Blog posts from April, 2016

Wood cruiser tables also known as high boy tables and wood pedestal tables are a terrific way for banquet halls, golf courses, hotels and rental companies to offer standing table-height bar tables during cocktail receptions and networking events. They can be dressed up with polyester or spandex table covers and enhanced with a fun sash or ribbon to match any event theme. The downfall with these tables is they have a lot of parts: a tabletop, a pole and a base. For any company that deals with event equipment, this can mean disaster – as it isn’t easy to keep track of all the product pieces.

Because of this storage issue, I thought I’d round up the ways (I know about at least) to store wood cruiser tables to hopefully alleviate misplaced parts. Take a look at your options below:

Rolling Bins:

Party Rental Companies occasionally use rolling bins made of either plastic or wood to corral the cruiser table parts. Seen here above with folding cocktail tables – however the same principle applies.

Original Product Boxes:

Some suppliers sell cruiser table parts in boxes such as the above. The tabletops and bases can be boxed back up together and the poles can be boxed back up as well.

Cruiser Table Carts:

There are a number of suppliers on the market that have cruiser table carts that hold 10-12 cruiser table tops, as well as their corresponding poles and bases. They can be rolled from warehouse to truck to event.

In the rental business or any warehouse in particular, just storing plastic folding tables alone can be a dusty, dirty job. Add to that renting and transporting the folding tables out and you can have yourself a big mess on your hands. Here are the best ways we’ve found to clean a plastic folding table:

If it is a surface stain you can use:

Household Cleaner: Lysol Disinfecting Wipes

Photo Source: Amazon / Lysol

These convenient to use wipes are great for surface dirt or to do a quick stain clean up.

Green Cleaner: Vinegar, Dish Soap and Water

Photo Source: Sisters Shopping on a Shoestring

For a general surface cleaner, I rely on the diy homemade cleaner recipe from Sisters Shopping on a Shoestring’s blog. They recommend 1 part dish soap with 2-4 parts white vinegar. If the vinegar smell is too strong for you, you can dilute it with some water as well.

Tough “in there” stains:

Mr Clean Magic Eraser and Water

Photo Source: Amazon / Mr Clean

Honestly, Magic Eraser’s are the best invention since smart phones! They are a huge help and we recommend keeping them in inventory to clean white resin folding chairs, vinyl cushions and so much more.

Table Skirts used for events, buffets and registration tables are a great way to provide a clean look while allowing hidden storage for staff members. And while they are often fantastic at ensuring extra dishes and cutlery can be hidden for buffets, their ease of use is not always a walk in the park. Most hotels, banquet halls and golf courses that I know of tend to put their table skirts on and leave them on for prolonged periods of time. This is because if they’re ironing them in-house they are not the easiest linens to iron. They also have to be put on with table skirting clips which is another added expense – and not always easy to find. Because of this, I thought it makes sense to point out other options that can be used instead of table skirts. Check them out below:

Fitted Tablecloths

Available in Black or White in both 6ft x 30” and 8ft x 30”, fitted tablecloths are a great alternative to table skirts. Available in 180 gsm polyester, 8ft fitted tablecloths are idea for buffet or display tables and catering companies. They’re stain resistant and flame retardant with a hemmed edge and seamed design along the tabletop. They’re 100% machine washable and iron-able.

Polyester Tablecloths:

Available in 60” x 102”, 60” x 126”, 90” x 132” and 90” x 156”, polyester tablecloths can also be used to give storage space while presenting a streamlined tablecover. Available in 180 gsm polyester, they’re stain resistant and flame retardant with a hemmed edge. They’re 100% machine washable and iron-able. Polyester tablecloths can be pinned at the corners or “boxed” to look similar to a fitted tablecloth. For directions how to box a tablecloth, check out this post and video.

If you are a party rental company, a banquet hall or a hotel, chances are you have a large number of rectangle folding tables in your inventory. With the need for ample storage space in order to fit all the folding tables, one of the questions we often get asked is: “How to Store Rectangle Folding Tables”

There are four different ways to store rectangle folding tables, with some dependent on storage space and how the folding banquet tables will be used. Check them out below:

Stored on Folding Table Racking

This type of rectangle folding table storage is great when you have a warehouse, and want to minimize the amount of space your folding tables take up. Folding table racking can be stacked up to 3 racks high on top of one another, removed via a forklift and then wheeled (via swivel wheels) or transported via forklift onto your delivery truck. They hold 10 – 22 rectangular folding tables with a weight capacity of 2000lbs.

