Wow! I think you might win the prize for a member coming back after a long absence! Life sometimes interferes for s year or two, but 15 years is a long gap! Welcome back!
As far as the OP, I've always used a pastry cloth. I made a couple by sewing 2 layers of 10 ounce cotton duck fabric together... it MUST be prewashed if you think you'll ever want to wash the pastry cloth... generally, I just shake it out, but it can need laundering occasionally if i get butter or the caramel filling for sticky buns on it.
Anyway, at the time i made them, i was baking 12 loaves a week... and with 4 teenagers at home, we sometimes ran out before baking day again! I'd mix the sponge in a 5 gallon pail, adding as much flour as i could stir in by hand, then dump it on the well-floured pastry cloth and finish it that way. So, i made the pastry cloths 30"x 48". They work really well, and kerp the flour mess contained.
Summerthyme