Switching Over to Cloth Napkins
September 30, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Frugal Living, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, Green Home
You’ve heard it said many times that paper napkins are not good for the environment and that we should switch to cloth napkins and washable products as much as possible. While I’m no self-proclaimed Tree Hugger, I do many things to cut back our our expenses and I try to recycle and cut back on waste as well.
I had been giving a lot of thought to our family using cloth napkins. The problems that I faced were:
- We have three kids; three young kids. Trust me, these three kids are so messy.
- The extra washing from the napkins. I have enough laundry to do already.
- Having enough napkins to get through each day.
Since we had some cloth napkins that my mom had given me, I decided to go ahead and try it out. I figured that even if we used them one day a week, it would still help out some. Suddenly, I have found that my kids aren’t so messy. I’m not contributing this to the napkins, but really, it has happened. Perhaps it’s because the napkins are dark blue and I’m just not seeing the mess.
I have found that we are able to use the napkins for 2-3 days before washing them. We simply fold them in half and hang them over the back of the chairs. While I was unpacking recently, I also found the other napkins that my mom bought me. Now we use our napkins and have another set until I can wash the towels and napkins. And since there’s always a napkin on the kids’ chairs, they’re using their napkin more and no longer reminding me that they need one. This system has worked for us.
Have you switched to cloth napkins yet?
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I inherited a stack of plain white linen napkins from both my mother and my uncle, and we use them almost exclusively (the only exception is when we’re eating something really messy, like ribs). Dirty ones are swapped out for clean ones as needed, and the dirty ones are washed once a week. Instead of putting them in the dryer, I take the damp ones downstairs to be ironed on my vintage 1950s mangle (rotary iron), which leaves them crisp. I find it a relaxing weekly ritual, and one that connects me back to my forebears.
I LOVE cloth napkins. My hubby was not as happy about the switch when I first brought it up. We have now used them exclusively for two years. Everyone including him likes them. We will never go back.
I made mine all out of scrap fabric and old shirts. The kids love the fun prints on the flannel napkins and they do absorb a lot of liquid.
I made the switch one snowy day that we ran out of napkins and it was too bad outside to drive to the store and buy more. I routed around and found a set of dressy-casual cloth napkins that fortunately coordinate with all of my table cloths and place mats. We do the same thing about using the same napkin for a few days unless they get too messy. If you need a bunch of napkins and want them for cheap, bandannas from the dollar store work really well.
To go along with my multi-colored Fiestaware we use multi-colored bandanas for napkins. I think they cost $1 each at most at the craft stores, but mine were handed down to me from my mom. I have about a dozen and I rarely run out. In addition to the colors being fun, the print on the bandanas help hide some of the stains that are inevitable!
We just switched a couple of weeks ago and had the same reservations you did (we also switched to using cloth instead of paper towels). Fortunately, we found 16 napkins at Salvation Army for $2.98! Definitely worth the switch, in every way imaginable.
We’re thinking about making the switch from paper to cloth napkins, but haven’t done it yet. It’s good to hear so many encouraging experiences. It makes me a little braver to try it.
Hi everyone. Thanks for the comments. I’ve written an article, 5 Ways to Save Money on Cloth Napkins, over at Thrifty Mommy. I hope you’ll check it out.