Comments on: An argument against table cloths

By: debbdesign

debbdesign — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:05:26 +0000

I have one table cloth that I use to dress up the table when Im having a dinner party. Besides the pleasure of eating at a made up table, where Ive already spent the time and money to prepare a gourmet meal – I have found that its saved us from all rushing to grab towels when somethings been spilled. the table cloth just soaks it up – I place a white paper napkin over the spot and the meal carrys on. I would only get white table clothes though – so I can just bleach the stains out of them.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:13:22 +0000

We have an antique table with mutiple leaves. We also have 3 very young children. We don’t have a huge house that could separately accomodate special-occasion and everyday dining. Our solution is to use our table for both functions. Usually, it is covered with a thermal-protection mat so that when people forget about hot staff, it isn’t fatal to the table or the offender. On top of that is a waterproof mat so when the littlest one gets too excited and knocks over drinks, everything’s cool. It also means we can use the table for art and craft. Both of these cloths look pretty hideous so we have two decorative tablecloths over the top, rotated weekly for cleaning. For parties and celebrations, the cloths are folded up and hidden and the table looks gorgeous.

By: Christine in DC

Christine in DC — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:50:02 +0000

I find when I have a tablecloth, I’m less likely to use my dining room table as a dumping ground. I don’t always use one, but that’s what I’ve found.

By: Keeper Of Stuff

Keeper Of Stuff — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:08:58 +0000

We bought a tabletop which had extra leaves, but no legs (due to freight damage or loss)at an upscale store for a garage sale price. We made very simple legs and attached them. The leg color does not even match the tabletop.

I went to a craft store and bought heavy-weight clear vinyl by the yard, very inexpensively. I put my gorgeous, but easily stained, tablecloth on and topped it with the clear heavy vinyl, which I cut long enough to work with or without the leaves.

The end result: a beautiful and much complimented table effect, that is super easy to wipe off with a damp sponge after meals. We have used this arrangement for 2-3 years with nary a stain or problem. If I want to “dress up” or alter the look, I top the vinyl with coordinating placemats, usually holiday ones.

To protect against hot dishes, I bring out matching tiles. The tiles are those I found discarded at construction sites. I added peel-off protectors on the bottoms of all four corners.

The whole thing works – and the price is right!

By: C. Raybourn

C. Raybourn — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:15:27 +0000

I inherited my great-grandmother’s dining room table and the only way to care for it properly is with table pads and a tablecloth. My kids are 5, 3, and 2. A microfiber tablecloth protects against spills and the pads protect against heat/scratches. I don’t see any other way to properly care for this table. After all the care that my grandmother and great grandmother took with it, allowing it to be scratched or damaged unnecessarily when prevention is very simple seems disrespectful to me.

By: Marianelli

Marianelli — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:59:53 +0000

I love this idea. I use these on top of my table pads that I purchased from the tablepadfactory.com

They look great!

By: ewong

ewong — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:28:39 +0000

We have a beautiful antique applewood dining table, 3′X 8′, from the Civil War period. We also have 3 young grandkids (3, 4 and 5 years) who visit us periodically.
Chilewich is a wonderful product. We have 4 patterns of their non-backed woven placemats and their non-skid backed shag rug. The placemats are not leak-proof and the other is too textural as a table covering. And a clear vinyl sounds like a great solution showcasing the beauty of the wood but can cause the wood table to form white patches from being a non-porous covering. Wood still needs to breathe even after they’ve been cut and polyurethaned. One solution was to call on a woodgrain tablecloth company called TablePads Direct (www.tablepadsdirect.com) (888)498-4345 where they offer
many woodgrain patterns and colors. They can also back their vinyl sheets with felt with 6 color choices to allow the wood to breathe. At each of the corners and at the center points I’ve dotted self-adhesive non-skid spots to the felt side to prevent this tablecloth from sliding. It is easy to clean, roll up and store once the kids go home.

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:13:27 +0000

Clear Plastic/Vinyl on good quality urethane finished wood tops has worked throughout our house for years well for us for years.

Recently, in our dining room we have a paper table cloth that looks like a very elegant and expensive croched cloth. To protect it (very flimzy)we cover it with a crystal clear plastic vinyl table cloth. You can still see the wood as well as the cloth. It fools a lot of our friends. And we don’t have to worry about the Kids (8!).

