A: Night and day!
They are both vinyl, but that's where the comparison stops.
The back of oilcloth is impregnated with a cotton mess or scrim, this gives oilcloth it's edge over the flannel backed vinyl. The scrim gives oilcloth strength, because of it oilcloth can hold a stitch where the other can not. Trust me I tried making totes out of some cheap talbelcoths that I bought on clearance and they ripped right away. It was a total waist of 75 cents!
Flannel backed vinyl is very thin and quick to tear, I have oilcloth tablecloths that I have been using at shows for nearly 6 years and they have held up and look great.
Oilcloth is much better product overall. My mother-in-law used to buy a new flannel backed tablecloths from a big box store four times a year. This killed me, so for mothers day one year I made her an oilcloth tablecloth. That was about 4 years ago, so I figure that my gift has saved her (and the landfill) 16 cheap tablecloths.
Check out what is oilcloth and how to care for it for more info on oilcloth!!
Hope this helps,
Kelly
