Talk to me about cloth napkins!

[JennifersLost]

I recently bought 48 cloth napkins to start my collection. We are a family of six. I don't get to the laundry as often as I should....

 

I figure sooner or later I should acquire several hundred more cloth napkins. :lol:

 

But help me figure this out. How do you use them? 1 per person per meal like paper ones? Or do you stretch it out - maybe have each person use one per day? If so, how would you store them between meals. Isn't that kind of yucky?

 

Do you keep your clean ones in a drawer, or somewhere more handy? After each meal does someone trot the used ones down to the wash hamper?

 

I figure someone on here has got it all down to a science!

[eternalknot]

Our kitchen table stays set (placemat, napkin, glass of water) for much of the day. If someone's (cloth) placemat or napkin is still clean enough for the next meal ... it stays. Replacing of either is on an as-needed basis only. My son can usually use one napkin for all three meals; my daughter is younger and goes through 2-3 napkins per day LOL.

 

I keep our placemats and napkins together in our buffet, near the table. It's the kids' responsibility to keep track of them -- after meals to fold neat ones nicely or put dirty ones in the hamper, to fold clean ones from the dryer and store back into the buffet. One clears the table of dishes, the other takes care of the linens.

[Mert]

We reuse napkins and placemats until they look like they need to be replaced. For ds that can be everyday. We fold each person's napkin and placemat together and stack them. There's only 3 of us so it's easy to figure out whose is whose. I keep extra napkins, etc. in a basket on the shelf next to the kitchen table.

 

My laundry room is in my kitchen so I can chuck whatever in there when I need to. We also have cloth reusable "paper towels" and microfiber towels to clean in the kitchen. I have a cheapie clothes basket in my laundry room and just toss kitchen linens in there as I go.

[Greeny]

We use cloth napkins for multiple meals if they are still in good shape. I store them in a basket on a shelf in the dining room. And when they are dirty I run them to the laundry room where there is a little basket for kitchen linens.

[Hannah]

I have a friend who grew up with a serviette ring for each member of the family. They had beautiful silver ones with their names on. When a friend joined the table, you’d get a ‘guest’ ring. They would place their used serviette into their own ring and it then went into a basket when the table was cleared. When I stayed over, mine went into the basket too. I loved it!

 

I'm not sure how frequently the serviettes were washed. I guess that would depend on how dirty they get.

[dcurry]

When we use cloth napkins, I throw them directly into the washer when we are done eating to be washed with whatever load happens to be next. (We don't have bright red or pure white napkins, though).

 

In the morning, I usually throw at least one load of laundry in to be washed, so the napkins are clean by dinnertime. I think I have enough for 2 meals, but we don't use them all the time, either.

[rootsnwings]

I have a hanging wetbag on my back door. I place all our naopkins & dirty dish towels in there and wash them when I wash towels. We get a clean napkin every meal but sometimes I do keep a clean one from the previous meal to clean off the table & countertops with, or as a kitchen hand towel for a few hours...but everyone gets a fresh napkin for each meal.

[Ginevra]

I have a friend who grew up with a serviette ring for each member of the family.

 

I don't have these yet, but a friend of mine told me this is what they did to keep their cloth napkins for multiple meals. Sounds cute!

 

We usually throw them in the hamper after dinner. I have a hamper in the hall closet for cloth napkins, dish towels, cleaning cloths and various socks, sweatshirts, etc. that don't make it to relevant bedrooms. After I wash them, I fold them into thirds and stack them in a basket on the dining room table.

 

I love cloth napkins. I've come to really dislike paper napkins.

[Carrie12345]

We store our cloth napkins in a wooden bowl on the table. They do get reused through the day if they aren't very messy, but my kids tend to be very messy :tongue_smilie:.

 

We keep a wetbag hanging in our laundry closet (right next to the kitchen). I also use all cloth in the kitchen for dishes and spills. The combination of food and moisture makes it pretty important for me to run a load about every other day, or it'll all grow mold.

[Closeacademy]

We've used cloth napkins since my oldest was about a year old and I realized just how many paper towels we were using. We switched to cloth napkins and wash rags.

