Cloth napkins are a super simple way to save a bit of money, save a bit of trash, and elevate your home dining experience! Here’s what you need to know to make it happen in your home!
Our family has used cloth napkins for all our meals since way before kids were in the picture.
We received cloth napkins for a wedding gift and they were just sitting in a drawer (while I was paying for paper napkins) when a friend mentioned that she and her husband used the same cloth napkin for several days before washing it.
Initially, I was grossed out…
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted to give it a try.
Now, 17+ years later, Dave and I (plus all 4 kids) use cloth napkins for every meal. And like my friend, we reuse them for several days before washing.
Our Cloth Napkin “System”
This is not a complicated ordeal, but I always get questions if I’m not specific enough, so let me explain exactly how cloth napkins work for our family.
- Everyone has their own cloth napkin that we keep on “our chair” between meals.
- We each have a napkin ring with our name on it (written with a Sharpie) so we don’t mix up the napkins throughout the week.
- At meal times, the napkins are put on the table — and then eventually on our laps.
- After meal times, we shake out any crumbs (onto the table), put the napkin ring on, and place the napkins on our chairs again.
- I wash them with the towels on “laundry days” and put clean napkins back on chairs.
- If someone’s napkin get especially dirty, sticky, or gross before it’s time to do the laundry, we have extras they can use.
Other Ideas for Cloth Napkins
Here are a few other ideas I’ve gleaned from friends, family, and readers over the years.
- Buy a bunch of napkins, use them for 1 day, and toss them in the wash.
- Hang the napkins over the back of your chair after you finish using them.
- Write each person’s name or initial (with a Sharpie) in the corner of their napkin.
- Choose a different napkin (color or pattern) for each member of your family and keep them in a small basket or bin next to the table.
What Cloth Napkins Should You Buy?
There isn’t a “right” or “wrong” cloth napkin to buy or use… but cotton napkins are the lowest maintenance and the most absorbent.
I love the look of linen napkins but they are not nearly as absorbent and they get SO wrinkly. That said, I have a friend who has her kids practice ironing using her linen napkins and they love it!
If you’re going for practicality, stay away from silky decorative napkins.
Depending on your wash style, you might prefer darker or lighter napkins. I personally prefer a lighter color because I bleach our napkins, but I know many families who prefer a darker color to hide the stains!
Here’s a giant set of 24 multi-colored napkins if you want a different color for every person.
If you’re willing to try a cotton/linen blend, I LOVE these striped napkins.
And the cotton napkins pictured below are good quality and come in a variety of colors.
Where to Find Cloth Napkins
Until recently, we’ve always gotten our cloth napkins from the local thrift store (usually for just $1 or $2 for an entire set!)
You could also make your own cloth napkins from a tablecloth or table runner you no longer use. Or you could buy a yard of fabric and sew your own.
And almost any home goods or home decor store will have oodles of different styles and patterns of cloth napkins to choose from.
Last year, after Buster realized he could reach the cloth napkins on our chairs and chewed them up, I purchased a cute gingham set from Amazon (it’s no longer available) and we love it (yes, we also taught Buster not to chew our napkins!)
We currently have a full set of 12 as it’s nice to have extras for when guests come — or if someone’s napkin gets really dirty between washing.
Do we ever use paper napkins?
Yes, of course!
We have a big stack of paper napkins in our outbuilding as we usually entertain more than 12 guests at a time out there, so we wouldn’t have enough cloth napkins.
We also use paper napkins for special birthday or holiday celebrations, or if we’re eating something really messy.
We don’t think paper napkins are bad, my point is just that cloth napkins are an easy thing to implement, so this could be a simple swap for your family (most kids get on board with it really quickly)!
4 Benefits of Cloth Napkins:
1. You’ll Save Paper:
We are not crazy environmentalists… but a quick mathematical calculation shows that our family of 6 could easily use around 6,500 paper napkins per year. That feels like a lot!
2. You’ll Save Money:
Yes, it’s a small investment up front if you need to purchase cloth napkins — but I do think you’ll notice a small savings over the years if you consider the cost of buying thousands of napkins.
We also find we use far fewer paper towels around the kitchen as well (and those are getting expensive!)
3. You’ll Have Fun:
I love using cloth napkins because I feel like we’re having a fancy meal — even though it might just be a casserole or pasta! And our kids love it too — especially if they have a friend eating over.
4. You’ll Always Ready for Company:
I know many families who only bring out the cloth napkins when company comes over — but then the napkins are wrinkly, dusty… or nowhere to be found. If you’re using the cloth napkins every day, they’ll be freshly washed and ready for your company!
