How to Replace Pool Table Felt: Bed and Rails, Step by Step

Updated Oct 15, 2026 · The LeaguePool Team

Replacing pool table felt is a stapling job: take off the pockets and rails, strip the old cloth, stretch new cloth over the slate and staple it into the wood liner underneath, then recover each rail around its cushion. On a three-piece slate table with a wood liner, a handy owner can do it in a day with a heavy-duty staple gun and a pre-cut cloth kit.

The World Pool-Billiard Association even publishes the tension numbers. Stretch the cloth's length as tight as you can by hand, then let it back 1/2 inch before stapling; stretch the width tight and let it back 1/4 inch. Bed staples go about an inch apart. Those numbers are worked into the steps below.

Quick answer: To replace pool table felt, remove the pockets and rails, pull the old staples and cloth, fill and level the slate seams, then stretch the new bed cloth (WPA guideline: tight by hand, then relieved 1/2 inch lengthwise and 1/4 inch across) and staple it about an inch apart into the wood liner. Recover each rail by setting the feather strip, stretching the cloth over the cushion nose and stapling underneath about 3/4 inch apart, then reassemble and roll-test. Plan on most of a day for a first attempt.

Can you replace pool table felt yourself?

Yes, if your table has a wood liner under the slate edge (most slate tables do) and you're patient. Sawyer Twain, a table retailer, estimates four to six hours for a first-timer, or a full day if you go slowly. Thumbtack puts a professional at about two to four hours.

The bed is the forgiving part. The rails and the cloth folds at the pockets are where first jobs look homemade, and a fold in the wrong place can launch balls off the table. Hire a mechanic if:

the cloth is glued to slate with no wood liner and you've never worked with adhesive,
the table is an antique or high-value piece where a mistake would cost more than the labor,
the slate needs releveling or seam repair you can't check with a good level.

Prices for the pro route, kit versus hired labor, and the extras that inflate quotes are in our pool table refelting cost guide.

Tools and materials

Item	Why
Cloth cut for your table	One bed piece plus six rail strips. Accuplay's 8-foot set, for example, is a 54 by 102 inch bed piece with six 6-inch rail strips. Measure the playing surface first: oversize 8 and pro 8 tables take different pieces.
Heavy-duty staple gun and staples	The WPA wants staples fully driven and sunk at least 3/8 inch into the wood, so pick a staple length that gets there through the cloth.
Staple puller and needle-nose pliers	Hundreds of old staples come out. Leftover stubs make lumps under new cloth.
Socket set with extensions	Rail bolts sit deep under the slate.
Utility knife with fresh blades, and sharp scissors	Dull blades snag and pull worsted cloth.
Beeswax or body filler, heat gun, scraper	For seams and screw holes while the slate is bare.
Machinist level	To check the slate before you cover it.
Spray or contact adhesive	Only for tables with no wood liner, or for the canvas strips at the pocket cuts.
Bags, tape and a marker	Label each rail's bolts and each pocket's hardware.

Choosing the cloth itself (worsted or woolen, Simonis or a cheaper kit) is covered in best pool table felt.

Before you start: stapled or glued, and which side is up

Look under the edge of the slate where the cloth wraps. If you see staples going into wood, you have a liner and this guide applies directly. If the cloth is glued to bare slate, it has to be peeled off slowly and the new cloth glued down, which is messier and less forgiving.

Find the playing side before you cut anything. Simonis says the playing side is the smoother, more regular face, and its logo and cloth number are printed along the edge on that side. Accuplay's listing simply says to install smooth side up. Put worsted on upside down and you play on the fuzzy back for the life of the cloth.

Step 1: take the table down to the slate

Photograph everything: pockets, rail bolts, the order the rails go back on.
Remove the pockets. Drop pockets are usually stapled or screwed under the rails; take them off first so the rails lift free.
Back every rail bolt out partway, then remove them and lift the rails off as complete units. Bag and label the bolts for each rail.
Pull the bed cloth staples one at a time with the puller. Don't tear the cloth past them; that leaves staple legs behind. Glued cloth peels slowly.
Brush and vacuum the slate clean of chalk, lint and old adhesive.

If the slate has to come out for any reason, read how to disassemble a pool table first. For a normal refelt it stays put.

