Saving Money on Napkins

Save Extra Fast Food Napkins

When eating out at fast food restaurants, we are usually given too many napkins that end up in the trash. Now we fold them up and take them with us. They end up in the car for kid clean up, in the purse for emergencies, on the vanity for makeup removal, in the kitchen as a substitute for paper towels or on the table as - surprise - napkins. I'm sure you can come up with lots of places to use these leftover napkins. We never let them go to waste.

Source: We have been doing this for several years now.

By marchall from San Juan, Puerto Rico

Make Cloth Napkins from Remnants

I love to have tons of dinner napkins, but I do not like the high price on them. I go to Walmart and look through their remnant bin for cheap materials. I just took a remnant home that cost 39 cents and made four dinner napkins out of it. All I did was cut a triangle edge on it. If I had owned a pair of pinking shears, I could have done it much faster. These can be used for all around cleaning and little place mats. I love these little dinner napkins, I make them in smaller sizes than what you would buy at the store for the children and normal if not smaller sizes for me. I am happy with my large collection of dinner napkins.

Also the little remnants of string (from using the pinking shears on the sides of the napkins to keep them from unraveling) can be turned into hair bows by tying them into little ribbons and then gluing them onto some sort of hair clasp.

This picture is a dinner napkin I just brought in and it is not completely dry, but it is one of my favorite materials.

By Robyn Fed from Hampton TN

Paper or Fabric? What Napkins Save the Most Money?

A major expense in any household shouldn't be the napkins that sit on the dining room table, but it is an expense. As we move towards reuse more and more, the question of the paper napkin takes on more importance. They are certainly filling landfills, and each one costs a fraction of a penny.

Yet, fabric napkins are a larger initial expense with endless wash cycles awaiting their lifetime. Which is for the better good, both environmentally and economically?

Paper Prices vs. Fabric Investment

The initial investment for fabric napkins can be daunting. They can be made at home or purchased in the clearance aisle of the store, but they still are going to cost at least $2 a piece.

Remember when selecting your fabric napkins that they will have to withstand many, many washes. A thinly woven fabric or straight end stitching may not hold up to the wear and tear that these pieces will need to endure. A good set of fabric napkins that are not on sale will cost $10 for a pair. If your family has four members, you can expect to dirty a dozen napkins a day.

The paper napkins have an obviously lower initial investment. A pack of 250 generic paper napkins can be found on sale for $1.50. This less than $2 investment will last about 21 days if used at the same rate of the fabric napkins above.

It should be noted, however, that the fabric napkins are larger and will absorb more than the paper napkins, making the average use of paper much higher.

WINNER: paper

Maintenance of Paper and Fabric

There is no maintenance needed for paper napkins - just use and toss. However, they go somewhere once the garbage is collected each week. The Sierra Club calculates that a family of four that eats three meals a day will use 4,380 paper napkins a year. Add that to the rest of the families in America, and you've created 4 billion pounds of landfill waste and harvested 34 million trees. It's not a monetary cost, but it's a notable one.

For fabric napkins, the maintenance is the turnoff for most. Twelve napkins a day turns into 84 napkins per week which is easily two loads of laundry. The average cost for a load of laundry using electrically heated water and an electric clothes dryer is $1.20 per load.

Of course, hanging the napkins out to dry on a line is even more economical, bringing the cost per load down to $0.70. The water, soaps, and electric used are a smaller drain on the environment than the landfill waste of paper napkins, while the economic waste is much higher.

The monthly maintenance of fabric napkins will be about $10. The monthly purchase price of paper napkins is less than $5.

WINNER: environmentally, fabric; economically, paper

Production Problems

There is no money taken from your wallet during the production of paper or fabric napkins. However, there are environmental concerns. While paper manufacturing is a major environmental contaminant, cotton production isn't much better.

In fact, a few eco-friends insist that cotton dying and refining does more environmental damage than the manufacture of low quality paper like the type used in paper napkins. However, organic cotton or linen napkins are created in a much safer and cleaner process, so they would be better for the planet than the paper in that sense.

