Try Using Cloth Napkins

  


Hate these polyester napkins

 When you hear the word "cloth napkins", what images come to mind?  Is it a picture of being in a restaurant?  Or maybe a special holiday and your having company.  Most people have different ideas when they think about cloth napkins. 

What I'm going to tell you is this.   "Wipe" all those images and ideas out of your head, and think of cloth napkins, and cloth in general in a whole new light.    

    
When you sit down to dinner, do you grab a stack of paper napkins? 

When you make lunch, do you grab a paper towel?  How about a spill? 

A spider?  A cover on your plate in the microwave?

It's such an easy thing to do, it's a habit that most all of us have been doing our whole life.  It's a fairly easy habit to break though.
We switched to cloth a couple of years ago.  It seems so normal that now it seems weird to use paper.   It wasn't quite that way in the very beginning.  We started out slow, just a basket of napkins on the counter.  Once the paper towels and napkins ran out, that was it, we didn't run out and buy more. 




Okay, gotta admit, these are
really ugly!

Using cloth doesn't have to be fancy unless you want it to be.  You can even start out with some nice clean rags, or old dishcloths or towels. You can buy a $5 batch of washcloths.  I've found a few sets in a thrift store that were brand new.  What you are doing is changing your habit.  Every time you go to grab a napkin, grab some cloth instead.

   I already had quite a few napkins saved up over the years.  They were just taking space for no apparent reason.  Why do we keep them around taking up space if we hardly ever use them?  I still keep a few that aren't for everyday use.

 
   


These white cotton washcloths
are used exclusively for the little one.


     I use smaller ones for the baby, he doesn't think twice about using them, it's all he's known.  Although it can be a bit embarrassing in a restaurant, when he looks at the paper napkins like they're some foreign object, and then proceeds to shred it up. 

   


 Add it up, how many paper products do you buy to wipe your hands, mouth or floor?  Cloth napkins don't take up much space in the washer.  I throw mine in with the dish towels and dish cloths.  

   Start a little at a time.  You will find a few things that defy the logic of using cloth.  Like draining fried foods such as bacon.  I used to drain them on paper towels but it is okay to use lint free cloth for such things.  I very rarely cook those items, so I did find a easy cheap solution.  It was sitting right in my kitchen drawer, again, taking up space.  Coffee filters, I had two packages of those, and I don't use them for coffee.  You can find them at a dollar store, and there are so many uses. 

This is just a very easy way to save a little bit, and it can be fun if you like to sew or you find great deals on pretty napkins. 

  

    

To learn how to fold napkins, Click Here 

 I very rarely do these, but it is nice to know how once in a while.  I mostly use a basket or a regular napkin holder.