Long ago and maybe not too far away easy care tablecloths were made and had the label of "oil cloth". These are nice and do well in the kitchen to catch spills, make them easy clean, and just cheap to buy.  Yes these oil cloths were great until something like too many spills made them adhere to the table making  it hard to remove. Another downfall was the smell of plastic (which is what they are made of).

A few years ago, about 10 years, I had the chance to bring oil cloths to the website and in the store. Something said, well that is not a lifelong milestone product that I like to offer my upper end shoppers even on the off sale.  I just could not pick out a style, color, or pattern. So I opted for the coated cotton tablecloth and hoped it worked.  Coated is different than oil cloth for very obvious reasons.

Coated tablecloth is just that - coated cotton- real 100% cotton that has a light acrylic surface. Tablecloth side on table is cotton side with the acrylic side facing up and taking all the spills.  When you receive your tablecloth the label may say 96% cotton and 4% acrylic, customs reasons is all but sounds right.  Coated tablecloths have become the 2nd largest selection for fine tablecloths.  Besides the 100% cotton jacquards, the coated tablecloth is considered vastly by many who like that extra quality stain free care.

The cloth can be machine washed in special circumstances with low temps for water, no bleach, and no dryer. Just hang it out to dry, no heat necessary as it is only damp when out of the machine. Probably, you would only launder a few times in year.  Oh and now Coated Placemats!! even more delight.