I grew up with cloth napkins. But when my kids were little I couldn’t quite face the idea of adding cloth napkins to my weekly laundry rotation. But it killed me that we were going through so many paper towels and napkins. So I asked my friends on Facebook and Twitter, who assured me that using cloth napkins is hardly any extra work and that if you take them out of the dryer and fold them pretty quickly, no ironing is required. In fact, none of them ironed their napkins. Phew!
Now I am a total convert to cloth napkins, even with kids. The kids love choosing their colorful napkins, and I just toss them in with the rest of the laundry that I do on Sundays, and fold them on the top of the washing machine when they’re dry. We have also discovered that napkins don’t need to be washed every time we use them. If there is no visible schmutz on the napkins, we each hang our own napkin over the back of our chairs to use again next time (thanks to Lorie Marrero of the Clutter Diet for that tip!).
Aviva
Thursday 11th of October 2012
DEAREST ROBIN AND AVIVA:
GRANDPA LASER WAS RIGHT, EVEN SHMUTS WITHIN SIGHT. KEEP YOUR CLOTH FOR A WEEK STRONG REMEDY FOR THE MEEK, BUT ONE WILL LAUNDER LESS WITH OCCASIONAL, TOLERABLE, MESS.
W. CHAIR OF STA (SHMUTZ TOLERANT ASSOCIATION)
William J. Hirsch, Esq.
sseguin@partners.org
Wednesday 10th of October 2012
What timing! I was just considering the switch to cloth napkins earlier this week. Guess I have my next sewing project waiting for me. In addition, at a wholesale club I found a large package of reusable/washable "towels". They are very thin and perfect for replacing paper towels which we use abundantly in my house. They can be machine washed and reused up to 20 times. I use an empty baby wipes container stocked with these towels next to my kitchen sink and now instead of reaching for the paper towel, i grab a reusable cloth. My kids are in the habit too! Depending on what it was used for, I either rinse and keep handy or toss down to be added to the wash.
Robin
Tuesday 9th of October 2012
Kudos to you, Aviva. Glad to hear that Scramblers far and wide are creating less waste at dinnertime.