Many
of us remember walking into Grandma's kitchen while she was canning, and
smelling an unmistakeable smell that came from the oilcloth she had tacked to
her kitchen table to protect it. To me, it always smelled like heat. I
associated it with humid August afternoons and steam from the canner. Oilcloth
could be a utilitarian solid color, or it could be printed in stripes or plaids
or florals - really a lovely variety of prints. It was durable, though with
time it did get brittle. It was relatively waterproof and thus made an ideal
picnic cloth or tablecloth for use in the kitchen. It could be used to make
seats for lawn furniture. It was relatively
inexpensive, frequently sold by the foot at the local hardware or five and
dime.
So
what was that oilcloth, and where can we get it today?
Oilcloth
was woven natural fiber cloth, usually cotton duck/canvas or linen, that had
been treated with a coating based on linseed oil. The fabric could be dyed or
printed before treatment, or sometimes the color and design were added in the
treatment process. It was a smelly process, but linseed is a natural byproduct
of flax processing, not petroleum based, and thus it was not toxic in the way
that modern plastics processing can be. Oilcloth also biodegraded in a landfill
when its usefulness was over.
Unfortunately,
oilcloth went out of style by the late 1950s, and a new and
"improved" version of waterproof table covering came along: The
vinyl-covered flannelbacked tablecloth. And now, within the past few years, a
PVC-coated woven cotton fabric is being marked as "real oilcloth,"
though I personally would not call it such, as it is made from polyvinyl
chloride. True, it is on the old-fashioned cotton duck fabric, but PVC does not
break down in a landfill like linseed products do. It has a slick plasticky
feel to the touch rather than the slightly sticky oily feel of true oilcloth
(or at least of used oilcloth). It is said to be more durable and long lasting
than real oilcloth, but I think the jury is still out on that. Let's see how it
holds up after 20 years.
On
the plus side, much of the modern "oilcloth" available is printed
using some of the vintage designs, in many cases using the actual plates and
rollers that were used for the vintage oilcloth, so that we have easily found
reproductions of the colorful vintage designs - something people are looking
for as they redecorate in vintage style.
Most of this modern oilcloth is made in Mexico in 48" widths and
has wonderfully bright pigments and vibrant designs that seem ready to leap off
the fabric. They are lovely in their own right. But in my opinion - and I'm the
one writing this review, so I get to say this - they should not be called
"real oilcloth."
I
did find a source for real, honest-to-goodness oilcloth by the yard, but it's
utilitarian, brown or very dark green, and is marketed to war reenactors. It is
available from Hamilton Dry Goods (check their eBay store or their website). If
you are looking for the pretty stuff that would look nice on your kitchen
table, then I don't have an answer for you; sadly. I am still looking for a
real source for real, non-PVC-but-still-beautiful oilcloth.
But
wait! All is not lost. You can always make your own oilcloth. It's quite
possible, you know, and kind of a fun experiment. Start with a piece of
heavyweight cotton canvas. Pick one that already has a print that you enjoy, or
you can tie-dye it with fabric dyes, or even stamp it with colored oil paints.
Now you need to stretch it, just like you would an artist's canvas. You want it
smooth and you want it to hold still. So staple it to a square wooden frame.
Now you need to take linseed oil and a paintbrush. You are going to paint the
cloth in long strokes, all over the "good" side. Set it aside. It
will take a couple of days to dry. Give it a few more coats. If you don't
already have a design on it, pause between coats and add some color using oil
paints. Add more coats of linseed. After you have a nice thick coating built up
and it is thoroughly dry, remove your oilcloth from the frame and trim the
unpainted edges, or better yet, turn them under and glue them to make a smooth
edge and use your new oilcloth as a floor cloth.
You
can also make an item out of canvas and then after the fact dip it in linseed
oil and allow it to dry, repeating the process until the article is thoroughly
coated. I learned this from the folk on eBay's Dolls Discussion Board. Many
vintage doll shoes are made of oilcloth. If you can build the shoe from canvas
or duck, you can then coat it and end up with a pretty authentic oilcloth doll
shoe.
The
short version of all this is: The modern fabrics being marketed as "real
oilcloth" are no such thing. They are beautiful in their own right, but
they should be called something else.
Looking for a way to brighten up your kitchen? In this episode of Made
At Home we show you how to make an oilcloth covered notice board -
you'll never have an excuse to forget the shopping again!
