It’s all too easy to skip the niceties of a beautiful life in the name of ease and convenience. Sadly, I see many people opting for paper plates and paper towels rather than real dishes and cloth napkins. But it really isn’t that difficult to set a cozy supper table. It just takes a bit of a mindset change.
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Cloth Napkins and Real Dishes
Cloth Napkins
I do understand that to some, cloth napkins might seem a bit fussy these days. In fact, I was surprised to read a couple of articles about the fact that paper napkins are becoming obsolete. Apparently people are using paper towels instead.
I began using cloth napkins several years ago but until that point I always bought paper napkins which I folded into a triangle and placed to the left of the plate, just like my mother taught me.
I was still using paper towels in those days, too, but it never occurred to me to substitute those for paper napkins. And I’ve even noticed a fair number of folks who don’t even bother with paper towels unless eating something with the fingers.
It’s really not that difficult or time-consuming to use cloth napkins. I happen to like mine ironed but then again, I’m the one who irons her pillow cases every week, too. In fact, I generally iron napkins while I have the ironing board set up to iron pillow cases. It takes only a few minutes and I like the looks of an ironed napkin.
But if you remove them from the dryer immediately, smooth and fold right away, most cloth napkins are perfectly fine for day-to-day family use.
Another option is to use fingertip towels for napkins. These wash and dry very easily and of course, require no ironing.
My recommendation is to buy dark colored napkins so stains are not much of an issue. Have you noticed that many restaurants these days use black napkins? While I do have a variety of cloth napkins, including white, our usual choice for a family dinner is black, as you can see in this photo:
These are the ones I have:
Real Dishes
First of all, allow me to say that I absolutely believe there are circumstances when paper plates are a reasonable choice. A new baby, elderly folks with mobility issues, illness, large parties, etc. Years ago when we remodeled our kitchen I used paper plates almost exclusively because I’m not a fan of washing dishes in a bathtub.
About a decade ago I got more serious about eco-issues and started eliminating disposables, a little at a time. Until then, I kept paper plates on hand and it wasn’t unusual for us to use them for a lunchtime sandwich. However, we always used the “real dishes” for dinners (except during the aforementioned kitchen remodeling).
Until we all started posting pictures of our meals on Facebook and Instagram I didn’t realize how many people eat all their meals on paper plates. I’ll see the most delicious-looking meals on a paper plate and this always surprises me.
I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m being judgmental or snobbish. Honestly, I believe we all deserve to live our lives according to our own standards and that our homes should be a place of comfort and respite.
We tend to repeat the patterns of behavior we grew up with. If your mom served dinner on paper plates with paper towels instead of napkins, that seems like the norm and you’re likely to do the same.
My mom wasn’t “fancy”. We ate on real dishes and used paper napkins but it wasn’t unusual for us to eat on T.V. trays in front of the television. I was the one who would occasionally ask if we could use the good china and silver. When I was in high school we lived in a large home with a formal dining room. We also had an informal dining room but most of the time we ate at the bar in our recreation room with the T.V. on. I loved our beautiful dining room, though, and once in awhile I’d get out the china, polish the silver and set the table. The rest of the family would humor me and my “fancy” ways.
We don’t have a separate dining room in this house, something I do miss. But we have a breakfast nook in the kitchen where we eat most of our meals. As you can see in the picture below, it is far from fancy. My wedding china and Mom’s silver would look a little silly in here so on more formal occasions I set up a table in our family room. The rest of the time we use our everyday dishes and flatware at the kitchen table.
Like so many aspects of homemaking, it doesn’t take much to elevate the everyday and make it just a tiny bit special. And I honestly find that I enjoy putting a little effort into making things prettier.
If you’re in the paper plate and paper towel habit, I challenge you to pull out the real dishes and then set the table for just one dinner this coming week. If you have cloth napkins, use those, too. If not, consider purchasing an inexpensive package of paper napkins. If you have any flowers blooming in your yard, cut a few and put them in a vase on the table or create some other type of centerpiece. Maybe even light a candle or two.
Take your time and enjoy a relaxed meal at the table with your family (or even just by yourself). You might just find yourself doing this on a regular basis.
Your Thoughts
What about you? Do you set the table with real dishes and napkins? If so, is that what you grew up with? Likewise, if you prefer paper plates and paper towels, it that because you are just used to it? Is it a habit you’d like to change? Or is this simply not something that matters to you one way or another? I’d love to hear your thoughts…and no judgment from me!
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Note: My dishes came from Walmart over 15 years ago. They aren’t Fiesta but look very similar.
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When we downsized last year, we sold the 42 year old wedding china and bought Corelle and never looked back. One day I ran out of paper napkins and had to find my pretty cloth ones. And again, I never looked back. Since then I have made more and we only use cloth napkins now. I don’t iron them, but they still look pretty on the table. Usually, I find remnants at JoAnne and use them to make two or four napkins.
