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I grew up on cloth napkins, but for the first eight years of my adult life, the thought of lugging nice linens to a dingy dorm basement or, later, a sweaty Brooklyn laundromat relegated me to a life of wiping my face with something disposable--which meant actual paper napkins for special occasions, or, for the majority of the time, paper towels.Now I have a laundry room to call my own, and I feel the way a backpacker might after her first hot shower in three weeks. The softness, the cleanness, the absorbency...I could go on. I didn't bother with a trial period to see if I really wanted to deal with the hassle of cloth; instead, I invested immediately in an embarrassment of napkins before so much as one picture hung from my walls. More specifically, I went in for two sets of 12 white hotel napkins from William-Sonoma (pictured), which work well everyday and for more formal affairs, and two packs of 12 multicolored napkins from Crate and Barrel, which can be fun for the holidays. At Thanksgiving, for instance, among the 24 there were plenty of autumn-colored napkins to go around.
Too much? Nope! Their plenitude simply equals less frequent laundry. If you plan to switch to cloth, which you really ought to do (isn't there something environmentally friendly about it? And isn't that really in right now?), I definitely recommend buying a whole lot of them. Plus, you really don't have to iron them unless company's coming.
Already, I'm spoiled again. These days, just the thought of a paper towel against my skin abrades like sand paper.
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1-07-2009 @10:05AM Biscuit Butcher said... I agree, ther eis nothing like the feel of a good cloth napkin, but my biggest concern for investing in a set is the fact that with white napkins, aren't they incredibly easy to stain. And once you do stain them, you can't really use them for company. Is it worth the investment if you can only really be safe using them on special occasions?
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1-07-2009 @11:11AM EMILY said... We switched to cloth napkins about 6 months ago, and never looked back. We just throw them in the laundry with clothes, and I haven't had any problems with stains.
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1-07-2009 @11:17AM lesliedegrassi said... Our family has used cloth napkins for 30 years, but not white ones for sure! Each of us has a unique napkin ring and we use the same one for a week. Maybe less if we had barbecued chicken or something messy. There are lots of colorful, easy care, even hemp napkins out there.
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1-08-2009 @9:01AM Olive said... I use cloth napkins frequently - almost only white, cream or ecru. I only buy fine quality Italian and French linen or damask. To remove stains: spot treat the napkins soon after use and wash in cold water first, then if the stain is still visible, spot treat again and wash in progressively hotter water. This is necessary because hot water will actually set some food stains. Scrutinize the stain carefully, because even a tiny stain will become dark as the napkin sits in the drawer! I always re-block the wet napkins after removal from the washer and dry them flat. Later, I steam iron and fold them. I send out my tablecloths for cleaning and pressing (although I pretreat the stains first), but I wash the napkins at home because I have found that most cleaners leave faint stains and creases around the edges, and most of the time they are misshapen and the corners will not meet up when the napkin is folded. I know this is picky, but if you want a perfect table, a necessity!
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1-18-2009 @12:55AM Kiwi Carlisle said... Every single fine cloth napkin I've ever had has succumbed to grease stains. In fact, so has every white one. The only ones that survive any appreciable length of time are bandannas. Sigh. Yes, I treat them, but they spot anyway. I think my grease is greasier than Olive's.
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