food on dining room table

[hlao23]

Okay...we just got a new dining room table and DH is afraid to eat on it unless we get a glass top. I don't want a glass top for various reasons including the fact that I think it's probably unnecessary.

Aren't dining room tables made so that you can eat on them without ruining them? :confused:

[donleyk]

:( Yes indeed.

We just recently got a new table also. We have been bad about not eating at it. We have a 2 seat bar that we end up eating at. We've even commented on the fact that we don't eat on it. It seems so formal now which is absurd.

Do/would placemats and trivets help?

[ChristineVA]

Usually, wherever you bought the table, would sell dining room table top pads that fit your table. I'm sure they are not cheap. I'm with you--I buy furniture to use it, not to have as a museum piece. BUT, it doesn't hurt to try to be careful. Excessive heat, certain liquids, rough dishes, etc, all can harm your finish. Be sure to use a tablecloth or placemat when dining. Also, keep toddlers away from fine furniture!! My kids are older now, but they did a heck of job ruining our kitchen table!!
Christine

[krhm]

We also just bought a new dining room set. I went to a Linens and Things and picked up a table pad for about $30, then got a nice tablecloth to cover it. We keep both those in the hutch and leave the table bare when we're not using it. We probably eat in there once a week, and usually it's because DD1 has an art project spread over the kitchen table. She is not under any circumstances to use the DR table for art projects!

DH is kind of bothered by the fact that we don't use the room as much as we probably should (we also don't really use the living room either) but I love the fact that since no one goes into these rooms, they stay clean! :D Sometimes I'll just go sit at the DR table to relax for a few minutes because it's pretty in there and I don't feel the need to pick up anything or get out a sponge! So to me, it's worth it!

[jmarie]

If you use stoneware for everyday, you might want to use , at least a tablecloth or placemat. All of the stoneware that I have seen/used has a rough bottom that can mar the tabletop with tiny scratches. These scratches aren't noticible at first, but as the scratches build up, they become quite noticable.

Also stoneware (oven to table pieces like Pampered Chef sells) can mar the tabletop after many uses. Rub your hand across the bottom of your dishes to determine how rough they are. Use trivets for the serving pieces.

I use the Royal Doulton everyday pattern because it is smooth glass, so I don't have to worry about ruining my table. If you use Corelle as an everyday dish, you also won't have a problem.

Make sure you wipe up the spills (and condensation from glasses) as soon as you notice them.

Having said this, I would use my table! And I think you will once the newness has worn off!

[funnybone]

Originally posted by krhm
I went to a Linens and Things and picked up a table pad for about $30, then got a nice tablecloth to cover it.

I have one of those as well and love it! :D

[Shoregirl66]

We also use the table pad/tablecloth when using our dining room table and have never had a problem with it.

My DH is, IMHO, neurotic about keeping things in pristine condition.
Our big battle is usually over the kitchen table, which is a beautiful butcher block. We have 2 young children and I can see his distress when they start banging their forks on the table.
(I swear if it were up to him, they would not have handled utensils until they were practically off to college.)

Definitely use and enjoy your new table as much as you can !

[Little Bit]

Wouldn't a glass top be likely to trap moisture underneath?

We use our 'dining room table' every single day, since it's now in the kitchen. For normal use, we put down place mats (the washable kind), and make sure to use pads of some sort under hot dishes to protect the table.

When we're feeling fancy, we put a pad on the table, and top it with several layers of tablecloth, since we don't seem to have just one that does the job anymore. (the one that fits 'properly' is kinda blah, so we decorate it with smaller, more colorful ones to fit the season or the occasion.)

[Gracie]

Originally posted by Little Bit
Wouldn't a glass top be likely to trap moisture underneath?


