covering wood with fabric question
 

I have taken over the games room as my sewing room so lucky me. There is however a big elephant in the room, the pool table.
My husband made me a table top for the pool table but the wood is MDF which is a manufactured wood.
It is not a nice colour so first i thought of painting it but discarded that idea as pins would scratch it (we have previously painted and varnished MDF and that scratched easily)
My next thought was that I would glue fabric to it. I have bought the fabric and have researched online and they all recommend Mod Podge.
It is expensive and you have to do multiple coats so we were wondering if PVA wood glue watered down slightly would be a good substitute?
Also they recommend painting the surface of the table once the glue has dried again they recommend mod Podge.
Would you water down the wood glue and use that?
I want a hard surface that is slippery so that i can slide my fabric on. At present the fabric is just laying on the table and it does not allow fabric to slide at all.
Maybe acrylic varnish..would that provide the hard shiny surface I am looking for?

Just a question, what are planning to use this surface for? If it will be a cutting table, won't it be covered with a cutting mat? Probably can't be an ironing surface or will need layers of fabric, etc.

i would follow the mod pod instructions and not substitute.

Depending on what you are planning to use the table for, I would look into either a vinyl or oilcloth cover. Both can be purchased at Joanns.

The top of my cutting table is a hollow core door with vinyl flooring glued on. The flooring has a gridded pattern to it which makes it very convenient for squaring fabric and patterns. The edges of my tabletop are finished with varnished molding. I have used the cutting surface for over 25 years and it looks like new. I also use a rotary cutting mat on top. I couldn't be happier. I think you could do something similar with a vinyl flooring remnant.

What about 1/4" to 1/2" plywood attached to the Mdf. Then you could smooth and wet sand to a smooth finish then varnish or just seal it. Use a router to smooth the edges and round the corners ever so slightly.

If you plan on using pins that scratch the MDF wouldn't the pins go through the mod podge fabric and still scratch it? I'd cover it with a thin layer of foam and then a layer of slippery material.

I just did a paper bag floor in my new back porch and the poly that is used on it is tough and doesn't scratch very easily. I think if I were in your place I would mod podge the fabric down then cover it with 2 or 3 coats of the floor poly. I used water based so clean up was easy and it wasn't smelly.
I have tried the oil cloth and I seemed to catch my pins in it and ended up tearing it to shreds. But it is worth a try.
Lynda

I would not Mod Podge a work surface. In my experience that can get tacky in high humidity and could be damaged with the pinning. I agree the vinyl flooring or oilcloth (which could be replaced if needed) would be good options.