Can You Vacuum a Pool Table?

If you’ve ever had your pool table re-felted, you know that it’s a bit of an ordeal. At a minimum price of about $250, re-felting is something that’s best avoided as long as possible. But the trick is to avoid it by keeping your felt clean and smooth, so it plays the way it should. To do this, many people turn to the vacuum cleaner. So a common question I hear a lot is, “Can you vacuum a pool table?”

What Can Damage Your Felt

I want to be up-front in saying that not all felt is created equal. The cheaper/older the felt, the more likely it will be damaged by improper vacuuming. Even new and expensive felt can be damaged by using the wrong type of vacuum or attachment. Most of the time it’s easy to tell when the vacuum is damaging the felt, but sometimes it may not be apparent until you’ve vacuumed it several times.

But if you use caution and follow the tips below, you’ll be able to effectively vacuum your pool table and keep your felt in great shape for years to come.

You always want to use attachments on a pool table’s surface. Placing an upright vacuum on a pool table to clean it is never a good idea. Even using a stick vacuum with the floor attachment isn’t a good idea. You have less control over a stand-up vacuum and the wheels may leave divots or indents in the felt. Accordingly, you’ll always want to use attachments to clean pool table felt. And there are certain types of attachments that are ideal, which we’ll cover below.

There are two main factors to consider when using a vacuum on a pool table. The first is the power or force of suction. The second is the kind of brush or attachment. Here’s how each one affects your felt.

Suction Settings Matter

Some vacuums don’t have different suction settings. If you have one of these, I would advise against using it on the table at all. Best not to risk it. Luckily, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on a vacuum if you don’t want to. I’ll walk through the two types that work in the next section.

Vacuums to Avoid

As I said before, never use a stand-up vacuum on a pool table. It will do more harm than good. You’ll also want to avoid using automatic vacuums like Roombas on pool tables, as they’re likely to damage the felt and the bumpers. Most shop vacuums should be avoided, as well, unless you have the ability to turn the suction very low. Most shop vacs are just too powerful to use on pool tables, even with soft-bristled attachments.

Two Vacuums That Work Well

A bagless canister vacuum with a soft-bristle brush and adjustable suction is the safe, affordable pick. The same vacuum you run over your floors works on the table, as long as you can turn the suction down low and swap to the brush attachment.

A cordless stick vacuum with adjustable suction modes and a soft brush attachment is the other good option. It’s light and easy to steer over the cloth, and it handles hard floors and carpet too.

How to Vacuum It: Straight Lines Only

Now that you know what to look for, here’s the technique. Once you’ve brushed the debris and residue loose, it’s time to start vacuuming. Use the vacuum attachment the same way you used the brush. Again, all straight lines, no circles or wiggles. Most people do half of the table at a time, working their way from the bumpers toward the middle down the length of the table, then doing the same on the other side.

The less dust that lands on the cloth, the less often you’ll need to do this. A fitted pool table cover between sessions cuts the debris that makes vacuuming necessary in the first place.

Worth checking out: If you’re shopping for a solid home table, take a look at the Barrington Billiards 7.5ft Table on Amazon.

Related Articles

For more on this topic, check out pool table felt guide, best felt color, how long felt lasts, refelting costs, and ironing pool table felt.