Floor Cloths, What are they and How to make them!

I have wood floors, OLD wood floors, that are original to the house. I also have 2 very active large dogs that like to play in the house, on our very OLD wood floors. I needed a solution to protect those OLD floors, and still looked cool. Rugs with those rug grippers just doesn't cut it! That's where Floor Cloths come in, they are durable, and withstand my very active dogs!

So, there are different types of floor cloths, and I won't go into that much, only to say they are usually made out of some type of canvas and have been around for decades. The floor cloths for today's post are made out of vinyl flooring! Yep, cheap linoleum that you can buy as a remnant at any Home Depot, Lowe's or flooring store. It doesn't even matter what it looks like!!

Curious? Well, read on....

You actually paint and use the back of the linoleum!

This is the back of my floor cloth.

All you have to do is make sure that the vinyl or linoleum flooring has a paper backing of some kind.

Here's what you need:

Cheap vinyl flooring with paper backing

Heavy duty scissors that will cut the flooring

Measuring tape to measure the size required

A large enough area to paint your floor cloth

Some kind of plastic to protect your surface from paint while painting your floor cloth

Primer paint, my fave is KILZ brand

Latex Paint that has primer in it, my fave is Behr Marquee

Polyurethane 

Basic paint supplies

I have a few room sized floor cloths to protect those OLD wood floors, and this is really about making those. This type of floor cloth can also be used for small areas but you might have to use those rug grippers underneath to hold them in place. I want to be able to still see my OLD wood floors, so I cut mine to have about 2 feet of wood showing all around the room.

I also have a weird wonky fireplace and did a custom fit to it.

Basically they can be very versatile and durable as well.

Let's get started...

Take your measurements and cut your vinyl accordingly, then put down your plastic protection and lay your vinyl down, back side up. 

You will now primer the paper backing with the primer paint, using a roller, like you would use on walls. 

Let that dry and make sure that there was good coverage, if not, then simply go over areas that were missed and let that dry.

Now you need to determine, if you haven't already, what kind of pattern you want on your floor.

I did large stripes, so with the lighter beige color, I painted the whole floor cloth.

After that dried, I measured and taped off the gray large stripe and painted those. Easy Peasy!
If you use latex paint without primer in it, you might have to do two coats of each.

It is best to let this dry a good 24 hours and then apply the Polyurethane.

The more coats of Poly you put on, the more durable your floor cloth will be!

I usually put on 3, and make sure it is a non yellowing, water base poly.

You are DONE! 

This is a super easy project and not too expensive. Make sure that all your furniture has those felt pads on the legs, and you are good to go! I just clean mine with water and a Norwex cloth, but I have used the swifter wet-jet in the past also. Basically clean it how you would clean the linoleum that is on the underside 😆😆!

They are great for layering also!

If you get tired of the design, just primer it and start over!! I think my next one I will stencil a cool concrete tile pattern and put it in my kitchen! Hmmm....


Have any questions, just ask!!

Thanks for sticking around and I hope this has given you a new project to consider!!