Our dinner guests often comment on how it must be a special meal for us to break out cloth napkins… little do they know we use them every day! 😉
Are cloth napkins necessary? Absolutely not!
Will the savings make a significant difference in your monthly budget? Probably not.
Are they an easy, fun way to save a bit of money and trash and make your time at the dinner table feel a teeny bit more cozy? You bet!
Do you use cloth napkins?
Calliope says
I use cloth napkins for at least 20 years. In the beginning they were tshirt cutouts. A few years later I decided to upgrade so I got two packages of white baby cotton cloths from IKEA. For my family, they are the ideal color, size, material and price! I bleach them often in the winter and hung them under the sun in the summer. When they become too worn out (it takes years and years) I toss them in the compost bin. We do change them after almost every meal. I also own fancy cloth table napkins that I like to use during dinners with friends and family. However neither friends nor family are comfortable using them! I believe they think that it is too much trouble for me (laundry, ironing etc) so they just use paper napkins ♀️
Andrea says
Thanks for sharing your method — sounds very practical and simple. And we also use paper sometimes (especially with larger groups of people)!
Nana says
I think we always used cloth napkins but I can’t remember for sure. I often made some from leftover fabric from making blouses, etc., besides buying them at garage sales and thrift shops. Flannel also makes good napkins or dish towels since it does not wrinkle and is very absorbent and if you use flannel sheets in the winter, there is always a lot of good flannel left when they begin to wear out. We just used one each person each meal since with four children it would have been too hard to keep up with. The napkins did not necessarily match, and the dining table was used for homework, crafts and other things between meals. This was before all the current saving the earth movement, and although it probably did not save much money, we still tried to save any way we could with four college educations to pay for in the future.
We also used cloth hand towels instead of paper–paper was used only for food such as draining fried foods. We used cloth rags to wipe out skillets, etc. and then tossed them. (That works much better than paper, actually.)
Andrea says
Thanks for sharing this — I need to get better about using less paper towel (it’s so convenient!)
I love using cloth napkins now though — so that’s a start 🙂
Cynthia says
I have been using cloth napkins for over 30 years. I use autumn leaves for fall, snowman for winter, and Easter for spring. It brightens up meals!
Andrea says
so fun!
Susanne says
I LOVE this!!! I have used cloth napkins exclusively for 25 years or more and pack one every day in my lunch box. My favorite napkins are “bandanas”. We used them in Bible School many years ago and they are still in service as my everyday napkins! When my kids were little, I asked an older woman at church to embroider our first name initials on a couple of sets so I could keep them folded in the middle of the table.
Andrea says
this is a great idea, Susanne! I’m going to keep an eye out for colorful bandanas at thrift stores now — it might be a fun/frugal way to make certain special occasions more festive!
Debby says
That is so funny you should post that today. I just told my family this morning to stop using the paper towels and use the cloth towels. We might need the paper towels for emergencies. Everyone has gone crazy hoarding them and toilet paper. Keep safe
Andrea says
Yup, it’s crazy!
I saw that stores by us have limits of 2 paper products per visit — and the toilet paper is totally gone!
I’m not ready to switch to cloth toilet paper yet (hopefully it doesn’t come to that!) but cloth napkins are an easy thing for our family!
Rita Tye says
I make my own napkins, but where do you get the Rectangler basket, so they won’t take up so much room??
Andrea says
haha — I get all my baskets from various garage sales or thrift stores 🙂
Garment Makers says
Wow! its really good I love this.
chickadeeworkshop says
I know I’m late to your comments, but YES! I made the switch to cloth napkins a couple of years ago and never looked back. I sew alot, so had fabric around that matched my kitchen and I just cut to the size I want and used my serger to edge them. So FAST! If you don’t have a serger, you can make small hems and use a regular sewing machine. I’ve been using the same dark prints for 3 years and they are not stained, just faded. I add to my stash occasionally with yard sale finds and I have special napkins for holidays and such, but our regular ones are still going strong and we use them only once and throw them in the regular laundry.
I also switched to cloth instead of paper towels. I use white birdseye fabric and cut to the size I wanted and serged them. I have a basket of clean ones and a basket for dirty ones on my counter beneath where the paper towel holder is. (We still use paper, but it’s rare.) I throw my dirty ones in with the one hot water load of laundry I do each week, with my white towels. I dry outside in the sun when weather permits, so they get bleached and disinfected, and in winter, I do use bleach about once a month or so.