Step 2: prep the slate

This is the only time the slate is bare, so don't skip it. Check that the slate screws are tight, then look at the seams between the three pieces and the screw holes. Fill any gap or low spot with beeswax or auto body filler and scrape or sand it flush. Run a level across each seam. Our slate seam guide compares the fillers and walks through both methods, and how to level a pool table covers shimming.

The WPA also calls for a strip of canvas (or cloth) glued to the vertical pocket cuts of the slate and the liner beneath them, so the cloth has something to grip and hide the stone edge at each pocket.

Step 3: stretch and staple the bed cloth

Lay the cloth playing side up with even overhang on all four sides, the long edge parallel to the long rails.
Start at the head end. Staple the center of the end into the liner, then work outward toward each corner pocket a few inches at a time.
Go to the foot end. Pull the length of the cloth as tight as you can by hand, then let it back about 1/2 inch, as the WPA guideline says, and staple the center. Work outward toward the corners the same way.
Now the long sides. Start at the middle of one side, pull the width tight, let it back about 1/4 inch, and staple. Do the same spot on the opposite side, then alternate sides, working from the middle toward the corners.
Keep the bed staples roughly 1 inch apart, fully driven, sinking at least 3/8 inch into the wood.
At the side pockets, cut the cloth into the pocket opening with small relief cuts, pull each flap down over the canvas-lined pocket cut and staple it underneath. At the corners, fold the cloth neatly under the slate edge so nothing bunches where the rail will sit.
Only after everything is stapled, trim the overhang. Cutting close to staples before the cloth is secure invites a tear.

Look across the bed at a low angle under good light. Any ripple now will still be there in a year. Pull the staples in that area, re-tension and restaple.

Step 4: recover the rails

Rails take longer than the bed and decide how the finished table looks. Do one rail completely before starting the next.

Strip the old rail cloth: pull the staples under the rail, then pry the feather strip out of its groove along the top of the rail. Reuse the feather strip if it comes out whole.
Position the rail strip so one long edge lies over the feather strip groove and the rest can wrap over the cushion with the playing side facing out.
Keep the cloth stretched evenly along its length while you press or tap the feather strip back into the groove, trapping the cloth. The WPA asks for the lengthwise stretch to hold while the strip goes in and afterward.
Fold the cloth back over the cushion. With the length still taut, pull the width over the cushion nose until the nose is just about to start denting, and staple under the rail.
Rail staples go closer than bed staples: about 3/4 inch apart, again with 3/8 inch of penetration.
Finish the ends. The WPA allows no folds in the cloth over the corner pocket facings, and only a minimum overlap at the side pockets. Hidden folds there can make balls jump the rail.

Stop the cross-cushion pull where the WPA does, at the point the nose starts to give. Pulling past it dents the cushion nose.

Step 5: reassemble and test

Set the rails back in the order you photographed. Start all the bolts by hand, then snug them evenly so the rail cloth meets the bed cloth with no gap.
Reattach the pockets.
Do Pool Table Portfolio's palm test: press your palm flat on the cloth and push sideways. Properly stretched cloth barely moves.
Roll balls slowly across the bed in several directions, especially over the seams. Drift everywhere means level; a wobble in one line means a seam.
Bank a few balls off each rail at medium speed. They should come off lively and at the angle you expect.

Brush the new cloth in one direction before the first game, and keep a horsehair brush by the table from then on. Cleaning routines are in how to clean pool table felt.

How to replace pool table felt and bumpers together

If the rubber cushions are dead, replace them during the refelt, since new rubber needs new rail cloth anyway. The order changes only at the rails: strip the cloth and feather strip, remove the old rubber, glue the new rubber on with contact cement and let it cure, then cover the rail as in Step 4. Profiles, the rebound test and the gluing method are in our cushion replacement guide.

How to replace pool table pockets

Do it while the rails are off. Drop pockets are stapled or screwed to the underside of the rail at each pocket opening: remove the old fasteners, fit the new pocket's leather or rubber flaps to the same spots, and fasten them back. Measure your old pockets before ordering; style and size matter. Our replacement pockets guide covers which ones fit.

