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I wanted an oilcloth Christmas tablecloth from Vermont country store and it's like 80 dollars or something. I was wondering if I got a dress Stewart fabric and oil clothed it somehow, could I make my own?
that's an excellent tablecloth from Vermont Country Store. I have it (not an xmas themed one just an all purpose one). I got tired of falling apart thin plastic on top and fuzzy stuff on the bottom tablecloths that didn't last long, but I wanted something waterproof (so not cloth). It can still stain from underneath though as it is cloth underneath but it protects the table pretty well (not that my table is some priceless antique, it's not). The one from there I have isn't true oil cloth it's plastic (I know plastic bad, but it has it's uses). Oil cloth is desirable because it's supposed to be waterproof. Definitely that fake oilcloth is waterproof IME.
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Back in the day, oilcloth used to be made by coating heavier-weight cotton with linseed oil, which worked great for a while until it started to crack and peel with age. This method became obsolete with the advent of noncracking plastics. To make our oilcloth, we borrowed a page from yesteryear. We start with heavy-duty fabric and laminate it with a vinyl finish that's guaranteed to never crack or peel.
Well it's true the fabric is heavy-duty and it has not cracked or peeled or split (or even been damaged by a knife although I suppose that's not impossible)