Keeping Your Napkins Spic and Span: A Gentleman’s Guide to Fabric Care

You’ve invested in some fine cloth napkins – linen, cotton, maybe even a touch of polyester – and you’re looking to keep them looking their best for many a dinner party to come. Well, caring for your napkins is like tending to a prize-winning rosebush – it requires a delicate touch and a bit of know-how. Follow these tips, and your napkins will be the talk of the town, or at the very least, the talk of the dinner table.

• Washing: Now, before you go tossing those fancy napkins in the wash with your work shirts and overalls, hold your horses! Cloth napkins are delicate creatures and deserve to be treated with a bit more respect.
• First of all, read those care labels, friend! They’re there for a reason. Some fabrics, like cotton, can handle a bit of heat, while others, like linen, prefer a more gentle approach.
• And don’t even think about mixing your colors! Keep those whites separate from the colors, unless you’re aiming for a tie-dye effect on your table.
• Drying: Once those napkins are freshly laundered, it’s time to dry them with the utmost care. Now, you could toss them in the dryer with the rest of the laundry, but a true gentleman knows that air-drying is the way to go. Hanging those napkins on a line in the fresh air is like giving them a spa treatment – it’s good for their fibers and leaves them smelling as sweet as a summer breeze.
• Ironing: A crisply ironed napkin is a thing of beauty, my friend, a sign of a true connoisseur of the finer things in life. But before you go pressing those napkins with the same iron you use on your trousers, remember that different fabrics require different temperatures. Linen can handle a bit of heat, while cotton prefers a more moderate touch. And be sure to iron those napkins while they’re still slightly damp – it’ll give them that crisp, professional look.
• Storing: Now, once you’ve gone to all the trouble of washing, drying, and ironing those napkins to perfection, you’ll want to store them properly, wouldn’t you? Folding those napkins neatly and storing them in a cool, dry place will keep them looking their best for years to come.