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Step 1
Know that there are several different kinds of drop cloth, made from varying materials. The type of work you are doing will determine what kind of drop cloth is best. You can buy a drop cloth at your local home improvement store. Many of the large discount department stores also carry drop cloths.
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Step 2
Buy a drop cloth made from a medium-weight canvas to protect your floors when you are painting inside. Canvas allows paint to soak into the drop cloth. This way, you don't step in wet paint and track it all over the floors when you leave the drop cloth.
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Step 3
Use a plastic drop cloth when you are working on ceilings. You can buy a plastic drop cloth (or several) at very reasonable prices. Coarse, rough material that drops from the ceiling when you are working won't cling to the plastic. Clean up is easier because you can simply shake the plastic drop cloth outside.
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Step 4
Speaking of outside work, buy a reinforced plastic drop cloth for when you are working outside the house. Maybe you're painting your gutters and don't want to drip paint on the patio. These reinforced ones won't tear easily and they are waterproof.
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Step 5
Consider a drop cloth that you can buy that's made of plastic on one side and paper on the other. The paper side is great for absorbing liquid drips. The plastic side of this kind of drop cloth reinforces it so that it doesn't tear easily. Plastic also keeps the liquid from seeping through to your floors.
