An Eight-Foot Table
At 54 by 108 inches the cloth overhangs a standard eight-foot rectangular table on all four sides, which is the size most people rent or borrow when the family will not fit at the everyday table. Ten place settings sit comfortably along it. On a shorter six-foot table the extra length simply drapes lower, so there is no need to measure twice before the meal begins.
Waterproof Plastic Layer
The material is a thick plastic that water sits on top of rather than soaking through. Red wine, cranberry sauce and candle wax stay on the surface, and a paper towel takes care of most of it during the meal. Underneath, the wood or laminate stays dry and unscratched, which is the point on a dining table that has to look ordinary again on the twenty-sixth.
Second Cloth In Reserve
Two covers come in the pack, and the second one earns its place. Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch each get a clean start, or one goes on the food table while the other covers the side table holding drinks and desserts. Should something spill badly halfway through the evening, the replacement is in the cupboard rather than in a shop that closed hours ago.
Taped To The Door
Neither cover has to stay flat on a table. Taped to a door with the pattern facing out, one works as a holiday panel for the hallway; pinned to a wall behind a table it becomes a background for photographs of the children in their pajamas. The plastic is light enough to hold with painter's tape, and it comes down without marking the paint.
