5 Easy Ways A Drop Cloth Can Improve Your Life (and they have nothing to do with painting) By: Suzie Paints I know you’re probably thinking: “She's lost
her mind, how can a drop cloth really improve my
life?”
The short and easy reason is simply: Protection. A drop cloth is usually for protecting your stuff while you (or others) paint, but it can also be used in many other ways to keep protecting even more of your stuff. If you protect more of your stuff, then you don’t have to keep repairing / replacing / extra cleaning your things to keep them nice. I firmly and resolutely believe that EVERYONE should have at least 1 butyl drop cloth! (Well, maybe not absolutely everyone, I’m pretty sure the Queen of England can get away without having a drop cloth. But for the rest of us everyday folk who don’t have personal staff, do yourself a favor and get a drop cloth.) Leave The Canvas On Your Sailboat.I prefer and recommend the butyl drop cloths because they are very water-resistant whereas a canvas drop cloth is just thick and unfortunately can be soaked and then things keep soaking right on through (just trust me on this; it wasn’t a fun situation). It also takes FOREVER for a canvas drop cloth to dry after you have washed it.The butyl drop cloth is machine wash & dry so you can easily keep it clean and it’s just a nice added layer of protection to virtually anything you might be doing. From kid messes to outdoor fun to plain old grocery shopping drop cloths are the tool you never knew you needed and will never let go once you begin using them! 1. Protect Your Car’s Interior! Put a drop cloth in your cargo area to help protect from messy things like mulch, dirty camping gear or even if the groceries spill. Get a big drop cloth and it can cover the whole cargo area when you drop the back seats.
You can see how the large drop cloth covers the full cargo space and even has some left over to go up the sides for protection. Put a small-cut drop cloth outside your tent like a door mat when you go camping to help keep dirt/ sand from coming inside with you. You can also put another small one on the inside as a great place to put shoes or wet things! 3. Protect Your Pants at the Picnic! Use a large drop cloth to sit on if you are picnicking on the grass. You can also use a drop cloth as a cover for the picnic table and another one to cover the seats to keep your clothes nice.
With a drop cloth available, you can always enjoy an impromptu picnic even in the nicest of clothes. 4. Protect Your Floors From Kids! Whether they are your kids or someone else’s kids, a drop cloth makes a really good general play mat for younger kids to use. Whether its keeping tiny blocks contained or protecting your table or floor from markers or paints, drop cloths make it easier. You can put a drop cloth over the kitchen table and another on the floor when doing arts, crafts or any science experiments that might get messy. 5. Protect Your Floors From Contractors! Drop cloths work better than making contractors wear booties because the contractors just walk on outside wearing the booties and then right back into your home so it defeats the whole purpose of you trying to protect your floors with the booties. These are just 5 easy ways to use drop cloths that have nothing to do with painting your interior. For a BONUS TIP: butyl drop cloths already come in a variety of sizes from room-sized to long hallway runners so you can easily find a size for your needs. You can also cut them down to smaller sizes like the kids play mat without them unraveling on you. Once you get a drop cloth and start using it in some of the ways above, you’ll see just how useful it is in so many other areas of your life. It won’t be long before you’ll be wondering how you managed without a drop cloth for so long! Yours In Color, Suzie |