How do I successfully make a floor cloth out of marine vinyl fabric?

July 25, 2007 2:27 PM

I'm making a floor cloth for our kitchen. The instructions I've found online called for canvas. I bought marine vinyl fabric instead of duck cloth canvas since it seemed sturdier. Now I'm wondering if I need to prime it. What will Kilz do to marine vinyl fabric? Do I need to paint the back of it? Anyone ever make a floor cloth? Any tips and hints are much appreciated.
posted by orangemiles to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

I've made a few, but have no idea what marine vinyl fabric is. The directions for cloths always say to use duck or canvas or denim. Maybe you should put aside the marine vinyl and buy the right materials for your first cloth. Canvas works really well. It doesn't seem sturdy when you buy it, but when you apply the shellac or polyurethane it becomes pretty darn stiff. I use the #2 variation on this page - shellac before, and after. Do you have a design in mind already?
posted by iconomy at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Right--I wouldn't use vinyl--the paint will just lay on the surface. Use canvas, the priming and painting and overcoat will do just as good as the vinyl. (sans paint, of course.)
posted by wafaa at 3:51 PM on July 25, 2007

paints don't stick to plastic very well. I'd get real canvas.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:06 PM on July 25, 2007

I've made three out of canvas. They're all quite durable; one is eight years old, still bright and shiny. I also used 2 coats of polyurethane to cover it. I'm with the "real canvas" contingent - if marine vinyl were the best material, mad crafters would have discovered that by now.
posted by Miko at 4:07 PM on July 25, 2007

For version 3 in the link iconomy nicely provided it says to wash the canvas. How on earth is this accomplished? Could I just lay the stuff out on my deck like a rug and wash it by hand and rinse with a hose?
posted by MrFongGoesToLunch at 4:18 PM on July 25, 2007

i've made many floorcloths. seconding the "wouldn't use vinyl". the paint will either stick and easily peel off or it won't stick at all. i personally just use pre-primed artist's canvas from an art supply store. if you can find a heavier weight pre-primed canvas then that's great but the plain old readily available/fairly cheap stuff works fine. i use pre-primed because the times i used unprimed canvas i had some canvas warpage/shrinkage problems due to it being stretched on a board. if you use unprimed canvas/gesso it has got to be stretched really, really well. and i just hate stretching canvas. i've never had a problem with pre-primed.

i usually gesso the reverse side of the pre-primed canvas so that both sides are primed. this beefs up the canvas some. when it's done i seal both sides with polyurethane and use a floorwax as an addition to the top surface. very, very sturdy things these canvas floorcloths.
posted by hecho de la basura at 4:20 PM on July 25, 2007

MrFongGoesToLunch: it says to wash the canvas. How on earth is this accomplished?

A laundromat near me has some industrial sized washers, that can handle 5 (or maybe 10) loads at a time. I think they cost $5 a load.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:15 PM on July 25, 2007

I just washed my canvas in my home washer - like washing a blanket or comforter. I just squished it in. It's designed to get wet, after all.

Have you gone and looked at canvas, say, at the fabric/craft store? It's not all very heavy-guage. Depending on the weight you get, it can be quite soft and pliable. The primer, paint, and coating will stiffen it up.
posted by Miko at 6:19 PM on July 25, 2007

Response by poster: Follow up: the marine vinyl did not work.
posted by orangemiles at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2007