The Historic District

I just found this site, and they are amazing :

http://www.gracewooddesign.com/floorcloths/

Handpainted or hand stencilled canvas floorcloths, with design references from the 1700's to mid 20th c. The prices seem affordable and they have professional construction with underpadding, etc. Lots and lots to look at !

Great stuff, Willa. It's a much better solution, in my opinion, than carpet for high traffic areas. I'm tempted to try to make my own using a botanical theme. I see that they use latex but I wonder if oil based paint would be a good choice.

Thanks for posting these links, Willa!
I have never heard of this stuff before reading about it here. Looks amazing!!
I might have to consider it for my home once we free up some $$... Looks fairly easy to keep clean, which is a huge plus these days with my house full of dogs and children...

Manalto wrote:Great stuff, Willa. It's a much better solution, in my opinion, than carpet for high traffic areas. I'm tempted to try to make my own using a botanical theme. I see that they use latex but I wonder if oil based paint would be a good choice.

Oil paint could certainly be used too, though it takes longer to dry. Benjamin Moore has water based alkyd paint "Advance" which is an excellent paint in my experience.

Painting a floor cloth is identical to painting an art painting. You have to prime raw canvas (staple it down to a surface because it will shrink) then prepare the surface and paint away. You can draw on the prepared surface with pencil then fill in, or use a pre-cut stencil. It sounds like the floor cloth place REALLY seals the the surface (multiple coats plus wax) which helps to protect the pattern.

I have started painting my own floor cloth for my entry way. I am using alkyd leftovers. I am having some design anxiety as it has been decades since I painted a picture. The canvas is leftovers I have been lugging around for a long time. The material cost is zero since this is stuff I've had around. The worst thing than can happen is that my painting is too ugly to be even be walked on. In that case, canvas be painted over - so I could start again.

Re: botanical floor cloth. Here are instructions from Martha Stewart (don't groan) where leaves are photo copied to make stencils for your design. I suppose you could also use fresh (not dry leaves) and sponge paint over them using the leaf itself as a stencil ? https://www.marthastewart.com/273292/making-canvas-rugs

What your calling floor cloth was once extremely popular well into the twenties only they were called oil cloth or art carpets. Basically a heavy canvas layered up with linseed oil with patterns printed on them and then a couple more coats of oil to seal the pattern.
They were a cheap alternative to carpet but more formal than linoleum.

Gothichome wrote:What your calling floor cloth was once extremely popular well into the twenties only they were called oil cloth or art carpets. Basically a heavy canvas layered up with linseed oil with patterns printed on them and then a couple more coats of oil to seal the pattern.
They were a cheap alternative to carpet but more formal than linoleum.

Gothichome - I think you mean carpet linoleum.

Handpainted canvas floorcloths were popular in North America from the 1700's on, and seem to have originated in England:

http://www.stenciledfloorclothsbymichele.com/HistoryOfFLoorcloths.htm

They were a cheap and cheerful substitute for an actual (woven)rug or carpet.

Linoleum was created from experiments to create a synthetic rubber substitute(1850's). What evolved was a product that attempted to be competition for oil cloth, but then became its own type of sheet flooring product:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleum

Oilcloth was also used as flooring, so I am guessing that handpainted floor cloths were poorer folks way to create serviceable flooring, which then evolved into its own decorative category. Where the actual disintiction between oil cloth v.s. canvas floorcloth lies is unknown to me:

http://oilcloth.com/uncategorized/the-history-of-oilcloth/

Last bit of nerdery: carpet linoleum is not actually linoleum, but is a felt backed printed sheet flooring material that does not contain the components of linoleum(cork, linseed oil, pigment, wood flour).

Article about the history of carpet "linoleum" by Jane Powell (author of "Linoleum" as well as various bungalow related titles); https://www.oldhouseonline.com/articles/history-of-linoleum-rugs

Well, much smarter now and in the future I will be less prone to generalize on the topic of floor coverings. And when I burst into my break dance routine at my next gathering I will have remembered my patch of shiney Lino.

“Linoleum is used in break dancing as an alternative to cardboard as it provides a large, slick and durable surface.” Thanks Wikipedia.

Gothichome wrote:
“Linoleum is used in break dancing as an alternative to cardboard as it provides a large, slick and durable surface.” Thanks Wikipedia.

But do they mean genuine linoleum or sheet vinyl flooring ? While linoleum is used as a general term like Kleenex or Bandaid, how is this word used in this context ???

(I guess those years dating a floor layer left some damage.)

You can guarantee that they're using it as a generic term. I'll bet my left whatever that it's vinyl.

Those kids and their new kinds of dances ! (Shakes cane.)