The other day, a customer was telling me how she has stacks of cloth napkins (8 of these; 10 of those; 12 of this, etc.) – ahh, a person after my own heart. She really gets the napkin obsession, and I appreciate that.
We have a whole drawer-full of napkins at home. We use them, wash them, cycle through them constantly. I don't think about it, just wash and fold (no ironing needed). I can't even imagine buying paper napkins (except for cocktail size, which is nice for your bar). There is a nice environmental aspect to cloth napkins, but more than that, it's just pleasant to have a soft cotton (or linen) napkin to use, and it looks so much better on the table.
Napkin rings were originally meant to be different for each person (or engraved) so that you could use the same napkin for a few days and know whose is whose. These days, maybe people think napkin rings are just decorative, to use only for a formal dinner... but there's really no reason to corral your napkin (or identify it) if you're only going to use it once. Napkin rings are for every day; we love collecting vintage ones engraved with someone else's name (Robert's favorite is engraved with "Louie").
A few months ago, our local paper ran an article about making fancy folds in napkins for special dinners. You know, the upright fan, the swan... the type of napkin you might see in a classic restaurant, where the waiter would come along and snap it off your plate and present it to you with a balletic gesture. Honestly, I thought they looked silly (especially the turkey-shaped napkin!), and were a waste of time.
But the worst part was the suggestion that you spray them with starch first, then iron in some of the stiff folds needed for the fanciful shapes. This goes against my main napkin rules: that they be soft, and smell good! Instead of spray starch, I suggest a little spritz of lavender linen water. Not enough to take over, but just a hint, so that when you bring up your soft cotton napkin to your mouth, you get just a faint whiff of something fresh and nice. Our new linen sprays from Durance (in such heavenly scents as peony, lavender, nuit coquine) are perfect for spritzing napkins (and pillows and sheets).
I'm really excited by a new line of linens we found at market (just arrived!). These soft cotton napkins come in sets of four: each one a different tone of the same color family. There's no reason your napkins have to match, and I love the idea of having different shades in the same palette. Just another way to tell the napkins apart, and add a little fun splash of color to the table. I'm wondering which ones we want to add to our own collection... decisions, decisions. A few pictures:
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