 

How do you use them? 1 per person per meal like paper ones? Or do you stretch it out - maybe have each person use one per day? If so, how would you store them between meals. Isn't that kind of yucky?

 

My girls have their own color of napkin--white and rainbow. My dh and I just use the rest. We use 1 napkin per person per meal and then toss them down to the laundry.

 

Do you keep your clean ones in a drawer, or somewhere more handy? After each meal does someone trot the used ones down to the wash hamper?

 

We keep ours in a drawer in the kitchen. They are folded in large squares so we can stuff them all in there. I picked up most of them from little old ladies' garage sales.

 

My dream for napkins is this seasonal collection. She has different napkins for each month of the year and a beautiful cupboard to keep them all in.:001_smile:

[MaMa2005]

We get a clean napkin at each meal. When the meal is over, they go in the wash basket in the laundry room. I keep them stored in a basket on the kitchen table.

 

We switched to cloth napkins when DS was just over the age of 2. He cannot stand to use a dirty napkin and he was going through 6 or 7 paper napkins per meal :svengo:. With the cloth napkins, I don't care how many he uses.

 

I do a load of dish towels, dish clothes and napkins every couple of days so there are always some napkins clean.

[amydavis]

We've used cloth napkins since my oldest was about a year old and I realized just how many paper towels we were using. We switched to cloth napkins and wash rags.

 

How do you use them? 1 per person per meal like paper ones? Or do you stretch it out - maybe have each person use one per day? If so, how would you store them between meals. Isn't that kind of yucky?

 

My girls have their own color of napkin--white and rainbow. My dh and I just use the rest. We use 1 napkin per person per meal and then toss them down to the laundry.

 

Do you keep your clean ones in a drawer, or somewhere more handy? After each meal does someone trot the used ones down to the wash hamper?

 

We keep ours in a drawer in the kitchen. They are folded in large squares so we can stuff them all in there. I picked up most of them from little old ladies' garage sales.

 

My dream for napkins is this seasonal collection. She has different napkins for each month of the year and a beautiful cupboard to keep them all in.:001_smile:

 

 

Wow! I am wanting to start the cloth napkin thing, but haven't yet. I look for them when I'm out hitting the thrift shops and yard sales, but no luck! However, that napkin collection coordinated to the months of the year really got me excited! That seems so neat! Hmm, I am not one bit crafty, and I've never tried sewing. I wonder how hard it would be to make them. Has anyone?

[momofkhm]

I recently bought 48 cloth napkins to start my collection. We are a family of six. I don't get to the laundry as often as I should....

 

I figure sooner or later I should acquire several hundred more cloth napkins. :lol:

 

But help me figure this out. How do you use them? 1 per person per meal like paper ones? Or do you stretch it out - maybe have each person use one per day? If so, how would you store them between meals. Isn't that kind of yucky?

 

Do you keep your clean ones in a drawer, or somewhere more handy? After each meal does someone trot the used ones down to the wash hamper?

 

I figure someone on here has got it all down to a science!

 

First, I think if you need more, it would only be a total of 126. That would be one per person per meal. But I don't change them that often.

 

At my house, not everyone uses one every meal. Then we use them until one of several things happen. (1) The napkins need to be washed. (2) I'm doing laundry anyway. (3) We're having company for dinner. At that point all of them go in the wash after lunch and then again they all go in after dinner. (4) If you just want a new one, get a new one. (5) If you can't remember which one is yours (see below)

 

Between meals they just stay on the table. I used to have individual holders for each person with our names on them. But those disappeared after a while and we still know which one is ours.

 

Clean ones stay in a napkin holder on the table - a nice green basket. Then there is a little shelf to the side of the table with more.

 

I have about 40. There's 5 of us. So far I haven't run out. I get them washed often enough for us.

 

DH doesn't like the cloth for really messy things like barbeque chicken on the bone. He'd rather have paper for that.