Some people think it takes “green” a little too far, but I also small, cut up pieces of old t-shirts and flannel baby blankets for wiping in the bathroom. (Only for “wet” not nasty wiping.) I’m the only female here and therefore use the most t.paper, so this system is for me only. I did the same thing…cut up the size I wanted and serged them, though you really don’t HAVE to serge t-shirt fabric if you don’t mind the curling edges. I do it because I put two layers together. Again, I have a basket for clean and a mesh bag for dirty and I throw these in with the other white clothes that get washed once a week in hot water. I feel so good about these changes and encourage others to do as much as they are comfortable with.
Jennifer says
Just bought a slew of cloth napkins at an excellent price at a store that sells good for the home. I am a paper napkin addict, always need one in my hand, wrapped around my glass, to wipe the counters, etc. Looking forward to the savings of not having to buy paper towels/paper napkins every week.
Andrea says
Wow — looks like you’ll really be cutting back on your paper napkins — good for you! I’m sure you’ll find the the cloth napkins are so much more absorbent too!
oneshabbychick says
Hi Andrea, We use cloth napkins too, and follow the same system – on the chair, until dirty, etc. It works great! especially since two of “us” are still kids and can’t be bothered with keeping a napkin folded/on the table anyway! I love your red/flax napkins – they’re beautiful. Can you tell me where they came from? Thanks! ~ osc
Andrea says
Yes, I LOVE those napkins too!! We use the white ones every day, but those red ones are perfect for anything “fall”, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, etc.! They are from William Sonoma and we’ve had them for a while.
I’m sure you could find similar ones though 🙂
Carrie says
We use cloth napkins all the time. I have some regular cloth napkins but most of the time we use those little baby washcloths. They’re soft, wash up great, don’t stain easily and are the perfect size.
sarah wade says
Thank you so much! I’m totally inspired to make that transition to cloth napkins. I have the cloth napkins sitting in the napkin basket but I wasn’t sure how to make it work. I like the idea of making a specific napkin last for a day or two for each person. It kills me to purchase paper ones, we have been paper napkin happy for too long. We start tonight, I’m thinking I’ll stash the paper ones for the time being as we make the transition… my guys don’t do change too well so it might take a bit to get us there 100% So baby steps 🙂
90milemissy says
I have used cloth napkins all my life. I never realized it was a strange thing till last week. I had picked up some woven cotton table runners at the thrift store. I was at quilting on Sunday and I cut them up, hemmed and fringed them. EVERY lady there asked me what I was doing and why I would use cloth napkins. Found that I was the only person who actually used cloth. Strange.
KimH says
We use cloth as well. I got ours in the automotive section of one of the warehouse clubs. They’ve super absorbent. We use them as dish towels too and they’re great. We’ve been using them for about 4 or 5 years now and we like them much better than paper towels or napkins.
Andrea says
wow, I would have never thought to look in the automotive section — thanks for the tip!
Katie says
We actually just switched to using cloth napkins and kitchen towels as well! Our reasoning was how wasteful paper towels are! We do keep a few paper towels around just for messes that we wouldn’t want staining cloth napkins, like grease. Otherwise we are really getting used to just using cloth napkins.
Dawn says
We have been using cloth napkins for a long time now, our whole family of four. I purchased a bunch of cloth napkins on ebay and often find new ones at thrift stores and sales. I don’t care if they match and we use a clean one at every meal. I send them in my kids lunch bags too. I just wash them with the towels and then I use them as cleaning rags if they become too stained. As a family with young children, we are always informal and rarely have company over. If we do, it’s usually just family and they don’t care about our mismatched napkins. It works out well for us and really doesn’t add to the laundry much.
Julie says
I could have written your comment, with the exception of a family of 6. We use them every meal and I will change them when they get dirty. I also don’t have all napkins that match, but they all do match with my decor. I also will buy a large table cloth at the thrift store for a few buck or less and make napkins out of them. Its super cheap and easy to do.
We don’t buy paper napkins and now we hardly ever buy paper towels. We use rags for everything. l think my husband is the most diffcult to break from using paper towels.
Ashli says
I’ll join in, only with a family of 5! We have been working on changing over to cloth and it is going well, we also have a drawer full of washcloths that are used for everything from hands and faces, to the counters, to the floors. (Fear not, they only hit the floor on the way to the laundry room!) I rarely buy paper towels anymore and really only use them for things like cleaning up really nasty messes. I may have to start throwing cloth napkins in the kids’ school lunches as well, great idea!
Tricia says
We use washcloths as napkins. After the meal I can wet them for dirty hands and mouths as well as the table. I bought them in the dishtowel section, 18 per package for $4. They are a tan color so they not only hide stains but can be washed in either the dark or white load of laundry.