy surface, it does play a lot faster than an English pool cloth.
Okay, so onto your choices of American pool cloth. Now, this is more complicated. Why is that, you're wondering? It's because the American pool tables that we sell are made from all around the world, so we saw some in Europe, we saw some from the States. So, you've got Italy, Spain, France, Belgium all making pool tables. And from the States obviously you've got companies like Diamond for example, and Brunswick. And they'll tend to use a certain manufacturer's cloth. So therefore, when you're trying to choose your table pick your table first, and then look at the cloth options that are available with that table.
And each of our website listings will tell you what the standard cloths are that are available with that particular model, and if there are any upgrade options that you can choose from. Now, if you're particularly wanting a certain color from a certain manufacturer to be fitted to your table, we can cope with that for you. So, simply tell us, "I really want to have this wonderful gold color," for example, which is made by a company called Simonis. These are made in Belgium. If that's the color that you want and you want it to go on say, an American table that's been made by Brunswick, we can cope with that for you. Just tell us what you want, we'll make all the arrangements, and we'll fit it for you accordingly.
But in terms of looking at the choices available to your standards, as I say, have a look at the website and that will guide you. And it will take you through the different main manufacturer types that we sell. We've talked about Simonis first of all. These come on generally the European tables, and they come in quite a range. But not all of those different colors are available free of charge on all the different models. So, check each model specifically, but the range of Simonis cloth colors you can see is fantastic -- loads of great colors there. And again in the showroom, we've got much larger samples. If you want to actually compare the different colors against a certain finish of table, you are able to put down here, you can check that and see which combination really suits the look that you're after. So, that's Simonis.
Next choice is Elite-Pro. This is made from Hainsworth. We talked about Hainsworth when we were looking at English pool cloths made in England, made in Leeds. And again, they do a great range of colors. You can see the range that is available here. And again, we've got much larger samples, so you can compare them on a table in the showroom. Again Strachan, we talked about them earlier with English pool cloth, but they also do American cloth. And their range is called SuperPro -- again, a huge range of different choices available to you. You could have a look there. You may well find that a particular shade by a particular manufacture is the one that you're after. So, that's fine, if that's what you need, we can order that for you and make it happen.
Lastly, let's look at Brunswick for example. So, Brunswick actually fit their own cloths to their tables. They do two different types. They do Contender as standard, there's about eight different colors available there, or you can upgrade to Centennial. One of the benefits of going for a Centennial cloth is it's actually finished with Teflon. You might associate Teflon with being on your frying pan, but there's actually a Teflon coating is applied to a Centennial cloth that Brunswick make. And this means that if there's a small spillage on your table that liquid will actually bead on the surface of the cloth, and not instantly soak in. So, you can actually drape a kitchen towel at the top of it, and it will absorb that. Don't rub it in, because it will go into the cloth. But it could save your very expensive recover by just being able... if you've got a few light splashes, you'll be able to soak that up and it won't go into the nap of the cloth. And that will be the benefit of upgrading on a Brunswick table to a Centennial cloth, because you're getting that added feature as a benefit.
Okay, so in summary, it might appear a little bit complicated. But we can take that complication away for you. We'll help guide you in terms of starting choosing your cloth. The positive is that there is a huge range of different colors that you get. And that's quite exciting that you can choose all these different shades, and we carry all the different top manufacturers. So, whatever color you want or particular brand that you want, we can order that for you. And we can fit it to the table for you, so you get exactly the combination that you're looking for."