For many, pool and a couple of cold brews go hand in hand, but it isn’t always a good combination for your pool table. One wrong move and your beer could make a mess of your table, leaving a large and ugly stain. But your pool table isn’t necessarily ruined forever. You can usually get it out.
So, how do you get a beer stain off your pool table?
- If the beer has not dried into the felt, dab the wet spot to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Dab the stain with a damp towel.
- Using a mixture of water and white vinegar, moisten a clean towel and dab at the stain until the beer is gone.
- Allow the pool table to dry.
- If stains appear, try the mixture of water and white vinegar again. If that doesn’t work, move on to a pool table cleaner.
If done correctly, and immediately after the beer is spilled, you’ll have the best chance of getting the stain out. In this article, we’ve got more tips and tricks for getting a beer stain (or any stain) out of your pool table felt, so keep reading!
Getting a Beer Stain out of a Pool Table
Of course, the process isn’t quite a simple as the instructions above. There is more you can do to both be prepared for a spill near your pool table and to get the stain out in the most efficient way possible. Let’s take a look at what you can do.
If you’re giving your pool table a deep cleaning, you might also like to check out our post How to Get the Smell of Smoke Out of a Pool Table? and Can You Vacuum a Pool Table?
Be Prepared for a Spill
You should keep a set of several white cotton towels somewhere in the same room as your pool table. A basket under the bar or next to your cue rack can hold these towels so you can attack the spill right away.
There are also some items you should know the location of in your home but don’t necessarily need to keep them near your pool table, including:
- Pool table cleaner
- Spare white cotton towels
- A bottle of white vinegar
- A bowl
- A measuring cup
- A tablespoon
Ideally, you would keep all your supplies together in one easy to access location so you can send a friend in search of them if a spill occurs.
Dab, Don’t Rub
Gently dabbing at the stain works much better than rubbing at it. Rubbing the stain will:
- Spread the stain and make it bigger
- Ruin the felt and make the problem even worse
So in your moment of panic to clean up the stain, just remember, gentle, dabbing motions will serve you well.
Cold Water Only
It is completely understandable that you would reach for hot water when trying to get out a stain because hot water is effective a cleaning a great many things, but when it comes to stains on pool tables, cold water works much better.
Using hot water on your pool table will cause the stain to set into the fabric even further than it already has.
Don’t Use Carpet Cleaner
Carpet cleaners are meant for carpet, not felt. Only use cleaners intended explicitly for pool table felt so that you don’t end up doing more damage than good when you try to get the pesky remnants of the beer stain out.
We recommend David Hodges’ Quick Clean Table Cleaner which is available on Amazon because it is easy to use, inexpensive, and doesn’t fade the felt.
To use quick clean table cleaner here’s all you have to do:
- Spray the cleaner on the table.
- Wait 60 seconds.
- Wipe it away.
It really can’t get any easier than that!
Make Sure You Have a Safe Place to Keep Your Beer
And finally, to avoid a spill in the first place or to prevent a future spill, add a bar, shelf, or table more than five feet away from the pool table so that you can have a safe place for your beer – safe for your beer and safe for your table.
This will especially help if you have guests over who might not take as much care around your pool table as you do.
In Summary
Getting a beer stain out of a pool table only requires simple supplies and patience as you carefully dab at the stain, but some beer stains may be more difficult to remove than others. A thick stout, for example, is going to be more challenging than a light lager.
If you need to, you can always call in the pool table cleaning professionals and see if they can remove the stain, if not, you’ll have to live with it or replace the felt. All the more reason to be careful where you set your beer!