Do you use napkins at meal times?

[Dillytante]

I went a proper 'ladies wot lunch' lunch this week, all matching china, jugs of elderflower & 3 types of salad. It was lovely, & so far above my hostessing skills that I am not even on the same scale. I don't even have matching crockery, which I'm ok about, I just have stuff I like. But what struck me most was the napkins. They were paper, granted, but floral & lovely. It's not like they were leftover Christmas napkins or Peppa Pig ones.

So do you all have napkins? Do you have linen ones? Are they special occasion things or do you have them with every meal? I don't have 'guests' very often, but when I do they make do with kitchen roll. But then it is usually good friends.

Tell me, have I been committing social suicide until now?

[ItsYonliMe]

We always use napkins (kitchen roll, paper or cotton, depending on event). It's second nature to me to grab a square of kitchen roll even when I sit down to a quick lunch on my own.

If I'm at friends and they don't have napkins I feel really uncomfortable . How do I wipe my mouth after eating?

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

Sorry but napkins around the collar is just plain wrong...

And why would you even need kitchen towel with a meal? I don't get it. To me, napkins are like place mats, table cloth and table runners. They are their to dress the table. To make the setting naice. They don't serve any real functions.

[FlatCapAndAWhippet]

Ikea pretty paper ones for us every day, cotton and linen ones when we have visitors.

[ItsYonliMe]

OneLittleToddleTerror "napkins are like place mats etc. They are their (sic) to dress the table. They don't serve any real functions (sic)"

Some people have table manners and others (obviously) don't.

[PigeonPie]

I am at the amount of disposable kitchen roll and paper napkins people use - unit must cost a fortune and isn't great for the environment either!

Washable napkins laundered weekly must take far less energy.

For lunchboxes I put in cheap Ikea flannels to wipe fingers on as I didn't think napkins would go down well but is a lot more economical than 10 pieces of kitchen roll a week.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Napkins tucked into the collar cease to be 'wrong' when you have FourLittleToddlerTerrors; believe me.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

These are the clips we used to keep the napkins on when they were all little:

www.kipiis.com/bibclips.php

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

three . I'm sure you are right. I'm still at the PSB stage, as can be seen from my nic.

ItsYonliMe, so I don't have table manners because I don't bother with laying the table out for a family meal . I would like to think I'm just more casual.

And I'm with PigeonPie about the waste of paper with all the disposable napkins and kitchen towels.

[ItsYonliMe]

Onelittle...nothing to do with laying a table, it's the fact you don't think napkins serve any function

[expatinscotland]

'I am at the amount of disposable kitchen roll and paper napkins people use - unit must cost a fortune and isn't great for the environment either!

Washable napkins laundered weekly must take far less energy.

They are cheap as chips in ASDA and biodegrade.

Your napkins last an entire week without needing to be washed?

No chance of that with my kids. Or me. I really wouldn't fancy using the same napkin for an entire week.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

I buy the little napkins from IKEA which I keep in a holder on the table. If you need one you take one, but not all meals warrant it so we don't go through them that fast. DC, despite being old enough to know better and being told millions and millions of times, still absent-mindedly wipe their nasty greasy finger on their clothes if there isn't anything else about.

I wrap their packed lunch sandwiches in a piece of kitchen towel (rather than stick it in a sandwich bag) and that way they have something to wipe their fingers on at school too.

[VisualiseAHorse]

We use linens ones when family or guests visit and we eat at the table...the rest of the time we eat on the couch and use kitchen roll :D

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

ItsYonliMe no I don't see napkins serve any functions because I never drop food on my lap. I don't get my hand dirty either. I have cutlery. I also don't leave sauce around my mouth.

Honestly, I don't see anyone in my office using a napkin for lunch either. No one have messy hands or trousers after lunch. So obviously there are many of us capable of finishing a meal without making a mess.

[seeker]

Do you lick your lips, then?

[Jan49]

I agree with OneLittleToddlerTerror. I don't actually find any need for napkins. I just put them on the table when guests come so they can use them if they want to. But I don't feel the need to wipe my hands or face after a meal. If my hands were sticky from something I'd eaten without cutlery, then I'd wash them.

[fantashtic]

I don't understand why you need different rings to differentiate who's cotton/linen napkin is who's? Don't they get washed after each use?

We use paper napkins or paper towels if we've run out.

[ifancyashandy]

No, not washed every day. The ones in my family don't get dirty every time you put them out - they may not get used. They get chucked in the wash every other day or before if necessary. So the reigns are to differentiate between each persons if they've been put out but not made dirty.

[ifancyashandy]

Reigns? . That'll be rings.

[haggisaggis]

When I first stayed in halls of residence (about 25 years ago!!) we all had our own cotton napkin and numbered napkin ring. They stayed in a rack of numbered pigeon holes at the door to the dining room and we each took our own before every meal and replaced them afterwards.. Think they got washed weekly. Seems so old fashioned now.
At home growing up we had cloth napkins and our own silver napkin rings, but I've not kept up the tradition (although after this I might restart it..)

[MelanieCheeks]

I don't use napkins. I don't think I even OWN any cloth/ linen ones.

If I have guests, I might plonk some paper napkins on the table to be used if need be. If we're eating something that might be messy/ finger foody, I'll have the kitchen roll nearby.

We all seem to manage to get the food into our mouths without too much spillage. Is licking of lips another example of bad table-manners? Gosh.

[Bonsoir]

Yes, of course.

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

seeker, like jan49 if I have something like pizza, I would go and wash my hands and face in toilet. Same if I think my mouth is sticky with sauce. Tbh, even when I'm out, I tend to go to the toilets after food to reapply lipsticks and also check if there are veg stuck between my teeth. (I'm paranoid about walking around with a piece of spinach on my teeth ).

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

melanie I'm not sure about the licking the lips reference either. I assume seeker means we use our tongues to clean our mouths?

I also use the kitchen roll on table tactic if we eat something very very messy. But honestly I can't remember the last time we have something like that. I don't even get sticky hands with pizza as I hold the bread bit. Paper napkins are there for guests as part of the table dressing.

[pussycatwillum]

Napkins? No.
We just wear long-sleeved tops.

We use napkins at every meal because we are messy eaters. I regularly drop things down my front, get things on my fingers and definitely need to wipe my mouth . I have been trying, really I have.
We have a variety of seersucker napkins for every day inherited from MiL. But obviously ours don't last a week without washing.