Making Floor Cloths -How I Spent the Last Two Months (besides moving twice)

 

From that - to this....

 

In case you've been wondering where I've been hiding (or not), I'll fill you in....
We sold our Canterbury home, and moved into my mother-in-law's home (she's 93), found her a house a mile-and-a-half away (she cannot do stairs anymore), and moved her...gah...but, that's done, and we are almost finished digging out.
It was August, when a couple commissioned me to create four floor cloths.  For those of you who do not know what they are, they are canvas rugs...that one paints, and then, seals, and then walks on and enjoys for years.

   This is a compilation photo of some of the floor cloths I have done in the past...certainly, not all, but some...Can you tell I was living in Texas at the time?  We had stained concrete floors, which are ideal...You can put floor cloths on a hard surface...no carpet..or else it will not work...Porches, kitchens, (I don't recommend them for bathrooms - I am concerned that wet feet will slide and fall) Powder rooms work well.  Also, table runners, and placemats (I put felt under them).
Soooooooooo, the photo at the top was the first step in the floor cloth - I drew it to scale, and approximated the colors, so my clients could review and revise.  This is the largest floor cloth I have done - 3ft. X 13ft.  again, Gah.

  It took some creativity and desperation to figure out how to create a work table long enough to accomodate this very, very long floor cloth...you see before you: a deck glass table, two bridge tables, and a smaller, round plastic table (later replaced with a short bookcase).  Getting them all the same height was a trick...I had one sheet of Masonite, (4x8) and purchased another (at Lowes) that was 4x6)...getting it home in a Toyota was interesting....I even had incorporated my husband's grandmother's baking board...then, taped the seams....

 I found a wonderful resource on line...,https://canvasworksfloorcloths.com .  which is in Vermont...Lisa, the artist and owner, has quite a set up...a building dedicated to working on large-scale floor cloths...and they are huge...She also sells canvas....good canvas...expensive, but worth it canvas.  I used to go to Hobby Lobby, and buy a roll of canvas...not the best thing, but all I could find at the time...Canvas comes in various weights; the higher the number, the lighter the weight...the lower the number..the heavier the weight (well, sure)...I ordered number 4, which is the heaviest, as this floor cloth runner is going on a four-season porch, and will be used heavily.  Lisa cut the canvas, hemmed and mitered the corners, (did I mention pre-shrunk it) and put a primer of gesso on it.  For this, she charges $10 a square foot.  It sounds expensive, but I couldn't have found the canvas and done all that with my limited space and, let's face it...I'm in my 60's, don't have a sail maker's sewing machine, etc...well worth it...baby.

Shipped in a roll, it needs to be rolled out, a pressing cloth put over it, and steam ironed until all, and I do mean ALL the wrinkles are out...very difficult job, but, the prep is what makes all the difference.

 
My client's were concerned about colors..as my drawing was quite a bit brighter than the colors we chose (I am an interior designer, and I have the Sherwin Williams "big girl" paint specifier, which has large samples, as opposed to the little blocks on the fan)...As we selected the colors, I put them in an envelope and took them to the Sherwin William's paint store...I used Resilience, (Exceptional Resistance to Moisture) Exterior Acrylic Latex (flat) paint.  Yep, house paint.  I used to use interior, but Lisa clued me in to this product - Thank you, Lisa.

After pressing - and pressing - and pressing, I applied two coats of the base coat. Then, I painted the border...and let me tell you...not fun.  With such a heavy canvas, one cannot use blue tape (or green frog tape), as it will, (I promise you) bleed under.  So, I drew my border by hand and painted it by hand, placing a large index card under the edge as I went along, to prevent smearing...This was probably the next hardest thing...I used a cutting-in paint brush, and meditation - as in "be the line"...a steady hand and concentration are required...Oh, and a very important something I just realized I left out...I flipped the cloth over, and painted the hem- that's where I used the card, so it didn't color the rest of the cloth...Gah again ....THEN, with help from my husband, I flipped it back over....IT IS IMPORTANT (SHOUTING HERE) NEVER, NEVER FOLD A FLOOR CLOTH) always roll it...In fact, I went to Lowes (or Home Depot or whatever), and bought the largest in diameter piece of PVC pipe (had the nice man cut it into three lengths) so that I can roll the finished cloth around it, to keep it from caving in on itself when transporting it.

Are you drooling out of the corner of your mouth yet?  There's much more to do, so wipe it off and pay attention, if you ever want to do this for yourself.  (I mean that in the nicest possible way).  I painted the border using the house paint, but I used Mattisse acrylic paint - (got it at Jerry's on line) for some of the dragon fly colors...it's called "structure" for a reason..it's thick and needs a medium to thin it...you don't want it too thick or too thin.  I used Matisse Acrylic Painting Medium (Thin Viscosity Binder)...water doesn't thin it well..it loses it's "punch", for lack of a better word...It's made in Australia, by the way.
 As you can see in the last photo, I drew my pattern for my dragon fly...I have a thing for them...I drew it on regular drawing paper, then I bought a roll of transfer paper (again, Jerry's)..it's expensive - $13 a roll, but worth it...it comes in white, blue, red and I believe, yellow...I chose blue..It comes in a roll similar to wax paper, etc...used sparingly, it will last through several transfers...I found that I needed to place my pattern over it, but slip a piece of paper between where my hand was resting so as to keep it from smudging..if it does, don't panic..use a white eraser or touch it up with the base coat...Hey, I never said this was easy, which is why people commission them...that said, small ones aren't such a challenge.

 I chose to keep the dragon fly not too large, so it wouldn't be "the dragon fly that ate the porch"...It's about thirteen inches across and 18 inches from head to it's pincers...Yes, Virginia, dragonflies have pincers.

 You don't have to be compulsive to do a detailed cloth like this, but it helps, as each dragon fly took about an hour-and-a-half to transfer and to paint.  I laid them out as close to the pattern as I could, but realized it was going to take a lot more dragonflies, hours, and money for supplies than I orginally thought...but, after all this, one cannot cut corners...

 After painting in all the "main" dragonflies, I decided it needed to have a few "partials"...I had to be careful not to transfer onto the border, but could touch up if I did.
Next...yes, there's more; there's sealing the piece.  I used to use plain non-yellowing acrylic urethane, but was warned off it by Lisa, who said they have changed the formula, and it will crack in time...can't have that after all this!
What to use..well, she sells it by the quart, and it's very expensive...I promised to buy more floor cloth blanks if she would reveal what she uses...(I did buy a quart of it from her, but that only did about one and a half coats...It is Sherwin Williams Sher Clear semi gloss clear marine urethane..and I had my local dealer find it for me..it's what they put on the bottem of boats, and is industrial strength...but, (wait for it)..it's $101 a gallon...gah, gah, and whoa...but, I hope it's here by tomorrow, because the weather has turned cold, and it has to be applied in warmer temps...it takes about three to five coats, and needs to dry between coats..it's low voc, oderless, and I was assured that even though it starts out pretty glossy, it matts down well.
To keep your cloth from sliding...you can buy this "stuff" called Mounting Putty
 from Walmart or on line, that is similar to putty, that kid's use to stick posters on walls...I haven't gotten that far, but will let you know the "real name" of it. Roll out a pea-sized piece - stick it under the corners and press it onto the floor.  It will not harm the floor.

Care for your floor cloth is minimal..just wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it...perhaps, every four or five years, a coat of the urethane can be applied...You need to let it cure for at least 5 to 7 days before walking on it...

So, good luck....I have three more to do, but they are much smaller.  Lisa had a great suggestion...a ping pong table makes an ideal table, as it folds up...anyone have one they aren't using?