Wash Wednesday: A Kid Proof Tablecloth

I remember my brothers when they were little pushing their match box cars back and forth on the wooden furniture at home. You can still see the skids (scratch) marks on the wood of the now beat up piano in the living room. You can also see the spots on the dining room table from bangs, dents, and remains of craft/school projects. Kids are very hard on wooden furniture.

Now it is my turn to find that out. Our dining room oak table (with up to three leaves) and six matching chairs is the one piece of furniture that is nice in our house. I always wanted a very big table to house every family member for the holidays and family meals. I even collected 100% linen tablecloths for these special occasions to decorate the table.

With a kid though, keeping that table and chairs looking nice is definitely a challenge. And I know that it will come out on the other side with some ding ups which will only reflect on fond memories (I hope). But how do I keep it looking nice longer.

At first, I tried regular fabric table cloths but soon found out that I was washing the crumbs out everyday adding to my laundry pile. Then once we moved into the finger paint stage, I tried a plastic tablecloth that would be easy to wipe and clean. Finally we moved into the poke your fork into the table cloth stage and so I had to find something heavier.

That is when I implemented this wonderful idea from my sister-in-law. Her antique family-heirloom dining room table is covered with a real piece of heavy vinyl from the fabric store. First she laid down a regular small table covering exactly the size of the tabletop to help with moisture. Next, she laid down a piece of black vinyl just slightly larger than the table. Then she took safety pins and pinned up the corners of the vinyl around the edges underneath of the table so that the cloth did not get removed. The tablecloth has become the permanent table top.

I got my piece of red vinyl on sale at the local fabric store. And we have used it all fall on our table. I must admit it looks classy enough to decorate the table and to keep there for company. It is very easy to care and wipe clean with even throwing it in the clothes wash every so often. What most impresses me though is that it acts as a kid proof cloth against spills, paints, and scratches. We certainly have continued our everyday lifestyle on it.

Now I just need to do something about the chairs.