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!
I use cloth napkins almost exclusively. Got some (polyester & even solid cotton) that can be washed w/ bleach to sanitize. No ironing either! Throw them in washer w/ kitchen towels which I also bleach. I have many kitchen towels & use several daily for many things (dishes, hands, counters) but it still beats the $ and fuss of using paper. Cloth just works better. I use "bar mop towels", white terry w/ little blue stripe purchased in bulk @ shopping club warehouse, so they're all the same & don't have to worry about ruining pricey towels. When they get too stained they become rags w/ an "X" drawn on one corner to let everyone know they are the rags for really dirty chores. Rags are washed separately from the towels. I know I am saving even w/ the laundry I do b/c of the quantity of paper towels & napkins we would breeze through in a day! Once, though, I had someone not used to such things as cloth napkins inadvertently use one as a nose hankie ...oops! & then tossed it in the trash can!!! & often guests are "afraid" to use the cloth napkin, esp. w/ their kids. They say it's too good, don't you have paper...nope!
I found I could save money and on recycling by using cloth napkins instead of buying paper napkins. I just throw them in with the other wash and it doesn't cost anything extra. And, using them makes me feel special!
That is exactly what I do! I also change my placemats, etc., with the seasons. Right now I have my "fall" things out. I also decorate the table with pumpkins and fall flowers.
Another thing I do is use my sterling flatware for every day use. Why save it just for company!
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