I can tell you from experience that a glass top will trap moisture, especially nail polish remover, if said nail polish remover is used on the glass top by 2 young girls even if they know better. I also know that the glass top traps the moisture in the nail polish remover for so long before the girls own up to it, that it will eat a hole in the wood. :rolleyes:

Loren

[Gecko]

A little story about our dining table which was purchased about 5 years ago. I was so careful about getting my girls to use a placemat underneath whenever they used the new table. About a month after we got it our dishwasher broke down. The repairman came out, fixed it and then as I went to get my checkbook, proceed to write out his bill on my new table. Yep, I still have the evidence of how much that job cost as it is scratched into my table. I wished I had gotten a glass top or a table pad to stop this from happening.:(

[sneezles]

Our dining room table is about 15 years old but there's nary a scratch on it since we use both the table pad and table cloth when we dine out there. I do leave it bare with a flower arrangement most of the time.
I also have the table pad in three sizes since I have 2 leaves and I keep it on a roll in a plastic bag because it lies flatter on the table that way. I got the roll at BB&B and then cut it to size and they are marked on the underside with a 1, 2, or 3 to denote which size it is.

[Kay Henderson]

There is a difference between the finish on modern and older tables.

Here is my story. By way of background, in our previous home, we only used the dining room table for dinner. In our present home we use it for all meals.

In the early 70s we inherited a table new in the late 30s. Although it had an excellent pad, I wanted to occasionally use it without the pad and just with placemats. I found that the shellac finish was so fragile that when I placed my heated plates on the placemats the finish would craze -- even through the cloth. I returned to using the pad and tablecloths.

Fast forward thirty years. I was so sick of tablecloths that I never wanted to see one again. I also missed being able to see the beautiful wood of the tabletop, so I had it refinished with a modern polyurathane-type finish. It is MUCH more durable. Washable placemats and cork pads for hot serving dishes do the trick. (Even at the family cabin where our table is a finished picnic table, we use placemats and pads for serving pieces.)

To my amusement, I'm back to the pad and tablecloth combination again this winter, as it feels "warmer" in my cold climate. This time around, to reduce the frequency of washing the tablecloth, I use my mother's technique of putting placemats on top of the cloth when serving a meal. Since my pad is brown, I have also purchased the thin white pads which can be cut to your size and use it on top of the pads as a "silencer cloth."

I guess my bottom line would be to determing how durable the finish is on your table. If it is a polyurathane type, it should be very durable. Oiled wood (such as teak) would be somewhat less so, but both are more durable than older finishes.

Unless it is older, as mine was, placemats and mats or trivets of some sort under hot serving dishes should be fine if that's the way you'd like to go.

[Lrimerman]

After DH and I got married, we bought a new dining room set. We ended up buying a wood (oak) table that we thought would hold up nicely over the years. We always eat at it as it is our only table (we now have an eat in kitchen, but haven't bought a kitchen table yet). Well fast forward to now when I have a 5 yo DD and a 2yo DS, and the table is nicked and scratched. At the old house we had clear plastic over it that really worked well, but it was pretty worn and the place we bought it went out of business. We now realize we should find another solution, so far most of the damage is on one of the leaves, so we could replace it. I figure we will just wait until the kids are older to replace any furniture.

Lisa

[ChristieinMB]

I bought a glass top for my formal dining room table, I love it. I can use it for anything, you always see the beautiful wood. I only seldon use a tablecloth. It doesn't hold moisture, it has those little plastic spacers in a few places. I have glass also on my game table and love the practicality of it.

[buffygirl]

I keep my table permanently set with nice chargers that I've put felt pads on the bottom of. Then when we eat, we just put our plates on the chargers and no harm done.

BK

[memartha]

Sorry to be ignorant, but what's a "charger?"

I use a pad and tablecloth 24/7 on the dining room table and I must say, i'm sick of how it looks. I wouldn't mind maybe just a runner down the middle, but I'm afraid the cats or kids would scratch up the wood if I left it uncovered.

[Gilgamesh37]

Chargers are basically large under-plates--they can be china or metal--and then your actual dinnerware gets placed on top of the charger. You see them in fancy restaurants sometimes. Here's a brass set:

http://www.widerview.com/n6084.jpg

I have chargers in both brass and silverplate, but I never use them--I'm sure I will one day, but my life just isn't in that mode right now. We use cloth placemats on our dining room & kitchen tables for everyday stuff, and then a pad and cloth for more formal occasions. I love the look of the bare wood, but both tables are antique, and as someone else pointed out, the finish just won't stand up to any kind of heat. But there again, I kind of like some of the dings and dents, because it gives them character.