Stored on Skids

If folding table racking isn’t for you, you can choose to buy skids and stack the rectangle folding tables on top of one another. We do this with our wood folding tables as they are manufactured and shipped to us without boxes. Generally, 4ft x 30” wood folding tables we would stack no more than 20 tables high (we don’t stack any tables in our warehouse more than 20 tables high to avoid any damage), 6ft x 30” rectangle folding tables we would stack 18-20 tables high and 8ft x 30” rectangle folding tables we would stack 16 - 20 tables high. We stack them wrapped in twos with tops touching tops and with table rails touching table rails. The tables can then be moved onto a truck (if need be) with a pallet truck or forklift.

Stored on the Folding Table Edge

If you don’t plan to transport the tables very often, or don’t mind the extra labour involved, you can also store rectangle folding tables on their sides (or edges as they are more often known). This type of storage ensures that the table doesn’t have any extra weight on it which prevents damage. It can be a bit more of a hassle as your employees would need to ensure they’re properly skidded for transport to events but this option doesn’t take up as much square footage as some of the other options.

Stored in a Rectangle Folding Table Cart

A Rectangle Folding Table Cart also known as a Rectangle Table Dolly holds (you guessed it) rectangle folding tables on a maneuverable wheeled cart. With four locking swivel wheels, these carts generally can hold 6ft and 8ft rectangle folding tables. The capacity of these carts vary in the size of the table but the general rule is 12-18 folding tables per cart.

Since each method is a matter of personal preference we don’t tend to state whether we feel one option is better than the other. There are party rental companies who swear by folding table racks and those that swear by rectangle table carts. It goes back to the wood vs. plastic folding table debate. We hope this post helped showcase the different options you have available to store your round folding tables so you can preserve your investment for years to come.

Just like our past blog post on how not all resin chiavari chairs are the same, a wood folding table is not a standard product that is exactly the same from each supplier. From our knowledge, we know that there are at least 3 different kinds of wood folding tables on the market: Birch Wood Folding Tables, Luan (Lauan) Wood Folding Tables, Chip Board / Particle Board / MDF Wood Folding Tables. This post will explain the differences amongst the three different types so when you are shopping for wood folding tables, you are able to ask the right questions to supplier’s and know exactly what you’re purchasing.

Birch wood folding tables:

Birch wood folding tables are generally the most expensive wood folding tables due to the fact the wood is hardwood. Hardwoods grow slower than softwoods and tend to be smaller in size and are therefore take longer to replenish. Birch has a hardness of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 making them an extremely durable product. They also tend to be a heavier weight as hardwoods have a denser chemical structure. It's a harder wood to stain because it can get blotchy, making it a more labour-intensive finishing process. Generally you can tell a birch wood folding table based on how heavy it is and its cost. If a table is said to be Birch but is on the cheaper end of wood folding tables – the supplier is either being dishonest or the table’s core is a cheaper wood – with a birch wood veneer on top.

Luan wood folding tables:

Luan (Lauan) Wood folding tables are the second most expensive wood folding tables due to the fact that it is also hardwood and one of the smoothest woods to finish. It is from the South Pacific Rim and tends to be manufactured in ¼ inch sections and when manufactured into plywood tends to be a durable, long lasting product. They are a lighter weight wood making wood folding tables utilizing lauan (such as NES wood folding tables) an easier product to transport and store. Generally you can tell a lauan wood folding table based on its weight and its cost. To see a cross-section of a luan wood folding table, check out this video.

Chipboard / Particle Board / MDF wood folding tables:

Chipboard / Particle Board wood folding tables will be on the least expensive spectrum of wood folding tables. They are made of wood chips, sawmill shavings and/or sawdust and a binding agent such as resin which are mixed together and then pressed and extruded. The chipboard will be used as the core of the wood folding table with a wood veneer in a more stainable wood as the top, customer friendly layer. It is the lightest and most breakable engineered wood even though it is visually denser. MDF is a medium density engineered wood that is stronger and denser – making it a stronger product (though not as strong as inherent wood). A con of particleboard is when exposed to moisture it is prone to expansion and discoloration. Should you have wood folding tables that have been left outside you can immediately see that the tables are warping quite dramatically. A chipboard/particle board wood folding table has a cross-section that looks like the below:

Additional Cost Variances:

Some additional reasons for the ranges of costs between tables also includes the thickness of the table legs, the style of lock for the table legs and the quality of finishing of the wood folding tables including any rigorous product testing.