When your pool table's cushions have hardened, the pool table will not play correctly. You may notice that the balls loose their momentum after bouncing off the rail. You may also notice a deadened thump sound when they strike the cushion. You can test your cushions by walking around your table and pressing into the cushions every two inches on the tip. You should feel a little bit of give when you press in. If they have hardened, it will feel like you are pressing into the wood. It is possible for the cushion to be in good in one area and bad in another. It's also possible for one cushion on one rail to be good and another cushion on another rail to be bad. If one is starting to harden, the others are soon to follow assuming the cushions were installed at the same time.

Once the cushions have hardened to the point that they feel like wood, they are a danger to your pool table cloth. Playing on the table with hardened cushions strikes the balls against the cushions repeatedly eventually wearing out the cloth along the edge of the cushion. It is only a matter of time before the cloth is cut from being struck against such a hard surface over and over. In order to rebumper or recushion your pool table, the cloth on the rails has to be removed and cannot be reused. The cloth on the bed can be reused, but getting an exact color match when the cloth is acquired from a different table fabric bolts or different ages of fabric can be very difficult.