I see cloths with vinyl or acrylic coatings, and I wonder if these are considered tacky for any type of stylish or semi-formal dinner. (We don‘t claim to be the most stylish people on the block, but we are trying to go up rather than down.) We are tired of buying cotton and polyester tablecloths and having them oil-stained (or wine-stained, or sauce-stained) and unusable after a couple of weeks, but we don‘t want something that looks like it came out of Edith and Archie Bunker‘s dining room.Suggestions?
There is a teflon coated tablecloth that is sold in St. Martin in the Caribbean in mostly French cottage prints. I imagine it is available any place that sells that look in the US. Also may be available on Ebay. Search table cloth teflon French provence and see what turns up. Really colorful and fun.
They are all tacky for a dinner party. Just learn which stain removers to use for which item, and how to treat the stain at the time it occurs. My best friend for laundry stains is dishwasher detergent. It is made to clean off food, and works great for fabrics that have food stains. I just soak anything that has stains over night in the washing machine with the detergent and water. In the AM I add my regular detergent and complete the cycles. And people are coming to eat, not to judge the appearance of your table. If they do, don't invite them again.
