Billiard cloth grades explained

Cloth is the cheapest part of a billiard table and the part you feel on every single shot. Two things separate one cloth from another, and neither of them is the colour.

Woollen or worsted: it is about the game, not the price

This is the distinction that matters most, and it is the one most often explained badly. Woollen is not the cheap option and worsted is not the expensive one. They are built for different games.

Woollen cloth has a nap - a fine directional pile, like felt. It grips the ball, holds it on the table, and gives a slower, more controlled speed. A ball rolled with the nap behaves slightly differently from one rolled against it. This is what English pool, Chinese 8-ball and snooker are played on, at every level including tournaments.

Worsted cloth is combed and spun so the fibres lie flat, leaving no nap at all. The surface is fast, smooth and directionally neutral - the ball does exactly the same thing whichever way you send it. This is the American pool standard.

So the first question is not how much you want to spend. It is which game your table is set up for.

Weight tells you the rest

Within a type, cloth is sold by grams per square metre. Heavier generally means a denser weave, better resistance to pilling and burn marks, and a longer life. Comparing weights across types is meaningless - a 500 g woollen and a 400 g worsted are not competing with each other.

Our range

• "No Brand" - 500 g/m, wool and synthetic blend, AED 250 per metre. An honest entry-level cloth for a family table used at weekends, or a temporary setup.

• Moori 500 - 45% wool / 55% nylon, AED 550. A step up in consistency for recreational play, and a sensible first recloth on a home table.

• CPBA MG-700 - worsted, 50% wool / 50% nylon-polyester, AED 750. The fast, napless surface. This is the one for American pool, and the cloth we fit most often on home tables.

• CPBA TN-999 - woollen, 100% wool, AED 1,000. CPBA's competition woollen cloth, developed for Chinese 8-ball and English pool. Supplied pre-cut as a set for a 9 ft table.

• CPBA Competition - worsted, AED 1,000. The worsted cloth fitted to our Imperial, Imperial Grey, Avant, LT Industrial and Crystal tables.

If you are unsure which your table wants, tell us the table and we will tell you the cloth. Browse the full billiard accessories range for cloth, cues, balls, chalk and brushes.

What Dubai does to cloth

Three things shorten cloth life here more than in most climates:

• Dust - fine construction and desert dust settles into the pile and becomes a mild abrasive under every ball. Brushing matters more here than almost anywhere.

• Direct sun - a table near a window fades unevenly, and one half of the bed will visibly differ from the other within a year.

• AC downdraught - a vent blowing straight onto the bed dries and stiffens the fibres over time. Move the table or redirect the vent.

Brush along the nap with a proper table brush, cover the table when it is not in use, and keep drinks on a side table rather than the rail.

When to recloth

Replace the cloth when you can see shine or bald patches on the break spot and along the pot lines, when balls skid instead of gripping, or when there are burns, snags or a tear. On a table played every day that is every year or two; on a home table a good cloth can run five years or more.

A recloth is also the moment to check the table's level, since the bed is exposed anyway. We do both - see cloth replacement and levelling, or come and feel the difference between a woollen and a worsted at Dragon Mart 1, Shop ABG 03-14.