If your pool table cloth is starting to fray, fade, or play slow, you are at the moment most pool table owners face every 8 to 15 years: deciding what to put down next. The best pool table cloth materials for durability and play quality are not interchangeable — different blends play at different speeds, wear at different rates, and price out across a wide range. After two decades of refelting tables across the Delaware Valley, here is what we recommend, why each tier is worth it, and how to choose between woolen, worsted, and tournament-grade cloth.
Which Cloth Is Used in a Pool Table?
What most owners call “felt” is actually a billiard cloth — a woven fabric, not pressed felt. Quality cloth is wool or a wool-nylon blend, woven in two main styles:
- Woolen (napped) cloth — fuzzy surface, slower play, friction-heavy
- Worsted cloth — tightly woven, fast and smooth, used in tournaments
A bar table or budget home table typically wears woolen cloth. A professional or upgraded home table runs worsted. Both are real “billiard cloth” — the choice is about how you want the table to play, not whether one is “real felt.”
Best Pool Table Cloth Materials for Durability and Play Quality
At Royal Billiard, we carry three cloth options that cover most home buyers from standard refelt to tournament grade:
- Champion Invitational (Standard). Our default refelt cloth. A wool-nylon blend that plays consistently, holds up to family use, and lasts 8 to 12 years in a typical home. The best pool table cloth for owners who want a clean, durable refresh without paying for tournament specs.
- Hainsworth Worsted Wool (Upgrade). Made in England and used at world championship snooker and pool events. Pure worsted wool — no nylon — woven tightly enough that the table plays noticeably faster and tracks straighter. Lasts 10 to 15 years and looks new for most of that span.
- Champion Tour Edition (Upgrade). Champion’s worsted-grade cloth, engineered for tournament play. Tighter weave than the Invitational, slightly slower than Hainsworth, and the most durable of the three under heavy league use.
If you only play casually, the Invitational is the best pool table cloth for the money. If you play seriously or want the table to feel like the ones in pro rooms, the Hainsworth or Tour Edition will change how the game feels. When ranking the best pool table cloth materials for durability and play quality, the trade-off is almost always speed and longevity versus price.
What Are the Differences Between Worsted and Woolen Pool Table Cloth?
Worsted and woolen cloth come from the same wool source but are spun and woven differently.
Worsted yarn is combed straight before spinning, then woven tightly. The result is a smooth, low-nap surface where balls roll faster and skid less. Worsted shows chalk dust more visibly but resists pilling and lasts longer under heavy play.
On the contrary, woolen yarn is carded (not combed), leaving more fiber ends that create a fuzzy nap. Woolen cloth slows the ball, hides chalk, and forgives sloppy chalking habits — but it pills, wears unevenly, and does not track as straight on long shots. Most casual players never notice the difference until they play on worsted, after which woolen feels muddy.
Do Professional Pool Players Play on Cloth or Felt?
Pros play on cloth — specifically, tournament-grade worsted wool. Hainsworth Smart, Hainsworth Match, and Simonis 760/860 are the most common at world events. The “felt” label is colloquial; no professional table uses pressed felt because it cannot hold up to a single tournament match.
If you have ever wondered why a televised match looks faster than your home table, this is why. Worsted wool plus tight stretching plus fresh slate equals a different game.
How Often Should You Re-Cloth a Pool Table?
For a typical home table, every 8 to 15 years.
- Light use (a few games a month): 12 to 15 years on a quality cloth
- Regular use (weekly): 8 to 10 years
- Heavy use (league play, kids, daily): 5 to 8 years
- Pro / commercial: every 6 to 18 months
The other reason to refelt is cosmetic — burn marks, drink stains, or a color you no longer love. Many of our customers refelt just to refresh the look during a basement remodel, even when the cloth still has playable life left.
What Is the Fastest Cloth for a Pool Table?
Hainsworth and Simonis worsted wool cloths are the speed champions. Within Hainsworth, the Match and Tournament weights run fastest; Smart sits a tick slower. Champion Tour Edition plays fast as well but is generally a hair slower than Hainsworth Match.
Faster does not always mean better. A fast cloth punishes bad position play and rewards precise stroke control. If you play casually, a moderate-speed worsted (or even an upgraded woolen) is often more enjoyable than a tournament cloth.
Pool Table Cloth Replacement Near You
A quality pool table cloth replacement is a same-day job for our service team. We bring the cloth, strip the rails, replace the felt under the rails, stretch new cloth across the slate, and re-tension at the rails. A typical refelt runs three to four hours onsite. Single-rail repairs or partial cloth swaps are also available when only one panel is damaged.
We service Philadelphia and the Philly suburbs, Montgomery County (Lansdale, Phoenixville, Pottstown), Bucks County (Quakertown, Doylestown, New Hope), parts of New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley, and parts of the Pocono Mountains. Stop by the showroom in Colmar to see and feel each of the three best pool table cloth tiers in person before you choose.
For related reading, see our guide to pool table felt cloth choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Does Pool Table Cloth Replacement Cost?
A standard Champion Invitational refelt typically runs a few hundred dollars including labor. Worsted upgrades (Hainsworth, Tour Edition) cost more for the cloth itself. Quote depends on table size, cushion condition, and travel.
Can You Replace Just One Panel of Cloth?
Yes, if a single rail or section is damaged and the rest is in good shape. We test the existing cloth first — often the whole cloth is reaching end-of-life and a full pool table cloth replacement makes more sense.
What Color Pool Table Cloth Holds Up Best?
Greens and blues hide chalk dust and minor wear better than reds or burgundies. Black is dramatic but shows every speck of chalk. Most of our customers stick with traditional green or upgrade to a navy or charcoal.
Will New Cloth Make My Table Play Better?
Yes — assuming the slate is level and the cushions are still alive. Fresh worsted cloth on a properly leveled table feels close to factory-new, even on a 20-year-old cabinet.
Schedule pool table service or reach out to our team — describe how the table is playing now and we will recommend the best pool table cloth materials for durability and play quality based on your space, your skill level, and how the table gets used.