[Wendy Inman]

I have a basket in the dining room with clean napkins... DS and I will use ours for all 3 meals, DH of course is only home for one. After dinner they are gathered and tossed into a half bushel basket i have by the laundry room door. During the day, DS and I will toss ours onto a chair so that we can do school at the table. Of course if it gets yucky we get a new one.. :)

 

They are washed on Wednesday with the towels :)

[Tess in the Burbs]

I have one child that no matter what is served her napkin will need to be washed. The other 3 of us could shake it out over the trash, set in our chair until the next meal. But sometimes I want the same colors so they all get taken upstairs to laundry and we just use them the one meal. All depends on the day.

[Chris in VA]

My mil keeps hers in a basket on the table or on the side of the counter (depending on mood, I guess.)

If I were to use them, I'd just have the "table clearer" person (usually dd) throw them down the stairs to the basement after dinner. That's where laundry goes. We have wide enough stairs that we can do that--you could keep a very small clothes basket on your stairs (if your washer is in the basement).

 

I prefer paper napkins for lunch.

[Ellie]

I haven't bought paper napkins for my family in years.

 

We all get clean napkins every time we eat. Used napkins go into the laundry room and are washed with whatever the next load of clothes is. Clean napkins are kept in the kitchen; in our previous homes, the napkins were in a cute Longaberger basket :) but in this house I have a kitchen drawer dedicated to them.

[jenniferlee]

ok -

for all you cloth napkin users. I have a question. What kind of fabric are your napkins? My cloth napkins drive me batty. they are made from this thin polyester stuff that doesn't absorb anything. Does anyone have this problem? What can I do? This is a serious issue:D

 

Jen

[Gooblink]

When we use cloth napkins, I throw them directly into the washer when we are done eating to be washed with whatever load happens to be next. (We don't have bright red or pure white napkins, though).

 

 

 

This. Unless the next load is underclothes. I wouldn't wash my napkins with underwear.

 

We use cloth napkins for all meals. I have a couple dozen for a family of 4.

[Gooblink]

ok -

for all you cloth napkin users. I have a question. What kind of fabric are your napkins? My cloth napkins drive me batty. they are made from this thin polyester stuff that doesn't absorb anything. Does anyone have this problem? What can I do? This is a serious issue:D

 

Jen

 

Cotton. Yes, I have a holiday set that has polyester and can't stand them. Cotton, definitely, for daily use. )

[asta]

I can't even fathom not washing a napkin after a meal. Whether or not it looks dirty, it is a bacteria factory.

 

In this house, ALL bath towels, kitchen towels, hand towels, wash cloths and napkins, etc. are white and cotton. Everything gets used, tossed in the basket, and washed with bleach.

 

Back when there were diapers in the house, they got washed the same way (except with added borax, and by themselves).

 

Polyester won't absorb anything, btw. The only thing I've found it to be good for is as a blend in a table cloth, as once wine has been spilled on a fancy cream colored cotton table cloth, it's toast. ;)

[Britomart]

Our napkins are cotton, and they generally get washed after one use, but we don't use them every meal (family of six - that'd be a lot of napkins!). We just get them out when the meal is messy enough to need them (watermelon, marinara sauce, butter dripping off corn-on-the-cob . . .). I've found that lots of meals don't need napkins, but we have them rolled up in a basket beside the table and everyone is free to grab one when he or she feels the need. I'd say we only go through about twenty in a week.

 

I made most of mine by sewing two squares of cotton together around the edges inside out, except for about an inch, then flipping them right-side-out through that inch-long hole and sewing the little hole closed. They're deep blue on one side and deep blue on the other and so pretty! I found the fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's.

 

I suppose sometimes a napkin does stay on the table from breakfast to dinner, but that's only when it's been used for something minor. Or to wipe up spilled water (that happens a lot with our young crowd!). But we clear them all off when we clear the table after dinner each night.

[asta]

I agree with you about the white. If it can be bleached it might stand a chance in this house, therefore all towels and table cloths are white. The sheets are being changed over time.

 

If the napkins are white cotton though, they need to be ironed. Do you really iron them all? Would a cotton poly blend be the best of both worlds ? absorbent but wrinkle free? I would love cloth napkins but I am not anxious to add an hour to my weekly ironing.

 

Ironed? Bwa ha ha! No ironing is going on in this house!

