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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters use one less napkin per day, in a year we'll conserve the annual paper use of 58 Americans.
COCKTAIL FACT
Researchers at Cornell University have created a napkin that changes color when it detects biohazards such as E. coli.
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home › tip library › Cloth Napkins
How can you set a heavenly table?
The Bite
Use cloth napkins religiously. You'll save trees and add a touch of class to your tabletop - even if sinful foods like Cheez Whiz are what's on the menu.The Benefits
- Paper savings. Americans use an average of 2,200 paper napkins per person per year.
- Elegance, that is, if you don't use your napkin to blow your nose (you heathen Biter, you).
- Cash savings. It's actually cheaper to throw cloth napkins in the wash than to buy paper ones. Amen to that!
Personally Speaking
The Bite's newest team member, Jenifer Morgan, has a secret talent: She can fold cloth napkins into different animal shapes, à la origami. She's strangely available only for Quinceañeras and National Bird Day celebrations.Wanna Try?
- Transylvanian Images Vintage Napkins - off-white hemp-cotton blend; hand-spun and vampire-free ($40/set of 4).
- Fiberactive Quilt Company Organic Cotton Napkins - made by laid-off textile workers in North Carolina, in 11 fab colors ($37/set of 4).
- Greenfeet Hemp Napkins - hand-dyed hemp, available in 5 mix-and-match colors ($7/each).
- Global Exchange Balinese Cotton Napkin Set - fair-trade, produced by a women's co-op in Indonesia, in red or green ($23/set of 4).
Jun 08,2007
Sponsor
All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Don’t Miss Manners
When setting the table, I don't usually use a ruler to make sure the wine glasses are set exactly ½-inch above the placemat, but folding a good napkin has always been a point of pride for me (sad, isn't it?). For years I kept it simple - the silverware pocket, the odd Cardinal's hat - now I'm focusing on my swan and butterfly technique.
When I nail those, I'm thinking of expanding my repertoire to towel folding, and I'm going to start with the hilarious-looking book The Lost Art of Towel Origami just so I can tell guests I have an elephant in the bathroom (ba-dum-bum).
-Jenifer Morgan...off to fold some laundry...
Biter Comments...
My husband and I have been using cloth napkins for years. Buy better ones for longer life. Pier One have the most durable longest lasting (wait for a sale...they have them all the time...get last year's color/style). IKEA has some really great towels that are just as good as the super expensive department stores. My feelings on the water used to wash napkins, towels, and rags (vs. paper throw aways) is that you are going to do laundry anyway, a few towels and napkins are not really using any more water than a load without those same said towels and napkins. Also, the creation of paper products uses crazy amounts of water and causes by-product pollution as well especially if your papertowel/ napkin is bleached white.
The paper vs water use is a common dilemma, but a completely bogus one. Imagine all the bleach, water, resources, and trees (which use water and whose deforestation causes soil runoff as well as habitat destruction, contribution to global warming, etc) that go into paper napkins and towels which are used once and then begin their long life not degrading in anaerobic landfills. Then imagine washing a load of rags, towels, and napkins in hot water once a week for years, eventually retiring them to use as cleaning or painting rags. Seems a clear decision to me. If you're so worried about it, invest in a front-loading washer.
Aha! Very helpful, thanks! This is the just the kind of information I was looking for to make my mind up.
we use dishtowels cut in half and hemmed. they are a little smaller, very durable, and way cheaper than buying cloth napkins. this way we can have around 50 of them so we don't run out before they get washed and have to use paper instead. we keep them in a big basket and folding them is a chore that rotates among children at our house.
Here's a tip I learned this when I was an exchange student to South Africa.) Give each family member a different style napkin ring. After the meal, they stuff the practically clean napkin back in the ring and use it again for the next meal. They know which is theirs because of the ring. Then you only have to wash them once a week or when they're actually dirty. I haven't bought paper napkins for 20 years....
Really useful ideas! Will definitely try this.
Just yesterday I was thinking we should switch to cloth napkins and then this tip came today. What great timing! I have so many cloth napkins that only seem to get used for company these days. My husband does the wash, he'll just love this!
This is a very good tip.
Do the footprint test, I am sure you are going to have great result!
http://chocobau.blogspot.com/
We started using cloth napkins a couple months ago. It's amazing how doing something that seems minor has affected so much other waste we used to create. It has now trickled down to using barely any paper towel, compostable paper plates & cups (when camping/hiking) & bio-degradable pet waste bags. Every little bit counts :)
Sigh, I've tried this many times. My challenge is that my friends don't use them. We run a very casual household - once you've been here, been given your first beverage & shown where the kitchen is, you are on your own :) When I take away the napkins on the table & put out cloth ones, my guests frequently go into the kitchen & grab paper towels. Apparently they don't want to get the napkins dirty...
