I lived with a family for a year in France, and we did the knot/napkin ring thing. I love using cloth napkins.

The whole point of a napkin ring was to set aside a cloth napkin for another use between washings.

Using them decoratively or as part of a formal table setting is a relatively new thing and not at all endorsed by Emily Post.

I grew up in Indiana and my family always did this. My mom still does this.

My aunt always had us doing this in Scotland, in the Highlands. Her family tradition since the 30's was using different napkin rings to help guests remember which was theirs.

This concept is new to me. I have inherited and purchased many sets of cloth napkins. I just threw them in the wash and stored the sets together. Never thought about having guest write their names on 'theirs', so that they would have the same napkin each time they sat down to a meal.

I love napkin rings. I guess that makes me déclassé.

But I just like 'em cuz they're purdy. Not because I am reusing unlaundered napkins.

i wouldn't mind if it was MY spaghetti sauce - it would be gross if people were mixing them up but if you're reusing your own ... genius! i always reuse my paper napkins - i think i need to switch :)

I use only cloth napkins at my house. My former mother-in-law used to have us reuse our napkins for subsequent meals when we were visiting her in Pennsylvania---I thought she was just conserving and didn't realize it is a "cultural" practice. :o)

I don't reuse dirty silverware or dinnerware, and I don't see how a dirty napkin is any different.

Can someone explain this to me?

Geeze, guys, it's not like the napkin has gone swimming in grease or something. It's still mostly clean unless you're particuarly sloppy about eating or manage to catch a dish of pasta in your lap. I reuse mine until they seem dirty.

ohjodi, one goes in your mouth. The other one doesn't.

I've always felt it was kind of 'icky' but I never wanted to say anything to my lovely French hosts.

What kind(s) of pen, etc. would you write on the napkins with, that would be sure to come out in the wash?

We do this too but we aren't crazy purists about it-- if the napkin gets disgustingly dirty after a meal of say- tacos (!) we get a new one! :) For the most part though, the napkin stays fairly clean after a meal and we can use it for 2-3 days and then I round the all up and throw them in the wash. I have made housewarming gifts for friends with kids and have appliqued funky initials of each person on the napkins so they know which is theirs.

Oh and I know from marking kids clothes with their names for sleep away camp that Sharpie stays on fairly well. There are also specific cloth markers you can buy at the fabric or craft store...

We do this with cloth toilet paper too! We definitely get a couple of days out of each one.

As a kid I used to visit my friend's family at their country house in France. I thought this was a family tradition until now :)

they kind of look like rags that you just used while changing the oil on ur car lol

sorry

we reuse cloth napkins in my home, and each family member has a clothes pin with their name on it to attach to their napkin after dinner if the napkin is clean enough. for guests, I give them a napkin for every meal.

We use cloth napkins at our summer cottage on an island in the Great Lakes. Everything has to come on or off island in a small boat. A smallish septic tank means one needs to be prudent running the clothes washer, especially when there are many residents using water for personal purposes too.
For one week during the summer there may be up to 15 people for dinner. Result: napkins in 2 dozen different patterns. Buy cloth at shops catering to quilters who need assorted small pieces of cotton. Our aren't hemmed. Each person picks a pattern which is his for the summer.

"Evidently, for example, if invited to a French summer home for the weekend, you're expected to use the same napkin for each meal."

Maybe in the rarefied world of chateau living or among the CBCG set, but most ordinary French families don't do this.

Having lived in France for 10 years, I disagree, FantasticMrFaux. Every "ordinary" French family I know does this. I do it as well.

For those complaining about cleanliness, there are options. First and most obvious, the napkins are cleaned when they get dirty. If you're a guest and your napkin gets dirty enough that you don't want to use it for another meal, you can mention it to the host and they'll throw it in the wash and give you a clean one. Hosts expect this; it's considered polite (so long as you're polite with your request). No host wants their guests to feel uncomfortable with a dirtied napkin!

Second possibility, you learn to eat "cleaner". I have some gorgeous napkins with traditional woven French designs that my French ex-mother-in-law gfited me, and as a result, I never want to get them dirty!

If the meal is a messy finger food, napkins probably need immediate laundering--but for a regular meal eaten with a fork or spoon? The occasional dab at the corner of one's mouth hardly soils the napkin. It is green, reasonable, and normal to re-use the rest of the napkin before expending the water and energy to wash it.

I'm another whose family has always re-used cloth napkins. When I was growing up, it was a way for us to learn to eat in a civilized manner. We ate fried chicken with a knife and fork and I still do. If you use flatware, your napkin will last a week -- barring catastrophies.

I wonder how many of you will be upset to learn that I use a bath towel more than once, too. Hee Hee.

I also use cloth napkins most of the time. I lived in Spain for four years and in my in-laws' home and in most of the homes I visited, cloth napkins were used and used over, each person folded their napkin in their own way to tell them apart. If they were dirty, of course they were laundered, but why waste resources washing something that isn't soiled?

we always use cloth napkins and launder when its obvious they are ready for a cleaning. napkin rings are fun, however déclassé are a fun way to add decoration to the table but most likely are used for company and not just the average dinner. what i really want to do, is what to do with the ADD crowd, specifically my family members who can barely remember what day it is, let alone which napkin is theirs for the weekend.

holy typo on above comment, speaking of ADD.

My mother does this. I didn't realize other people did it too. She also does it with water glasses, especially when there are lots of extended family visiting. Everybody gets a wooden clothespin with their name on it, and you stick it on your glass when you're done. That way, you don't have to wash a glass every time someone gets a drink of water.

The truly hilarious thing to me about this thread is that so many of you are griping about how this is 'déclassé' and disgusting.
However, the truly disgusting and 'déclassé' behavior is insisting that you wash a napkin after every use.

That is not much less wasteful than buying disposables. And seriously, a billion people go without adequate water each day, a BILLION. And yet, you class baiters ('cause that's not tacky) want to waste a tubful of water just so you don't have to touch your precious mouth to a napkin you touched 6 hours ago? Give me a break.

TRUE style has far more to do with HOW you bring beauty into your daily life. and far, far less with the amount of crap you consume.

I think it's never a good idea to take things for granted, or consume for the sake of consuming. It is an attitude I find particularly noxious.

Sahara? Try California.

ohjodi said "I don't reuse dirty silverware or dinnerware, and I don't see how a dirty napkin is any different.

Can someone explain this to me?"

I think the idea is similar to carrying around your own handkerchief ... which people don't really do anymore either, but there was a time when mass produced disposable paper goods weren't readily available to be overused and dumped into landfills - oh, and washing machines weren't the norm either. Let's go back to greener living! :)