On special occassions and Holidays we cover the whole thing with a white-on-white cotton table cloth.

An of course, we always have the option of removing everything and show off the entire nature wood top (still almost showroom perfect).

By: Hanmee

Hanmee — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:49:57 +0000

I’ve used table cloths for a long time b/c I wanted to avoid damaging the table, but then I started using the placemats. However, I find the table looks more cluttered as you’re trying to have them all look nice with kids and that doesn’t work out. My son always seems to take something off the placemat and purposely make a mess on the table.

I wanted to point out to please check the limitations on the table cloths and even table pads. Many of them say that they will NOT protect your table against hot foods (so the rubber feet trivets are still the way to go).

Also, you are not supposed to have vinyl or plastic against the wood. Many of the vinyl table cloths go around this as they have a cloth backing, but the clear plastic ones do not. Just wanted to let you know as I almost was going to go with a plastic one (way back) but happened to find that out.

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:05:12 +0000

You’re seriously overplaying the negatives. My grandmother, who used to iron underpants never mind the tablecloths, managed to use them with less fuss than you describe, and she is (was, I suppose) my technical reference for household overkill. Like others here, though, I tend towards only using them for company, but that’s mostly so my daughters don’t attempt to remove the cloth without disturbing what’s on it.

By: twosandalz

twosandalz — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:39:03 +0000

I’m a fan of place mats, especially the kind with cork backings. I get the best of both decorating worlds… adding a splash of color yet still seeing the table itself. For myself, tableclothes are extra work for everyday use, and they hide the table. But I enjoy using them on special occasions. They feel festive, which makes the storage space they take worth it.

By: Jasi

Jasi — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:55:47 +0000

I have 2 white Ikea Iris table cloths. They’re like all of my other linens; sturdy, cotton, and white. If it’s a mess, I can throw it in with the towels. And ironing.. I don’t even own an iron. Wrinkles are beautiful. Just ask Gramma.

By: Nat

Nat — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:37:18 +0000

If I had a newer table with great structure, I’d probably go without the table cloth. But right now, I’ve got some ugly, particle board table with wood grain plastic veneer, circa 1980. Of course the leaves don’t match the grain at the seams. BTW, the chairs have plastic lattice made to look like it’s wood. Getting a new table is not a priority. Until then, I’m covering it all up with one of my two tablecloths, which I don’t launder after every single meal. I do however sweep up crumbs with a piece of stiff paper when necessary. And I don’t iron because once I put them on the table, the fabric eventually relaxes enough that folds are not noticable, especially if it’s the one with a little polyester in it.

By: Max

Max — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:04:02 +0000

You are using table cloths wrong.

When it’s just you and a friend or two you use placemats. When you are serving a big feast with lots of dishes of food on the table you use both a table pad and a table cloth.

The pad is what protects the table from dings, hot dishes, wine spills, etc. The table cloth simply floats on top of it to look nice.

We leave our table uncovered almost all the time, the only time the pads and cloth comes out is when we are hosting a party. Then the cloth makes things festive and fun (and easier to clean!). Having lived with a glass table for many years I won’t go back to one. It’s loud, it’s hard on dishes (even with a cloth), and knocking a wineglass over on it is almost a guarantee of smashed glass.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:05:01 +0000

I see the point, but you’re missing an important aspect of many dining room tables: they have leaves. When you must extend the table, a big piece of glass on only part of the table will look weird. And if you take it off, where do you store this fragile and potentially dangerous piece of glass? Glass tops on these types of tables is a bad idea.

Plexiglas is equally bad, in my opinion. It’s far too easy to scratch, so in a short period of time, it looks permanently dirty. I’d rather use a temporary table cloth to protect my table (and with a table pad, it’s totally protected).

Finally, as others have noted, unless you’re a consistently messy eater, you don’t need to wash your tablecloth after every meal.

I’ve always thought the Chilwich stuff was neat, but I’ll bet their texture makes them very difficult to clean. All the food gets into the little woven crevices. Soup would be a nightmare! It would take a toothbrush to clean out dried soup. (And yes, you could clean it right away, but really, are you going to grab a placemat from underneath a guest’s bowl if they spill a drop? Not exactly hospitable.)