Great idea on hemming kitchen towels by the way - I'm going to try that next.
If you don't have paper towels or paper napkins in your house then no one can use them instead of cloth. Also if you must have paper towels around then put them away in a cupboard so they aren't in view,and the habit will break to use the constantly. It wont be the norm, the cloth will be the norm. Been using cloth napkins that I made for over ten yrs.
This tip would go over better if you would list some cheaper napkins to purchase. I recommend purchasing your own material and making some yourself,it's easy. Or using something old, like a sheet,or old table cloth that's worn out for anything other than napkins. It's a very satisfying feeling using cloth!
As a poor single mom of 4, grad student, working 2 or 3 jobs, I could not afford regular cloth napkins. (besides not wanting the kids to stain my prescious sets inherited and gifted over the years) so I purchased sets of 30 washcloths from the dollar store, which we washed and bleached till they fell apart, then they served in the rag bag for cleaning and stuffing into those things that kids think need stuffing. This is a good plan for the less affluent biters. While my kids now have their own offspring, I have the habit for my own daily use and think it practical and helpful to the effort. JCP
Last year while volunteering at the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland, Ca. I got involved in a sewing project: we took cloth napkins donated by catering companies and folded them over a ribbon (also donated) and stitched it all together. These were then used as banners for the swimmers at the annual Swim-a-Mile for Someone With Cancer. Each participant could decorate her banner as she chose and then they were all tied together and displayed at the pool.
I found that the all linen napkins did not fold or drape as well as the part or all synthetic ones and I asked of I could take them (the linen napkins) home. I have enough linen napkins to last for many years.
We have been using cloth napkins for about a year now - I picked all of ours up at garage sales for about $5 total. We don't care if the napkins match or not, and we are so glad we made the switch!
I am so happy to see this tip! I've used cloth napkins since I was in college thanks to my mom's keeping me in steady supply of them in all sorts of colors and patterns. My little brother even got me pretty cloth napkins from Pier One one Christmas! I'm glad to hear of other people using cloth napkins because when our inlaws come over they act like we're nuts because I always have cloth napkins on the table (and don't use paper plates at lunchtime). What a simple, fun way to be a biter!
I have been using cloth Napkins for twenty years, since my Husband and I were newly married and very cash strapped. I continue to this day with cloth napkins because they cause less landfill waste. I buy end bolt yardage, on sale or discontinued patterns, and old stock when I see them in places like fabric stores, Wal-mart and yard sales. I bind the edges with my Serger in matching or contrasting colors for a casual everday look. I have yet to lose one napkin die to old age, although I did lose one to overloading the washer, trying to save water.LOL.
I have been using cloth napkins for as long as I can remember. Just keep the paper towels around for the occasional pet accident (ewww). One of my favorite things is checking out the estate sales and flea markets in town on Saturday mornings and I always find wonderful old cloth napkins and dish/tea towels many that have been lovingly decorated. It is a great way to recycle/reuse and satisfy my need to go find vintage/retro treasures .
My concerns about changing from paper towels and napkins to cloth is not so much the laundry as the the amount of cloth I would need if I were to change napkins for every meal 7 days a week. Paper has to be more germ free than cloth which may sit around a bit longer than its paper counterpart. Any comments on this aspect??
Others have already mentioned this today, but I want to add my two cents. I used individual napkin rings when my kids were all still at home. The napkins are for accidents and face smudges. As they grow, the mess is less and the napkins last longer in rings between meals.
Guests will use what you give them if you make sure that they know your plan. I have reduced paper towels to certain grease spills from the stove and keep them in a cupboard. I instead have purchased really 'cheapy' bar towels at the dollar store, 30 for $5. With a stack of 60, plus the stack of 60 wash cloths folded in a napkin holder, these last a few weeks and go into a small bucket in the kitchen while waiting to be laundered. I am amazed at the savings just in cash from using cloth instead of paper. And the trickle down of awareness to stewardship spreads in waves throughout your life.
Even inexpensive or home made items made from old towels are much softer and cleaner than the paper ones and a large supply reduces laundry frequency to reasonable frequency.
I wandered into this site by accident. One of the posted names may be a blast from the past. Does Valley City mean anything to that person?
I am so excited to see this comment- I am sewing napkins for myself as well as Christmas gifts- It is so fun to sew the napkins- I purchased discounted remnant fabric and have been sewing away in festive seasonal materials. I can't wait to share with freinds and family. I hope to get them thinking green.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Diana | June 08, 2007 at 02:30 AM