Simonis cloth alternatives

The verdict: the West State Billiards 25 oz Tournament Pro Worsted Cloth Kit is the closest alternative on construction - a napless worsted cloth in the same category as Simonis, supplied with rail strips, at a much lower price. The budget pick is the ProLine Classic 303, the cheapest purpose-made pool cloth here, and the right choice when the table underneath is MDF and will be replaced before the cloth wears out. If drinks and the pool table share a room, the treated Championship Invitational is the one that survives a spill.

Simonis is the reference cloth in pool for a reason that is worth stating plainly before comparing anything to it: it is a worsted wool cloth with a reputation built over decades of tournament use, and tournament tables are where cloth quality is most ruthlessly tested. Nothing on this page claims to be better than it. What this page does is separate the property that makes Simonis good - worsted, napless construction - from the premium its name carries, so you can decide which part you are paying for.

Worsted construction. High-quality pool cloth is a napless weave, usually worsted wool, which gives a much faster and more predictable roll than the thicker blended woollen cloth most bar tables use. Woollen cloth is slower and cheaper, which is exactly why busy venues fit it - it costs less and wears slowly. Worsted is the enthusiast's cloth, and Simonis is the best-known name in it.

The speed of the cloth is not a cosmetic property. It changes how much a ball swerves and deflects, which changes how finesse shots behave. That is why a player who learned on worsted cloth finds a woollen table sluggish and slightly unpredictable, and why moving a home table from woollen to any worsted cloth is a bigger change than moving between two worsted cloths.

So the decision splits cleanly. If you want what Simonis is known for, buy a worsted cloth - the first two picks on this page are worsted and cost substantially less. If you want a cloth that survives a family room, a treated cloth is a better fit than any worsted, Simonis included. And if the table is MDF and temporary, buy the cheapest real pool cloth and spend the difference on the table.

1. Worsted or woollen. The single most consequential choice. Worsted is napless and fast; blended woollen is thicker, slower and cheaper. Snooker cloth, for contrast, traditionally has a directional nap, which is why balls behave differently rolling with it and against it - that is a feature of snooker, not of pool.

2. Weight. Expressed in ounces. Heavier cloth lasts longer under heavy play, especially at the break spot and the pocket jaws. Lighter worsted cloth is still worsted and is plenty for a home table played weekly.

3. Treated or untreated. A Teflon-type finish sheds spills and resists staining. It is the right answer for a family room and the wrong answer for a practice table, because treatment changes how the surface plays.

4. Kit or bed cloth only. Re-clothing the bed and leaving tired rail cloth on is a half job, and the rails are where inconsistency becomes obvious. Buy the kit if a kit exists for your size.

5. The bed under it. This is the one most people skip. Premium cloth on an MDF bed that has developed a roll does not fix the roll - it just makes the roll faster. Slate vs MDF is the page to read before spending cloth money.

Quick picks

Tap any row to jump to the full write-up.

#	Product	Best for	Price
1	Closest match on construction West State Billiards 25 oz Tournament Pro Worsted Cloth Kit, 8 ft A 25 oz tournament-grade worsted cloth kit, which is the same category of cloth as Simonis.	A slate table whose owner wants Simonis-type play without the Simonis price	$249.99View on Amazon
2	Best value worsted kit West State Billiards 21 oz Pre-Cut Cloth Replacement Kit, 8 ft A 21 oz pre-cut worsted kit - the lighter weight, at a noticeably lower price.	A home table that gets played on weekly rather than daily	$165.00View on Amazon
3	Best treated cloth Championship Invitational Teflon Pool Table Cloth, 8 ft A Teflon-treated cloth from a long-standing cloth maker, aimed at spills rather than speed.	A family games room where drinks and the pool table share a space	$149.00View on Amazon
4	Budget pick ProLine Classic 303 Teflon Pool Table Cloth, 8 ft The cheapest cloth here that is still a purpose-made pool cloth rather than a generic fabric.	Re-clothing an entry-level or MDF table without over-investing in it	$135.70View on Amazon

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1. Closest match on construction

West State Billiards 25 oz Tournament Pro Worsted Cloth Kit, 8 ft

West State Billiards

The thing Simonis is known for is worsted construction. High-quality pool cloth is a napless weave, usually worsted wool, which gives a much faster roll than the thicker blended woollen cloth used on most bar tables. That is the property to match, and this West State kit matches it: a tournament-grade worsted cloth at 25 oz.

Worsted matters because it changes the physics rather than the feel. A napless surface rolls the ball faster and more consistently in every direction, which is why serious play happens on worsted cloth; a napped or blended woollen cloth is slower and behaves slightly differently along the nap than across it. If you move from a woollen cloth to any worsted cloth, that is the upgrade you notice.

It ships as a kit for an 8 ft table, cloth for the bed plus the rail strips, which is the practical format: re-clothing a table and leaving the old rail cloth on is a half job, and the rails are where the inconsistency shows up first. Expect to pay a fitter unless you have done it before.

What we like

• Worsted, napless construction - the same category of cloth as Simonis
• 25 oz tournament grade rather than a lightweight household cloth
• Supplied as a kit with rail strips, so the whole job is covered
• Priced well below the reference cloths

Worth knowing

• Still a significant purchase on top of a fitting cost
• Worsted cloth shows chalk and needs brushing more diligently
• 8 ft kit; confirm the size against your table before ordering

Who it’s wrong for

An MDF table that is going to be replaced within a few years. The cloth would outlive the table, and the bed underneath is the limiting factor.

