NO TABLE CLOTHS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 65, 8 June 1927, Page 12

NO TABLE CLOTHS

POLISHED TABLE SURFACES Many people dispense with w-'hite table cloths for their dining-rooms (says an English writer), preferring to show the polished wood surface, and pressing into service a few small mats instead. In an old oak interior the effect of this arrangement, with the silver, glass, and china contrasting with the dark surface of the wood under the light of small shaded electric pedestal lamps, is very artistic. A trencher table set out in this manner, with the right illumination and floral touches, has as inviting an appearance as anything that a wealth of napery can provide. I suppose that in these days the economy in linen and laundry is some consideration, but the scheme is scarcely practicable upon a surface that has been French-pol-ished. One must not be for ever worried about the risk of scratches appearing on the surface, or the disastrous effect that standing a hot plate upon it will produce. Mats may be used for hot dishes, but the risk is always there. For this scheme the table top must not be French-polished at all. It can be stained the desired colour and filled, but the polish that is imparted to it must be entirely from the application of oil. Linseed oil rubbed in every day until quite dry will give an excellent and quite durable surface in about a week, and one that is quite impervious to heat or accidental scratches. It is not hard work if the rubber is used with a hard-weighted block ctf wood, and the surface will be improved as time goes on.