My grandma and at least a couple of my aunts always used Corelle – white with blue flowers. 🙂 I love the idea of making napkins from fabric remnants. As soon as I get my office/craft room set up I’ll have room to easily set up the sewing machine. I’ll have to start looking for pretty fabric for napkins. Thanks for the idea!
I have used cloth napkins for many years. When my kids were at home, we’d use the same napkin for several days and to differentiate napkins we all had our own special napkin ring (mine had a teapot on it!). I have a set of sturdy white linen ones for special occasions, otherwise I have different cotton ones for each season. Another inexpensive way to have a bunch of napkins is to pick up bandanas at the craft store. Easy to wash and a good size – especially for messy little ones. I even put a cloth napkin in my lunch box.
When I decluttered all my dishes a few years ago, I decided to just use our “wedding china.” Mind you, it is not precious — it’s a pretty Mikasa and is not delicate, and we only ever had 6 place settings. But we use it every day, including the cups and saucers.
May as well use your good stuff for the most part — every day is a celebration! Plus, I found that my children behaved better when the good stuff was out. How else will they learn table manners and how to properly use a knife and fork?
About 7 years ago I pulled our wedding china out and started using it every day. So until we sold it last year we got some good use out of it. When I went to Corelle, I decided we needed something more or less indestructible. My husband has some tremors in his hands and the C works for us now Back in 1974, our every day was Corelle harvest gold. So we started with it and will finish with it.
I’ve never personally owned Corelle but ate off it often as a kid at Grandma’s or my aunt’s house. I don’t recall seeing any of it ever get broken. Must be pretty sturdy because there were 11 grandchildren in and out of my grandparents’ house all the time.
Lynne: We often use our napkins a few times if they still look clean, especially the black ones. I love the fact you are using your china every day. I have three of the cups and saucers from mine which I keep in with the regular dishes and use them for my hot tea every day. I’m in the process of rearranging some cupboards and plan to move my good china into the kitchen where it will be handy. I’d like to start using it for at-home date nights, at least.
I, also, love to eat at our tabel with my homemade plaid tablecloth. Our multicolored Fiestaware is set with cloth napkins that originally belonged to my Grandmother. She used them for special meals during the year. They are white with an embossed designed and wash up beautifully. I hang dry them outside in the sunshine whenever possible. They are 100% cotton. I’m not sure how much the quality of cotton has changed since I was a very young child 60 years ago, but I have no problem with stains. Many spaghetti meals have been eaten while using them. And many of these meals they have been used by our six grandchildren. They are still going strong albeit a bit thinner each year!
Oh, how nice to have such lovely napkins! I’ve thought about starting to collect white napkins at antique stores. They wouldn’t need to match as long as they were white. I think that would be really special to have. How nice that your grandchildren have been able to share in the history of your grandmother’s napkins. Thank you for your comment.
We don’t have any paper plates. My parents used to always make sure we had some for parties and big gatherings, but since we’re not much in to parties and big gatherings we don’t bother. I never even knew there were people who used them for day to day use (though there are times, when there are a lot of dishes to do, that I wish there weren’t plates and things to wash on top of everything else, so I can sort of see why people would).
I don’t use napkins at home. I make use of them – paper, cloth, or whatever – when we eat out, but don’t see the point at home. I know how to do the fancy folding, but don’t see the need to bother. My Mam used to do it for special meals (Christmas dinner, and that sort of thing) and I would too if I was setting a fancy table, I guess. But that’s about it. Personally, I have a cloth of some description on hand if I’m eating something where my hands will be very likely to get sticky. Otherwise I just go wash my hands after dinner.
We have never used paper plates in our house except for the times where we’ve had big family celebrations, such as kid’s birthdays or graduations. And I stopped using paper napkins many years ago, too. My decisions were environmental reasons. I agree with using dark napkins…I have navy blue and another set that’s red and blue. I had some yellow ones and they showed stains. You sound like my mom with ironing pillowcases and napkins – she still does that, too. I don’t iron unless I absolutely have to! 😉
And you sound like MY mom. She doesn’t even own an iron anymore. 🙂
Yes! My partner and I use real plates and cloth napkins: I like the look and the eco-friendliness, and he likes the fact that it’s much more frugal than tossing disposables. We set the table for dinner, but usually just eat breakfast and lunch at the breakfast bar.
Our dishware is plain white china from Cost Plus World Market. It shows off the food more prettily IMO and goes with everything. I can change out the napkins and tablecloth to match seasons, holidays or just my mood. I got a set of 4 placesettings reasoning that we seldom have more than one other couple over at a time, and if we do something bigger, we’ll have time to plan borrowing dishes before the event.
We don’t iron our napkins and we also re-use ours for a couple meals.
I’ve been wanting plain white dishes for that exact reason. I really need to up my food photography game for the blog and I know white plates would look nice. I ended up with 16 plates (the ones that look like Fiesta Ware). I had bought 8 and my mom had done the same. Then a few years later she gave me hers. That’s about as many guests as we are ever likely to feed at a time. I agree with you about the eco-friendly aspect and that is a large part of why do it.
