oilcloth
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oilcloth
oilcloth, originally, cloth treated with oil or other substances so as to be waterproof and used for fishermen's and sailors' wear, for coach robes and covers, and later as a floor covering, called floorcloth. Subsequently it was made of heavy canvas, jute, or burlap, sized with glue, and coated with a thick oil paint, several coats being used and successively rubbed down with pumice stone. It was machine printed, dried in a drying room, varnished, and rolled. Linoleum and various kinds of vinyl products have superseded oilcloth as a floor covering. A variety of oilcloth fabrics is now produced for wall, table, and shelf coverings, for raincoats, and for many small wares.
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oilcloth
[′ȯil‚klȯth] (textiles)
A fabric coated with a mixture of oil and clay, used as a waterproof covering.
A floor covering made of a heavy fabric treated with oil paint.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
oilcloth
waterproof material made by treating one side of a cotton fabric with a drying oil, or a synthetic resin
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005