Check the felt's condition. A felt suffers in the same way that Astroturf on a football field wears away, though on a microscopic scale.
Old felt feels like the bristle of a new beard when you slide a hand along it. If you can easily pull small balls or pills of fuzz off the felt with two fingers, it is definitely time for felt replacement. Search near pocket openings carefully for worn or ripped felt, too.
It is simple to repair used felt yourself, using cloth patches, if only small sections need recovering. Torn or worn felt may be replaced with a "spot kit", which includes patches plus adhesive labels for marking the "head" and "foot" spots where the balls go for play.
A complete felt change, however, is a repair best left to the pool professional. The table's rails are lifted away from its sides so the new felt can be tacked down properly beneath them.
A pro repairman might even "tighten" a used felt this way, as when a sheet's edges are tucked firmly beneath a mattress. Tighten or replace your table's felt when it starts to become threadbare or responds to pressure from your hand by moving or bunching greatly.
Quality felt may have a second cloth as a backing on its underside. Installation of a new cloth backing can save replacing an old felt.
