There are four basic types of drop cloths used by painters for covering up during the painting process: canvas, fabric, paper and plastic.
Standard canvas drop cloths
These drop cloths are widely available and are the drop cloth of choice for floors in most cases, because they are heavier and will “stay put” in most cases better than the other types of drop cloths.. Plastic and paper drops tend to cling to your feet as you walk on them which requires taping them to the floor to prevent this annoyance.
Misconceptions
Standard canvas drop cloths are intended to protect surfaces from paint spatters, they will also stop (some better than others) paint spills for a limited time (which may be only a few minutes for a canvas drop cloth and less for other fabrics) in which case you can roll or bundle up the soiled drop and place it into a plastic garbage bag to be dried out later. Leaving a drop cloth wilt a heavy spill on top of a carpet etc... is asking for trouble, remove it, and replace it with another. Even if the drop cloth is totally impervious to the spill, you will eventually step in the paint spill and track it all over the place, including off the drop as you walk out of the room. A canvas drop cloth that receives a big spill will usually need to be cut into smaller drop cloths and the offending spill cut off.
Wood stains are an example of a thin viscosity material that will go pretty much straight through a canvas drop (you may have a few seconds - that’s all to get the drop up off the floor). You will probably want to use a rubber backed drop with thin viscosity materials.
Fabric
For cost reasons, manufacturers have substituted other fabrics such as denim, for canvas in an effort to keep costs down. The denim drops are as good as canvas in terms of absorbing and holding drips, but they are much stiffer and therefore not as easy to manipulate in the covering up process. Other fabrics are sometimes used for cheap drop cloths that offer very little resistance to paint bleed through , these should not be used for floors, but may be of use over furniture or shrubbery in exterior painting.
Runners
Runners are long, narrow drop cloths. Typically a runner will measure 4‘ x 15’ or something similar to that. Runners are great for covering the perimeter of a room (walls only), they are fast to lay down and pick up for moving to the next location. Runners don’t take up a lot of room in the truck (or basement in storage).
Often a room can be pretty much covered up using runners around the perimeter with the furniture in the center, covered with one 9’ x 12’ or 10’ x 15’ drop.
Throw away drops
Paper or plastic drops are usually considered throw away - one time use, drops
Plastic sheeting is primarily used over furniture or taped and draped down paneling or over walls that will not be painted with a ceiling. Thin plastic is all that is needed for most covering up. Heavy plastic is unnecessary for most covering up and is more expensive than thin plastic. I use anything in the ½ mil range for most general interior covering up. Plastic does not work so well on the exterior with wind and the heat of the sun. Exterior drops are usually fabric or canvas. Rubber backed carpet runners can be used on roofs. The rubber helps to keep the carpet from sliding off the roof, and carpet is more apt to lay still with a little wind. Never walk on any type of drop cloth on a roof , it is too easy to slip or trip on the drop. Using runners (or a half width runner) should keep your feet on the roof while still covering up directly below your paint work.
Some cautions with plastic
Never use plastic over a light or lamp as it will heat up and melt to the lamp if it is turned on. Also on the exterior, plastic will cause overheating and burn or kill most plants, bushes and shrubs etc As a rule, never leave any drop on top of vegetation longer than necessary. Protect plants with a light weight fabric drop cloth (or lightweight canvas for sturdier plants) while you are directly painting over them, and then uncover them once you are finished. Don’t leave them covered during your lunch break etc… For very fragile pants, you can usually use a bed sheet for a drop cloth, without bending or breaking the plant or causing them to overheat in the sun.
Exterior plastic tarps
These are useful for some exterior covering up, but they are plastic and can’t be used under foot or over plants etc.. These plastic tarps are heavier and less affected by wind than the thinner clear plastic sheeting. I have used these to cover lower level brick when painting the upper level siding, by taping or stapling the tarp to the last strip of wood siding above the brick.
Paper drop cloths
The better paper drops are made of soft fibrous paper with a plastic backing. If you have a particularly messy job, where there will be paint (or drywall dust), you will probably want to use a throw away paper drop on the floor instead of ruining a good re-useable canvas drop cloth. For floor covering these relatively inexpensive drops cloths can be taped with blue easy release (and long mask) tape to the floor to prevent the drop cloth from clinging to your feet as you walk on it, and disposed of when the job is complete. The paper helps to absorb the paint and allows it to dry, helping to prevent tracking under foot. For the rest of the covering up plastic sheeting will usually work. This no fuss, no muss method of clean up is cost effective for a messy job.
Canvas drops are the most expensive, but are washable and re-useable for many years. They also become better with age and use. Painters like “used” canvas drops with lots of paint spatters on them, because the spatters will not stiffen the drop cloth too much, yet they will make the drop cloth more resistant to bleed through.
Use caution on wood floors / vinyl floors
Canvas drops can be very slippery on wood floors and somewhat slippery on vinyl floors too. There are rubber backed canvas drops that may do a better job and offer more grip to wood or vinyl floors. In any event, you need to be careful with drop cloths on wood or vinyl floors, and let anyone know who may pass through the room, know that they should be careful, or avoid waking directly on the drop cloth if possible.
Canvas Drop Cloths are the most common drops cloths used by painters. They are washable and re-useable
Bleed through
While you should be protected from paint "spatters", heavier paint "drips" can bleed through canvas (and fabric) drops cloths, particularly if you walk on the drip which kind of pushes it through the canvas. While spatters should not be a problem, drips should be immediately wiped off and then care taken not to walk on the spot - until it is dry.
Thin viscosity materials
Very thin viscosity material will go through a standard canvas or fabric drop cloth like a sieve.
Plastic sheeting
Plastic sheeting or drops come in a roll or in “pieces” of cut sizes. Plastic sheeting is used on furniture rather than floors. Plastic is not used on floors because it will cling to your feet as you walk on it unless taped to the floor. . Also, plastic while spill proof, does not absorb or allow drips of paint to dry which leads to “tracking” of the paint Sometimes it is taped securely to the floor and used as a final protective layer underneath a canvas drop cloth over very expensive carpets or other critical surfaces. Judgment needs to be exercised when so doing, as using plastic as an under layer as such will make the canvas drop cloth on top of it slippery if waked up on.
Plastic drops are one time use disposable coverings. They come in different sizes and film thicknesses.
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4 x 12 Canvas Runner -Runners are long, narrow drips cloths. They are easy to maneuver because of their small convenient size.
Gotcha Covered Paper Drops - Plastic backed paper drops - when secured to the floor via blue tape are effective one-time-use diposable drop cloths.
