Humidity slows down cloth mousepads.

Yes, humidity makes a cloth mousepad feel sluggish and slow.

Cloth mousepads are basically fabric. Fabric absorbs moisture from the air. When humidity goes up, the fibers swell slightly and the surface gets a tiny bit tacky. Your mouse has to push through more friction. You’ll notice it most when gaming or doing precise work — the glide gets inconsistent, like moving through wet sand.

The opposite is also true: low humidity (like in winter with heating) makes the pad feel faster and more slippery. If you live somewhere humid, you’re basically always fighting extra drag. A hard pad or a coated cloth pad handles humidity better.

You can try lowering your DPI or using a mouse with larger skates, but the simplest fix is just controlling the room’s humidity if you can. Or switch to a hybrid pad.