What top would an old fashioned kitchen table have?

geordie_joe

HariboJunkie wrote: »

50's tables would have been covered in a sort of melamine surface.

Formica, any 50's house wife would insist on Formica.

valk_scot

Can you not get your hands on a couple of offcuts of fitted kitchen worktop and use them, a la island unit?

champys

geordie_joe wrote: »

Formica, any 50's house wife would insist on Formica.

Exactly - and I still have one like that....... it was DH's grandmother's kitchen table. How OS is that? It is not my main kitchen table, as it is fairly small, but it still comes out fairly regularly for jobs where extra worksurface is needed. Or for food prep outdoors near the barbecue..... it's really handy, you can easily take the legs off and put them back on.

If I were in OP's position I'd glue or staple some nice PVC tablecloth fabric over the top - we did this as a makeshift wallcovering in our bathroom/shower 3 years ago, and it still works great (we are trying to get a new bathroom organized, but no progress).

homeaway

My nan had one that must have dated from the war years but it was a metal topped one, easy to clean. We have wood in our kitchen and you have to be good at keeping it oiled or varnished, saying that ours is ten years old and is still going strong.

Seakay

If you don't varnish or permanently attach PVC material then the wooden table will be heatproof.
Wood has a certain amount of antiseptic properties on it's own (hence wooden chopping boards) so I'd go for plain wood (pine is traditional in country kitchens) sanded, possibly oiled and given a salt scrub every now and then, with painted legs to the table for a country kitchen/shabby chic appearance and a piece of pvc material to use as a pastry 'board' (easy to wipe clean, fold up and store away when not in use)

Pitlanepiglet

Thanks all....there are some really good ideas there. I think I'm leaning towards the plank wood top, varnished and/or oiled for everyday use and then some oil cloth to go over the top of it for bread/pasty making...

I'm off to find out what oil cloth actually is and where I might find some! Otherwise it'll be a PVC tablecloth I think!

Pitlanepiglet

OK, it appears that now "oilcloth" is PVC tablecloths. I'm sure my Nan had something that was more of a fabric?

[Deleted User]

we had a plain wooden table that was regularly scrubbed. It had a cloth on for every meal and was used for everything

geordie_joe

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

OK, it appears that now "oilcloth" is PVC tablecloths. I'm sure my Nan had something that was more of a fabric?

When I was a lad lino was always called oilcloth, but there was another oilcloth that was a fabric and used to make water proof clothing.