When I was first divorced back in 1991 and moved into a home of my own I promptly bought an attractive set of stoneware from the dollar store and we used that set at the dining room table to eat dinner each night. After I met John and we melded families, it was three meals a day at the table most days and I used only real plates (or melamine but mostly stoneware) and real napkins because we were too broke to spend funds on paper products that weren’t necessary. We still use real plates (Corelle now but I too long for the plain white stoneware or something pretty and vintage) and real napkins. I’ve had really good luck picking up nice sets of napkins in thrift stores of all sorts from plain cotton to fancy embroidered and even linen. We use them all. I don’t even min the stains on them, if they are clean and neatly folded that generally doesn’t show. If we have a big family gathering it often goes to paper plates and napkins then. And John insists upon buying paper plates for our supper sandwiches now. It’s a kindness on his part to ‘save’ me doing dishes in the evening since he feels I do quite enough making the other two meals and clearing up behind each day. I don’t believe I will ever want to use a paper plate again for a meal though beyond that evening one and the occasional big family gathering. It feels both wasteful and off somehow to deal with paper plates and napkins for every meal.
That’s sweet of John to want to ease your work load. 🙂
I stopped using paper napkins years ago and never used paper plates. Cloth napkins just get thrown in with the rest of the wash and, Voila! I have eliminated plastic storage (reheating food in it gives me the heeby-geebies) and I throw a cloth napkin in my daily lunch pouch. I have even reduced my use of paper towels. Use dish cloths and old T-shirts for cleaning…again in the washer and ready for the next scrub. My workplace, adidas-golf, has stopped using paper plates, paper cups and plastic ware. adidas has even started making shoes from plastic ocean waste – check out the Parley shoes – beautiful. All part of a global initiative to get rid of the waste. It truly is a movement that everyone should embrace.
It can sound difficult but if you make changes one at a time, eventually you don’t even give it a second thought. I have one roll of paper towels tucked away in a cabinet. A roll will last me a couple of years.
I’m really happy to hear about what Adidas is doing. My daughter blogs about green issues. I’ll mention that to her. And I’ll certainly keep it in mind next time I’m in the market for running shoes.
I love dishes. Honestly, I could have a set for each week of the month, and that’s being frugal. I have every day dishes – mine also came from Walmart, nearly 15 years ago. I also have my wedding china that I use when I host Thanksgiving for my family. I admire you ladies that use your china on the daily, and will spend some time considering that. I also have service for 20 – clear, glass plates and every glass imaginable from cocktail glasses to white wine glasses to red wine glasses, champagne, martini, you name it. And, those all came from Dollar Tree. Yes – dollar tree. I found, there for a while, that I was doing more hosting for showers, birthday parties, etc, that required service for many and was spending more than $1 a plate for paper items that were just getting pitched. I feel it is a wonderful solution if you have the cabinet space. I always use cloth napkins, too, although I only iron the ones at Thanksgiving.
My mother has a love for dishes. We never used paper plates growing up. I can’t recall whether or not we always used cloth napkins, but I do know that anytime we had a celebration, birthday or otherwise, there were ironed napkins on the table, along with homemade bread and everything from scratch. I think it’s more about what makes you happy than genetics, however. My sister is the opposite of me on most things. It’s what gives her peace to enjoy things. For me, I find peace in the prepping.
I buy wine glasses at Dollar Tree, too! More than once a guest has accidentally broken a wine glass and I love being able to tell them not to worry because they were only a dollar. I have clear glass dessert/salad plates and matching coffee mugs which I bought many years ago at Walmart and lots of plain white bowls from Dollar Tree. As you say, as long as you have room to store them it’s a lot cheaper than buying paper items. Plus, there are foods which are simply a pain to try to eat on paper plates.
I love this post! I use placemats and napkins on my table. I always light taper candles especially as we go into the fall and winter evenings, here in Calgary we have had snow and it can be quite dreary.
I usually check Home Sense , Marshall’s for cloth napkins . We just had our Thanksgiving I changed things up this year I went with a black and white check tablescape it was easy I picked up some black dinner and side plates from Dollar Tree. White candles, black napkins.
That sounds lovely! If you have a photo I’d love to see it.
Always tablecloths and cloth napkins. Yes, I iron them before I put them on even if they are permanent press – they just look better. While I have many colors and patterns, my favorites are white linen damask that can be had inexpensively at any thrift store and stains wash right out. A lovely table with a simple vase of flowers is beneficial for health and digestion. Meals are taken at a slower more mindful pace and conversation is easier. As for china, I have Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer everyday patterns, my wedding china, and some Limoges that we inherited. I use them all on a regular basis.
My mother was a politician’s wife in the 60s and 70s so she entertained frequently and could throw a huge party at the drop of a hat. We always had real dishes but I honestly don’t remember what kind of napkins we used daily. She never entertained with paper anything. She was elegant, kind, strong-willed, adventurous, religious, open-minded and hilarious. I miss her.
What a lovely example she set for you! She sounds fascinating. I’d love to hear more about her if you’d like to share.