spreadcloths-do you use one?

do you all use spreadcloths? what do you use? do you make them? or just buy the fabric? do you also draw your most used layout on the cloth like some readers suggest?
i just saw lillie's gorgeous one and i was wondering...do you all use spreadcloths? i use a silk scarf to wrap each of my decks but i find them a little inconvenient to use for readings because i keep pinching a bit of the cloth when i pick up the cards and it just a little uncomfortable. lol...
and it always shifts when i'm laying out the cards!!

mahima.

I'm so glad to see this question. I use clothes to wrap my decks, but I've never used a spreadcloth.

I'm hoping that someone can educate me about why!

I always use a spread cloth while doing readings. All my decks have personalised bags and one common spread cloth. My granny knitted this huge spread cloth for me which is pink and red in color. I am planning to knit one more spread cloth with a combination of black and purple and plan to stitch crystal beads on all sides.

When I do readings on fairs, I always use a spreadcloth because:

1) It is part of the reading booth decoration.

2) I don' have to bother about the surface of the table I am working with (glass or marble tables are very cold when you read for 11 hours, wax cloth is sticky in summer, some plastic surfaces tend to be static).

3) It looks nicer.

4) In case of an emergency I just grab the four corners of the cloth, everything is in it and can be saved.

As I am hopeless with needleworks, I buy my spreadcloth. This can be any fabric I like but I prefer natural ones such as cotton.

Here's a thread on this topic you might find interesting:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=31366

I use a spreadcloth at the shop, but not at home or when I go to people's houses. It's more part of the atmosphere at shop, plus the table is pretty stained.

I use spread cloths for a few practical reasons.

First of all, if the deck has no box, wrappung it in a cloth keeps all the cards together, nice and tight.

second, it sort of demarcates my reading space, stops the cards getting all over the place.

Third, and most important. It always makes sure my cards are laid on a relativley clean surface. Nothing is so bad as getting sticky all over the cards.

Catlins thing about being able to gather up all the cards quickly is also a good reason, although I have never had the need to pick them up that quick, it would be useful in an emergency.

I admit that it can be a bit tricky when the cloth slides about, and when I pick up the cloth when I am picking up a card and everything gets dragged about, but I manage.

Last, but not least, it looks pretty, and laying it down and smoothing it out sort of gets me in the right frame of mind.
I suppose it is part of my little ritual for getting it together in my head.

Yes, I use a spread cloth...I make my own usually out of colorful cotton fabrics.
I like to have a solid colored back and a colorful front so I can use it with any deck.
I'm thinking of making a velvet one soon.
I had trouble with them slipping around, but found a solution.
When we put down a new big area rug in the living room I bought a cut to fit piece of rug grip.
It's made of a soft plastic material and has little squares in it.
I had some left so I cut a piece a little smaller than my spread cloth and I use it under my spread cloth at fairs and such so the spread cloth doesn't slip around.
I also have a bigger piece I use under a big table cover so it's under the part of the cloth I lay the cards out on.
Works really well.
I think they also make something like this as shelf liner for your cupboards.

Tarot Cloths

Great Question. I have a cloth for every deck that I have. I bought the fabric, sewed on an edging and made a drawstring pouch for each. I feel that it is best for protection. One cloth I have even has the layout for the celtic cross (when I was a beginner). When you personalize it, you are not only sending it love, but you show others how much care you have placed within it. Another practice I use with each, or at least for the deck I always carry with me, The Cosmic Tribe, is I use a special crystal to place within the pouch. You can use it to meditate with before you read and even keep a spare for others you read for.

I have always brought a spread cloth with me, even if I didn't use it. At home I could be reading on any flat surface and the spreadcloth covers the distractions to the eye. (Yes, my little bear covers any flat surface with crap!)

When out-of-doors a spreadcloth on an old picnic table guarantees the cards will not get dirt, sticky spills, etc., on them. You can always wash your cloth but you cannot wash your cards! (unless you are Felix Unger.)

At a Faire you should always have a table cover and a spreadcloth over it - if for nothing else but to deliniate 'This is my space for readings.'

No I don't use a spread cloth. My decks is always in a pouch but I just never thought of owning a spread cloth.