$249.99·View on Amazon

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2. Best value worsted kit

West State Billiards 21 oz Pre-Cut Cloth Replacement Kit, 8 ft

West State Billiards

This is the same maker's lighter cloth, and the weight difference is the whole decision. A heavier worsted cloth is more durable under constant play and is what a venue would specify; a 21 oz worsted cloth is still napless and still fast, and on a home table that sees a few hours a week it will last for years.

Pre-cut is the other advantage. Cutting cloth to a table is the part of the job an amateur most often gets wrong, because the margin for the rail wrap is unforgiving and there is no second attempt. A pre-cut kit removes that risk at no extra cost.

Where it is beaten is longevity at the break spot and the pockets, which is where every cloth fails first. If the table is the household's main entertainment and gets used daily, the heavier cloth above is the better buy.

What we like

• Worsted and napless at a lower price than the heavier kits
• Pre-cut, which removes the hardest part of a DIY fitting
• Plenty of durability for weekly rather than daily play
• Includes the rail cloth

Worth knowing

• Lighter cloth wears faster at the break spot and the pocket jaws
• Fewer colour options than the premium cloths
• 8 ft kit; check your table size

Who it’s wrong for

A table in constant use, or a bar-style table in a busy room. Heavy use is exactly where the heavier cloth earns the difference.

$165.00·View on Amazon

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3. Best treated cloth

Championship Invitational Teflon Pool Table Cloth, 8 ft

Championship

Championship is one of the established names in pool cloth and the Invitational is its treated line. The treatment is the reason to pick it: a Teflon finish sheds liquid long enough to be wiped off rather than absorbed, which is a genuinely different priority from pure speed.

In a family room, that priority is often the right one. The commonest way a home table's cloth dies is not wear, it is a spilled drink that soaks in and leaves a ring that no cleaning removes. A treated cloth converts that event from a re-cloth into a wipe, which over the life of the table may matter more than a fraction of a second of roll.

What you give up is the purity of a plain worsted surface. Treated cloths play slightly differently from untreated ones, and players who are very used to one notice the other. For a social table that is a non-issue; for a practice table it is a reason to buy untreated.

What we like

• Teflon treatment sheds spills instead of absorbing them
• From an established pool cloth maker rather than a generic supplier
• Priced below the premium worsted kits
• The practical choice for a room where drinks are present

Worth knowing

• Treated cloth plays slightly differently from plain worsted
• Treatment wears over the years and cannot be renewed
• Not the cloth a practising player would choose

Who it’s wrong for

A player who wants the fastest, most consistent surface available. Buy a plain worsted cloth and a set of coasters.

$149.00·View on Amazon

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4. Budget pick

ProLine Classic 303 Teflon Pool Table Cloth, 8 ft

ProLine

This is the budget pick. The ProLine Classic 303 is a treated pool cloth at the lowest price position on this page, and the case for it is specific: if the table underneath is MDF and will be replaced in a few years, the right cloth is a competent cheap one rather than a tournament cloth that outlives the table.

It is a blended-style household cloth rather than a tournament worsted, which means a slower roll and a surface that behaves slightly less uniformly. On a 7 ft social table with four people and a beer each, nobody is going to detect that. On a slate table being practised on, they will.

The thing it does well is replace a dead cloth cheaply. A worn, pilled cloth that holds the ball is worse than any new cloth, and the cheapest new pool cloth beats the best worn one. If the question is whether to re-cloth at all, this is the pick that makes the answer yes.

What we like

• The lowest price here for a purpose-made pool cloth
• Teflon treatment included at the price
• Makes re-clothing an entry-level table economically sensible
• Far better than any worn cloth, regardless of what replaced it

Worth knowing

• Not a tournament worsted - slower, and less uniform than the kits above
• Shorter service life under regular play
• Bed cloth sizing needs checking carefully before ordering

Who it’s wrong for

A slate table you intend to keep. Spending the cloth money properly on a table whose bed will not move is the whole point of having slate.

$135.70·View on Amazon

#ad · We earn a commission on qualifying purchases. How this is funded · Price as of November 10, 2026

• Check whether the cloth is actually dead. A dusty cloth is not a worn cloth. Brush it properly first - how to clean a pool table covers the method, and a good brush-down revives a surprising number of tables.
• Measure the table, not the box it came in. Cloth kits are sold by table size, and a 7 ft table needs a 7 ft kit. An 8 ft kit will cut down, but you lose the pre-cut advantage and the margin for error.
• Decide who is fitting it. Stretching cloth over a slate bed and wrapping the rails without a wrinkle is a skill. A professional fitting on a cheap cloth beats a bad fitting on an expensive one.
• Check the rails. If the rail cloth is worn, do the rails at the same time. Doing them separately means two fittings.
• Keep the offcuts. They are the right material for testing a cleaner before you use it on the bed.

• Closest to what Simonis is known for - West State 25 oz Tournament Pro Worsted Kit. Napless worsted, heavy weight, rail strips included.
• Best value worsted - West State 21 oz Pre-Cut Kit. Same construction, lighter weight, pre-cut.
• A family room with drinks in it - Championship Invitational Teflon. Sheds a spill instead of absorbing it.
• An MDF table you will replace - ProLine Classic 303. The cheapest real pool cloth, and the one that makes re-clothing worth doing.

Cloth prices move with wool pricing and with size, so this page compares positions rather than figures and leaves the number to the live listing on each pick. For the full range including Simonis itself, best pool table felt covers every option side by side, and how to clean a pool table is the page that makes any cloth last longer.