I had a recent email asking how to remove pilling from a cheap felted home poker table. I can only guess the felt used is a traditional felt which balls up or pills quite easily. A professional poker felt would not pill up, but with the popularity of poker these days, there would be many homemade tables out there. The best thing I have seen to removing pilling is a nature pumice stone ( www.sweaterstone.com ) I use this on my sweaters or sweatshirts which develop pilling. (Sweater pills are tangles of fabric that naturally come loose where the garment is rubbed the most. Typically, a sweater’s arms and sides are first to pill.)
I think this would work best for the homemade poker felt. If you ever have to clean a poker table to best action it to have a thick absorbent (white) towel handy to absorb spills as they happen. Then rinse with plain water and absorb with a white towel. Its far better to deal with spills as they happen on a difficult to clean surface like a poker table. If a cleaner is necessary use a spray bottle with water and a drop of dish soap mixed in, this is a basic neutral cleaner which is effective in many cases. Using anything stronger on a poker felt and you will have a challenge removing excess cleaner residue and the appearance maybe as bad as the stain even if it has been cleaned.
