When I was growing up, we often used cloth napkins. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s probably related to how my parents’ generation didn’t dispose things the way we do now–we’re in a single-use world.
I’m pretty sure I’ve used paper napkins my entire adult life, typically in the form of paper towels. I was tearing them in half well before Bounty started perforating them.
Very recently, though, I was talking to someone who made a good case for switching to cloth napkins. Even though they require more resources to make, over time they’re better for the environment and they have the potential of drastically reducing the use of one-time use paper towels.
I was still hesitant, though, as I don’t think I’ve ever used a paper towel that felt like it properly absorbed the mess of food that ends up on my face (maybe the real answer is I need to eat more elegantly). But I thought it might be worth a try.
So I did some research and took a gamble on Urban Villa cotton napkins…and I’m loving them. They do exactly what I want a napkin to do, yet I get around 10 uses out of each before I toss it in the wash. We’re still using paper towels to clean up spills, counters, and bathrooms, but we’re going through them at a significantly slower pace–I’d guess that the cloth napkins have already paid for themselves.
Which do you use? What do you look for in a great napkin?
Cloth napkins are fantastic! We’ve been using them for over a decade and love to mix and match. We’ve had friends gift us some handmade napkins with fun patterns too. They seem to last forever.
If you want something a little more sustainable for wiping up, take a look at “swedish dishcloths”, I even saw them at Costco recently. They are a cellulose/cotton blend that are super absorbent and can be wrung out. Further in the kitchen linens, my favorite dish towels are floursack towels. Named because they originally were homemade from the cotton sacks flour was sold in. They are soft and absorbent and you can get them in all sorts of colors. They are also fine enough to use to strain water out of vegetables (I use them to remove the excess moisture from shredded potatoes and zucchini when making potato or other shredded vegetable pancakes)
Thanks for the recommendations, David! I’m familiar with floursack tiles, but I don’t think I’ve seen these Swedish dishcloths.
I bought these on Amazon about a year and a half ago, and have 2 in rotation in the kitchen. I also keep one in my backpack and car just in case, but still haven’t needed to replace any of them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081NPK5Y2
Awesome, thank you!
I agree! We’ve been using cloth napkins for 10+ years and love them! Most of ours were made by friends and family which makes them even more special. WeI have gotten spoiled by them and now are disappointed when a situation arrises where we are compelled to use paper napkins. We are working hard at getting rid of single use disposable items. So wasteful. Particularly plastic grocery bags. They are evil! (Ha ha) I am happy to hear that you have “seen the light“ Jamie! Keep it up!
Thanks Steven! That’s great. And I’m with you on grocery bags–I always use our sturdy bags at the grocery store and farmer’s market.
I’ve been using Swedish dishcloths for 5 years. Bacteria that live in liquid environments tend to die in dry environments. Sure, some have endospores, but generally that’s how they go. So after use, I wring out the dishcloth and let it dry out. When it gets gross, then I stick it in the dishwasher. When that doesn’t work, it becomes the cloth I use to clean the sink and I pull out a new one for the counters.
I use the Swedish cloths to wipe up spills in the kitchen – if it’s blood or seafood though I use paper towels. Paper towels can even be reused and they used to advertise that on TV.
As for napkins, we received cloth dinner napkins for the wedding and we used it the first year, but I don’t like having a contaminated napkin on the table so I toss them in the laundry room after dinner and I think one time we ran out since I don’t laundry every day and we never went back. Even for special occasions I pull them out but people still reach for the paper napkins anyway. Maybe I’ll try going back to them.
That’s a great point about the bacteria that cloth napkins can collect. Perhaps I’ll try to cycle through them a little more often–my current 10-day approach is probably too long in those regards.