Table Cloths - old fashioned?

I only use one at Xmas and new year but with being only two of us now we just have a tray on our knees. I also have bone china mugs for my tea as I hate ordinary mugs

I love a proper embroidered tablecloth plus napkins .
I have a lovely collection -all embroidered at a convent .
But their care takes time !

Love a tablecloth + napkins!

Varian, are you sure you don't live in my house? We do all of those things. table extension, same colour cloth and huge wipeable one too.

I use a tablecloth but my sons don’t - one son complains that the children have scratched the dining table.
When he got married it was a diy reception at the local church hall - I was in charge of getting the white tablecloths. I bought white paper ‘linen’ tablecloths from Sainsburys - everyone thought they were the real thing, they looked very smart. I’ve seen them in the Pound shop too, they come in other colours.

I love a tablecloth. My kitchen table is covered with a pvc/oil cloth in greens and blue. My table top isn't very nice but it doesn't matter as its covered. Bring out the white cotton for special occasions only usually xmas and Easter.

i lived most of my life with my gran, she used a tablecloth when we had visitors, usually one of her brothers, we had the tiny salmon sandwiches and scones with jam and cream and her handmade embroidered napkins, she made crochet doilies for under the ornaments, but the one thing that puzzled me was buying a new 3 piece suite and covering it with those stretchy nylon covers (dark mustard with large flowers), the armchairs always had the antimacassars on them as the men used brylcreem.. i am in my late 50s and lots of little things i do come from my gran.

Only on special occasions, Christmas etc. and then rather to protect the table ! Family gatherings can become quite lively here so would prefer to wash a few tablecloths than scrub and polish my dining table .
Plus the fact I have some lovely tablecloths made by my Great Grandmother who was a lacemaker.

We have a pretty large oval dining table and I've only ever found one cloth to fit it, bought in Spain on holiday about 40 years ago! It's lace in a man-made yarn, and really quite pretty. It is always on the table for Xmas, and occasionally during the year. However, the table itself has a lovely inlaid pattern on it (no doubt also considered old fashioned) but we like to see that as well, so use placemats to protect the surface.

The only flaw is the gouge my husband managed to put in the top, by flying a model helicopter indoors (strictly forbidden but I'd gone out.....) and he lost control of it. He cut his hand on the blades trying to grab it - serves him right.

We've got a green & white spotted pvc one permanently on the kitchen table to hide it as it's ot an attractive piece of furniture! The beautiful oak dining table in the dining room is never covered up and we just use table mats on it when we're eating in there. I think somewhere we may have some tablecloths but I'm not sure where....

I'm in my 50s and all my tables have cloths Most recently bought in Asda Dunelm and TJ Hughes

I use a tablecloth on the dining room table all the time, it protects the table and looks attractive. My Lille grandson has sat to the table since he was coming three and except for the odd gravy sauce related accident has good careful table manners. As soon as his two and a half sister can have her mouth higher than the table top with only one cushion she will join him. I think it makes Sunday lunch more of an occasion for them as weekdays they sit at the kitchen table for dinner whilst their mother makes the evening meal. I would like to buy a new tablecloth for my oval table but can only seem to find rectangular ones.

My dining table currently had a pure white hand crochet tablecloth. It is made in fine cotton and the lady who made it lives in Hungary. How I came by it was a woman I know donated it to a fete I was involved with and I couldn't believe she was getting rid of it. Her Hungarian aunty made it and when I expressed surprise, she said, 'no matter I have plenty more at home'!!! I love it, it
washes well and looks beautiful.

It's Christmas only for me. Big occasion.

I have one that you can wipe down on my dining table. Useful when the family comes round and we have takeaway, or when grandchildren are painting.

Table cloths and table scaping are on trend - Google tablecloths - there lots of lovely ones out there !

I do as I please - as I always have done. When I lived in Portugal I bought a very long red and white tablecloth with 12 matching napkins. Gave them to my mum for a birthday and she used to enjoy getting them out especially at christmas when all the family and in laws came round. Looked really good and was definitely part of our christmas. Since her death I now have them back and again rarely use them as am mostly on my own but great for large family gatheriing and for thigs like the jubilee weekend if there is a local tea served for people. It looks festive but simple only red and white, and hope to hang on to it for a long tiem. It now has memories of many family occasions .

Not tablecloth related, but definitely loose tea in a pot every time. I'm not ancient either?

We have a very long French polished mahogany dining table which is also my cutting table when I'm sewing, so I keep a table protector on it and a heavy duty vinyl table cloth (by the metre from Dunelm). It's easy to wipe down and pretty much GC-proof. We use place mats as well. At Christmas I use a white linen cloth with a colourful table runner. Last Christmas I fancied having a red cloth for a change but couldn't find one long enough, so I bought 2 sheets, joined them together, and put a fancy hem on it. It looked great.

I have some beautiful linen cloths embroidered by my GM but sadly too small to use except as centrepieces. I may incorporate them into a quilt.... someday.

I use a wipeable one when grandkids come over and do their painting and craft works! ….. but otherwise no! I have a lovely solid-oak 8-10 seater dining table and I want its beauty to be seen , with lovely table mats and shining silver cutlery!

I always have one, over a table protector mat. My "everyday" one is silver PVC with glitter in it, and I have a Christmas PVC one (cartoony) which isn't my taste, but the grandchildren like them.

If ever I have people over for dinner, I have a sparkly cloth one.

I do have some and live them. My grandsons are always pleased to see the one I bought in Portugal, with the famous rooster. And yes, I use a teapot! And I won’t apologise for it.

I still use a tablecloth for special occasions and even made one from an old duvet cover, to fit an extra long garden table for a garden lunch last summer when we were allowed to have a few more people in the garden. I love a proper tea pot and cups too, the tea definitely tastes better.

I've not used one for years, so now my table top is battered a bit.
So, seeing as the table is still sturdy, I'm now eyeing up tablecloths.

Now I am alone it is only a tray cloth on a tray. I used to like a table cloth although those double damask starched cloths and napkins years ago were a bind.
I still have embroidered cloths I made in the 1940s. Have some crochet ones I made whilst in Spain. The finest Egyptian cotton with the smallest hook.
So many people nowadays eat their dinner on their laps watching TV.