 

Seriously, though - if you get the thick cotton napkins, like these (though you don't have to spend this much - you can find them at Marshall's or a restaurant supply house), just hanging them on the line or removing them promptly from the dryer will leave them looking fine.

 

I don't know if it is the thick, mitered corner, or the twill fabric that keeps them from being all wrinkly, but they don't look yucky. If I were having a dinner party, I would probably press napkins, but I would also use different ones (like a damask), not my daily drivers.

 

 

a

[KatieJ]

I have used cloth napkins in our home for over 15 years. We do supplement with paper napkins when we are overwhelmed with the kids and grandkids all here for an extended visit.

The clean ones I keep in a drawer in the dining room.

As we are empty nesters now, usually one napkin will last several days and I just keep them on the dining room table.

When I had all 4 kiddoes at home, we a basket with different napkin rings in it. Everyone was assigned a ring and there was extras for guests.

Mine are all cotton and I wash them with white clothes in hot water even tho they aren't all white. They wash up beautifully. I usually don't iron them, but on occasion I have.

One pile of "everyday" napkins I have are homemade ones. I got a couple of yards of a heavy checked cotton fabric and hemmed them on my serger using a rolled hem stitch. No brain work and it translated into cheap napkins we have had for years and years.

 

I love the idea of a year's worth of napkins changing montly!

[JennifersLost]

Those rip and tear napkins are an awesome idea - I think I'll pop into the fabric store today....

 

Thanks everyone for your how-tos! I'd love to get napkin rings, too. Lots of great ideas here.

[LibraryLover]

I have boat-loads of napkins. I will iron white napkins for parties. I do not iron our daily ones. They are cotton and do fine folded right from the dryer. I keep some in a basket on the kitchen table, and some in the linen draw in the kitchen.

Edited September 2, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Carrie12345]

Ironed? Bwa ha ha! No ironing is going on in this house!

 

Seriously, though - if you get the thick cotton napkins, like these (though you don't have to spend this much - you can find them at Marshall's or a restaurant supply house), just hanging them on the line or removing them promptly from the dryer will leave them looking fine.

 

I don't know if it is the thick, mitered corner, or the twill fabric that keeps them from being all wrinkly, but they don't look yucky. If I were having a dinner party, I would probably press napkins, but I would also use different ones (like a damask), not my daily drivers.

 

 

a

 

:iagree: Each of my kids has had a day where they've had to ask what that strange looking machine is. I iron so infrequently that I have to give a little lesson to each one around the age of 3. :tongue_smilie:

 

I would never iron my every day napkins. We've yet to throw a nice dinner party, but I assume I'd press napkins for one of those. Instead, BBQ guests do get paper napkins. A large package lasts us about 18 months, lol.

[Rivka]

We use our cloth napkins for a couple of days in a row or until they are soiled, and then swap them out. We keep our own napkins at our own place at the table - napkin rings would also work.

 

If you've been eating something messy and wiping your hands and mouth, your napkin needs to be replaced right after that meal. If your napkin was set on your lap at the beginning of the meal and you ate neatly with silverware, it may be just as clean at the end of the meal as it was at the start.

[ScoutTN]

We have always used cloth. We use them all day, one day, if they are clean. DS always totals his at each meal. I wash kitchen linens every other day, more if I am messy cooking. Our house is tiny so table, dresser where I keep linens and washer/dryer are within two steps of each other. Kids clear/reset table after breakfast and lunch. I start over with a new set of placemats or tablecloth and napkins each day. Our napkin rings are heavy silver ones that were a wedding gift. I had them engraved - with numbers, 1-4. We have an additional blank set for company. All my napkins are cotton. Fancy ones are white and are the only ones I ever iron. I have found lots of nice ones at TJ Maxx/Homegoods and also at Pier 1.

[Imprimis]

 

My dream for napkins is this seasonal collection. She has different napkins for each month of the year and a beautiful cupboard to keep them all in.:001_smile:

 

Oh, I love her rip and tear seasonal napkins. Such a fun idea! I actually have some extra fall/halloween fabric leftover from a quilting project that I can get started with now.

 

Thanks for posting her link!