[Please Note:] Players should no longer recieve Tarps as refunds, nor is the Tarp available to be added to islands via the cartographer. However, Tarps already generated in previous saves and collected by will remain.
Issue Summary:
The update to version 2009 conbined Tarps and Cloth into the one item. However, in older pre-existing saves the Tarp objects were not updated. As well as this, Tarp textures are no longer present in the game and Tarps may show up as dark or black smooth objects
Workarounds:
There are no workarounds for this issue. Please also note that breaking apart items that were created with Tarps before the update may also refund tarps instead of the new material.
I have found some details regarding this issue that might help solve it.
I recently built entirely new water stills on my new home base island. One had a palm tree bunch glitch into it to where I had to dismantle the still to remove the palm bunch, and it refunded a tarp instead of the cloth that was used to craft it.
However, all items added after the patch that involved cloth were not impacted by this. Only those items that originally used tarps seem affected so far.
Hopefully this info narrows down the search for where the issue actually is, if you haven’t already found it.
I appreciate you adding that info Shokujin, it matches with what the team have found in their investigation but it’s useful for us to know you’re seeing it in your version too. Thank you!