<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function doTest() { for (var i = 0; i < 10; ++i) { // clear target element's content document.getElementById("target-table").innerHTML = ""; // clone and append new row cloned_row = document.getElementById("row-template").cloneNode(true); document.getElementById("target-table").appendChild(cloned_row); document.body.offsetWidth; } } </script> </head> <body onload="doTest()"> <table><tr id="row-template"><td>cloning material</td></tr></table> <table id="target-table"><tr><td>target table</td></tr></table> </body> </html>