WINNER: Tie

The Overall Winner?

When adding the environmental factor, there is not clear cut winner. Fabric seems like the solution, but it may not be when all is factored into the equation. For convenience, paper napkins win without a doubt. Similarly, the paper napkins win the frugality contest as well.

What seemed like an easy decision may not have come out with the expected winner. Fabric napkins are elegant and scream of environmental correctness, but when it comes down to it they're not the least expensive choice.

By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

Saving Money On Napkins

Thrifty Reusable Napkins

Instead of paper towels, we use washcloths for napkins. Purchase small dishtowels and dishcloths for napkins; they can be laundered and even ironed!

By WANJOY

Recycle Tablecloths

When my tablecloths wear out in the middle, I cut down the usable part and make cloth napkins out of it.

By Cindy K.

Kitchen Towels

We use old kitchen towels that don't seem pretty enough to hang up any more. It doesn't matter what the kids (or us) spill on it, and they wash really easily when needed.

By Beth

Extra Fast Food Napkins

We carry the paper napkins we get from fast food in the car so when we have a mess they are already there. I make my own cloth napkins and use them for everyday living and for facial tissue.

By Ziggee

Saving Napkins From Delivery and Take Out

Save those extra napkins provided when you get takeout or delivery food! They're just the right size to pack in lunch boxes or to keep in the car's glove compartment.

By Jennifer

Scraps of Fabric

About 20 years ago, a friend gave me a bag of scraps of fabric. They were too heavy for quilting, so I made table napkins. They just started wearing out a couple of years ago. Most of them are still in service.

By Coreen

Dollar Store Napkins

I buy my napkins at the dollar store. You get 150 to 200 for $1.00

By Cheryl

Hankies

When my husband was younger he would get hankies with a dress suit, shirt and tie. Usually they were mostly white and a few were colored. We didn't know what to do with them, so I saved them. I don't know of anyone ever using these to wipe their nose. When my children were small we used these as table napkins and I washed them after every meal. It was part of the table setting. Now my kids always look for the cloth napkin at every dinner, whether formal or not. Now I watch for more at thrift stores and garage sales. I still use these now and when I buy a tablecloth I don't have to look for the coordinating napkins because I have them at home! I never use paper.

By Barb

Dishtowels as Napkins

I have purchased dishtowels or dishcloths and used them for napkins. I also have regular cloth napkins that I bought as seconds. They are just as nice as expensive ones. Each person in my family has his or her own napkin ring, so we only change napkins when they are soiled. When buying napkins, buy good quality napkins on sale rather than cheaply made ones, as they last so much longer. They are less expensive in the long run.

By Louel53

Make Your Own

Material is fairly inexpensive at thrift stores (old tablecloths, or clothes) cut down (to about 11 1/2" square) fold over the edges (1/4" on all four sides) and sew them down. You have a 10 1/2" napkin.

By Dahart

Good Weight Fabric

I have made a bunch. I used good weight fabric and they refuse to wear out.

By Rosie

Using Cloth Placemats and Napkins

Use cloth placemats and napkins. They're a treat you'll come to enjoy every day.

Cloth placemats and napkins dress up your table, help with any spills, keep the dishes and silverware more quiet from banging on the table, and set the mood for your meal. They are easy to make, or you can buy them at thrift stores. Mix and match, according to your mood. They are easier to care for than a larger bulkier tablecloth. Wash them with your kitchen towels.

You will get so accustomed to this little luxury that you'll never want to use a flimsy scratchy expensive paper napkins again, and you'll feel your table is incomplete without the nice look and feel of placemats & cloth napkins.

I've used them for years now and I don't fuss with them. They come off the line and I fold them, and use. No ironing allowed. I do have a few that should be dried hanging straight or over a wooden rack in order to come out nice and flat. Sometimes my guests have reservations about using my "good" cloth napkins and they actually apologize for getting the napkin dirty. I laugh to put them at ease and say, that's all I use and I wash them with the towels. Go for it!

By Jayne