Cloth luncheon/ dinner Napkins

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  • Becky
    Participant

    I’m curious, I’ve looked a bit online on making cloth napkins and I’ve been quite surprised to find a number of people who use them exclusively.  Some have used them for years.  So, I’m curious, do any of you use cloth napkins instead of the paper napkins?  How do you treat or get rid of stains? I read that people buy printed fabric for their napkins so that it hides the stains…I do like my napkins to sort of match my color scheme and not clash with my corelle dishes….maybe I shouldn’t worry about such things…I’m finding too that not all cotton fabrics work well, like, not enough texture. They’re too smooth and would seem slimy LOL..

    Just interested in hearing from you if you use these.  Or anything else, like UNpaper towels… I read they make these from flannel……

    HollyS
    Participant

    We’ve used them for over 10 years, both cloth napkins and unpaper towels.  Most of our napkins are brightly colored plaid, so they do hide stains and I just wash them with regular kitchen linens.  I will usually grab a paper towel instead for anything very greasy or gross.  We also use paper towels for milk spills as dairy can smell if it sits on fabric.  So I still buy paper towels, but they last a lot longer than they used to.

    We also have Corelle dishes, but most of ours are plain, and I have a few partial sets that were given to us over the years. So they don’t all match either.  😂

    HollyS
    Participant

    Most of our napkins have more of a rough cotton texture.  I have a few smoother ones, bu definitely t prefer the more textured material.  Flannel is also good—most of our un paper towels have a layer of flannel and a layer of terry cloth.

    retrofam
    Participant

    We use cloth napkins. Thrift stores usually have nice, unused ones.

    Funny, we break out the paper napkins when guests come over because we don’t have enough and too much laundry!

    We use old towels for rags, except milk and other gross things.

    Sometimes we throw rags away depending on what is on it.

    Dianapatrice
    Participant

    I use cloth napkins because babies and toddlers shred the paper. Yes, yes, yes, on the textured fabric. We also use cloth diapers for spills (they have never been used as diapers). Anything like raw meat I still use paper. I recommend a separate “kitchen laundry bin”. It keeps the gross factor down. I try to throw them in the wash overnight every evening with an extra soak/rinse. But realistically it happens every other day. Recently I’ve started using a table cloth more regularly. It works out to be less work because I am already throwing the the kitchen laundry in. But some might depend on how well your washer actually works…. I don’t know the age of your kids but folding napkins makes a nice doable pre-school chore.

    Dianapatrice
    Participant

    PS if you are worried about stains a mixture of dawn, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide is amazing. However I can’t imagine having the energy to do that on “everyday” napkins.

    Becky
    Participant

    I found a linen blend at Hobby Lobby but it’s rather expensive…  We finally used them the other day for a chicken dinner and my oldest DS21 loved them.  He said it was like using your jeans!  LOL..   so, besides the linen, what other fabric do you recommend?  If I were to go to Hobby Lobby or walmart, (those are my only local options without ordering)  what would I look for?  Do you make double layer napkins or single?

    Becky
    Participant

    Oh, and what size do you find works the best?

    I’m enjoying the responses 🙂

    Dianapatrice
    Participant

    Mine are 16 inches by 14 inches and 100% cotton. I think the type of weave matters, but I don’t know enough to tell you… basically a “rough” texture works better. Hope that helps.

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