Mistakes that ruin a new cloth

Stapling one side completely before touching the other. Alternate, or the weave pulls diagonally.
Stretching worsted as hard as old backed cloth. Installers argue about how tight Simonis should go, which is why the WPA's "tight, then relieve" numbers are a safe target.
Laying cloth over old staple stubs, wax lumps or dirt. Every bump shows.
Trimming before the cloth is fully stapled.
Ordering cloth for the wrong size table. An installer stretching undersized cloth ends up with a slack, slow bed.
Skipping the level and seam check while the slate is bare.
Putting new cloth over old cloth. It traps lumps and chalk, and the new cloth can't be stretched tight.

Sources

WPA Recommended Equipment Specifications (cloth fastening guidelines: tension, staple spacing and penetration, pocket facings)
Iwan Simonis FAQ (identifying the playing side)
Sawyer Twain: can you refelt a pool table yourself (time estimate)
Thumbtack: refelt pool table cost (professional job time)
Pool Table Portfolio: cloth not pulled tightly enough (palm test, undersized cloth)

Our picks

Links open the current selection and price on Amazon so you can compare real reviews before buying.

Arrow T50 Heavy-Duty Staple Gun

Stapling bed and rail cloth

A chrome-steel manual stapler with a high-leverage handle and a jam-resistant rear-load magazine, taking T50 staples from 1/4 to 9/16 inch. That range covers the longer staples you need to sink 3/8 inch into the liner, and a staple gun that doesn't jam matters when a refelt takes a few hundred staples.

Amazon price: $19.95 as of 1:31 PM EDT. Price and availability can change; Amazon’s price at purchase applies.

Check price on Amazon

Simonis 860 Precut Cloth Kit for 8 Ft Tables

First-time refelt with tournament cloth

Precut Simonis 860 bed and rail cloth sized for an 8-foot table, plus a horsehair brush, spots and chalk. Precut rails take the guesswork out of the hardest part of the measuring, and the printed Simonis edge tells you which side faces up.

Check price on Amazon

West State Billiards 8 ft Cloth Replacement Kit

Worsted kit on a budget

A 25 oz worsted wool and nylon cloth with no cotton backing, cut per order with six precut rail pieces, two chalks and two spots. It ships folded right before dispatch so it arrives without set-in creases, which is one less thing fighting you on the stretch.

Check price on Amazon

Shupakul Pool Table Beeswax Bars, 4 Pack

Filling seams while the slate is bare

Four 3-ounce beeswax bars, two green and two yellow, for filling slate seams and screw holes. Wax melts back out with heat, so the next person who refelts or moves the table can get the slates apart cleanly.

Amazon price: $19.99 as of 1:31 PM EDT. Price and availability can change; Amazon’s price at purchase applies.

Check price on Amazon

Staple Remover and Pliers Set

Stripping old cloth

Pulling hundreds of old staples with a screwdriver is slow and leaves broken legs behind. A dedicated puller plus needle-nose pliers gets every stub out, so nothing shows through the new cloth.

Check price on Amazon

Frequently asked questions

Can I replace the felt on my pool table myself?

Yes, on most slate tables with a wood liner. You need a heavy-duty staple gun, a staple puller, sockets for the rail bolts and cloth cut for your table. Expect most of a day the first time.

How long does it take to replace pool table felt?

Sawyer Twain estimates 4 to 6 hours for a first-timer. Thumbtack puts a professional at about 2 to 4 hours.

Do I need to remove the slate to replace the felt?

No. On a normal refelt the slate stays on the frame; you remove the pockets and rails, strip the cloth and staple the new cloth into the liner under the slate edge.

Is pool table felt stapled or glued?

Most slate tables with a wood liner are stapled. Tables without a liner, and some older or cheaper tables, use adhesive. Check under the slate edge before you buy supplies.

How tight should pool table felt be?

The WPA guideline is to stretch the length as tight as possible by hand, then relieve it 1/2 inch before stapling, and to stretch the width tight, then relieve it 1/4 inch.

How far apart should the staples be?

About 1 inch apart on the bed and about 3/4 inch apart on the rails, each sunk at least 3/8 inch into the wood, per the WPA's fastening guidelines.

Which side of the pool table felt goes up?

The smoother side. On Simonis cloth, the logo and cloth number are printed along the edge of the playing side.

Can I put new felt over the old felt?

No. Strip the old cloth completely. Layering traps lumps and chalk and keeps the new cloth from stretching tight.

Should I do the bed myself and hire out the rails?

It's a reasonable split. The bed is the forgiving part; the rails and pocket folds take the most skill. Ask first, since some shops only install cloth they sell.

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