Table Cloths - old fashioned?

I have several embroidered table cloths bought while living in the Far East but these get used rarely. I also have a nice, wipeable one on the kitchen table, which gets used the most. The fabric isn't the usual rather stiff, plasticised type you see in so many shops but thinner and drapes like a proper fabric. It is washable and I have seen it in our local drapers so is available here.

Each to their own , it's your home!! I've evolved my home to the midcentury style that our brand new home in1964 was! Weird or what? My mum had excellent eye for style and fortunately we had the means to get the latest and top quality , Minty suite Ercol dining and nests, hornsea crocks etc fabulous light fittings I'd use today too! It must have made Impression , I too sometimes use table cloths for effect, fab cotton habitat hobbies all big loud prints or jazz style plains with little accents .never polyesters stains impossible to remove specially red wine it Italian spills! Agree about pot tea, can't beat it for style and substance!

I think that is the answer Wendy.

I make my own. I have a large plain one that covers the whole table and then smaller squares put on cross ways. I just change these when they get mucky. I have Christmas ones as well. Mostly cotton so wash well.

I used to use cloth ones, but laundering them was a pain, my family must be messy eaters
Now I use a wipeable one, protects the table but a lot more practical.

I have a dining room suite of vintage Ercol furniture in the family end of the kitchen and that always has a polyvinyl table cloth over a table protector underlay on it, although, it comes off when we have visitors round for a meal and is replaced by a cloth tablecloth.

We usually have a wipeable cloth on the dining table, but use proper tablecloths when people are eating here. We bought our dining table because it had the most beautiful top. Thus far, the only time the top has been exposed to the outside world was when we were showing prospective buyers round our last house and I put a bowl of flowers on it. It’s a shame it doesn’t see the light of day, but I would hate for it to get damaged and it surely would with our lot! Should have gone for something more serviceable!

Oil cloth or similar is still as popular as ever. They are available in a wide variety of designs eg , small children loved the world map and numbers one.

I’ve recently bought a round dining table which extends to an oval, and I’m looking for suitable tablecloths, but so far haven’t found anything to fit. Recommendations would be most welcome. I do volunteer in a charity shop, but tablecloths are not often donated.

I trawl the charity shops of Melbourne for vintage linen ones. For reasons I can't fathom, most are maps of Australia, with archetypal flora and fauna dotted about. I use them for "company" and when camping, to pretty up the table.

I dont care about them either way but my husband hates table mats and always uses table cloths. He is the one who buys them

That's the kind of pattern I was looking at.
Lace trim with flowers and cats all over in a sunburst of colour.

The one on my table at the moment is a 1950s brightly coloured check one that belonged to my parents. I have two of them. I also have embroidered ones from 1930s/40s and ones trimmed with hand made lace that I have collected over the years. The plan was that I would make a patchwork quilt from those but I can't bring myself to cut them up... I always use a tablecloth...I love a vintage look

I've just been looking at tablecloths.
I thought I might have a tasteful cream linen one.
Then I saw one with tassels.
Then I saw one with multicoloured cats all over it.

This is why I try not to have these things.

Now I am alone it is only a tray cloth on a tray. I used to like a table cloth although those double damask starched cloths and napkins years ago were a bind.
I still have embroidered cloths I made in the 1940s. Have some crochet ones I made whilst in Spain. The finest Egyptian cotton with the smallest hook.
So many people nowadays eat their dinner on their laps watching TV.

I've not used one for years, so now my table top is battered a bit.
So, seeing as the table is still sturdy, I'm now eyeing up tablecloths.

I still use a tablecloth for special occasions and even made one from an old duvet cover, to fit an extra long garden table for a garden lunch last summer when we were allowed to have a few more people in the garden. I love a proper tea pot and cups too, the tea definitely tastes better.

I do have some and live them. My grandsons are always pleased to see the one I bought in Portugal, with the famous rooster. And yes, I use a teapot! And I won’t apologise for it.

I always have one, over a table protector mat. My "everyday" one is silver PVC with glitter in it, and I have a Christmas PVC one (cartoony) which isn't my taste, but the grandchildren like them.

If ever I have people over for dinner, I have a sparkly cloth one.

I use a wipeable one when grandkids come over and do their painting and craft works! ….. but otherwise no! I have a lovely solid-oak 8-10 seater dining table and I want its beauty to be seen , with lovely table mats and shining silver cutlery!

We have a very long French polished mahogany dining table which is also my cutting table when I'm sewing, so I keep a table protector on it and a heavy duty vinyl table cloth (by the metre from Dunelm). It's easy to wipe down and pretty much GC-proof. We use place mats as well. At Christmas I use a white linen cloth with a colourful table runner. Last Christmas I fancied having a red cloth for a change but couldn't find one long enough, so I bought 2 sheets, joined them together, and put a fancy hem on it. It looked great.

I have some beautiful linen cloths embroidered by my GM but sadly too small to use except as centrepieces. I may incorporate them into a quilt.... someday.

Not tablecloth related, but definitely loose tea in a pot every time. I'm not ancient either?

I do as I please - as I always have done. When I lived in Portugal I bought a very long red and white tablecloth with 12 matching napkins. Gave them to my mum for a birthday and she used to enjoy getting them out especially at christmas when all the family and in laws came round. Looked really good and was definitely part of our christmas. Since her death I now have them back and again rarely use them as am mostly on my own but great for large family gatheriing and for thigs like the jubilee weekend if there is a local tea served for people. It looks festive but simple only red and white, and hope to hang on to it for a long tiem. It now has memories of many family occasions .

Table cloths and table scaping are on trend - Google tablecloths - there lots of lovely ones out there !

I have one that you can wipe down on my dining table. Useful when the family comes round and we have takeaway, or when grandchildren are painting.