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Bad Manners and Brimstone
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#Post#: 19575--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: RubyCat
Date: November 22, 2018, 6:29 am
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--- Quote from: Aleko link ---
>
> Ours is a two-person household, and we always use cloth
napkins at dinner, in our personal napkin rings so we know whose
is which. If I'm serving anything particularly messy, or that
needs handwork, I add paper napkins as well. When we have
company, of course they are given cloth napkins matching ours
(not in rings) which go into the laundry basket afterwards. But
unless our own napkins acquire any grease/sauce/other stains,
they are routinely used all week.
>
> I find it bizarre and rather alarming that several people here
say they couldn't contemplate re-using a spotless napkin, even
if they know they are the person who used it previously -
essentially, they feel that just by being laid on their
(clothed) lap it has become !!!CONTAMINATED!!! and must be
washed. Though, tbh, I think I understand why so many people
here report having food intolerances. That level of
hyper-hygiene, carried across all aspects of your life, amounts
to a recipe for an insufficient immune system.
>
--- End Quote ---
What I can't contemplate is having a spotless napkin. Maybe I'm
a messy eater.
#Post#: 19577--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: Lula
Date: November 22, 2018, 6:44 am
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Grossgrossgrossgrossgross! Are we supposed to share
handkerchiefs, too? Turn the cloth diaper inside-out and use it
again?!
#Post#: 19579--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: Aleko
Date: November 22, 2018, 7:47 am
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--- Quote ---
> Are we supposed to share handkerchiefs, too?
--- End Quote ---
Nobody has been suggesting that - not anyone here, not Miss
Manners, and hopefully not her original LW. The only proper
function of the napkin ring, which should always be marked with
the owner's name or monogram, or otherwise be distinctive, is to
mark whose napkin is whose. (It's actually bad manners to use
them for dinner party guests, as it implies that you are going
to stash each napkin unwashed so you can use them the next time
these people dine with you again.)
In old-fashioned guesthouses in German-speaking countries they
sometimes give people staying en pension little linen wallets,
each with a name card, to put their folded-up napkins in after
the meal.
Edited to add:
Well known but probably apocryphal English anecdote: the Duke of
Devonshire (or any other duke, or the future Edward VII - take
your pick) is walking around a charity bazaar he has just opened
(or visiting his own silversmiths to order a new service), and
notices some decorative rings. He asks his man of business, who
is with him what they could possibly be for, and the m-o-b
explains that middle-class people use them to store their
napkins in between meals. The Duke asks, aghast, "Do they not
use a fresh [starched damask linen] napkin at every meal? Good
God! I never knew such poverty existed!"
#Post#: 19580--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: bridalviolet
Date: November 22, 2018, 7:49 am
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It's just my husband and me in our household, we use cloth
napkins and will re-use them if there are no obvious stains. I
change them out two or three times a week, but we certainly
re-use them, say at breakfast and then again at dinner that same
day.
I wonder if people feel the same way about bath towels? Will
they hang a used towel to dry and re-use it, or do they want a
fresh towel each time they shower? Not being snarky, honestly
want to know. (As with napkins, we re-use and get a fresh one
about twice a week.)
#Post#: 19581--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: vintagegal
Date: November 22, 2018, 8:42 am
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I have heard of people who use a fresh towel each time they
shower or bathe. I can't even contemplate the level of laundry
that creates.
#Post#: 19582--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: Rose Red
Date: November 22, 2018, 9:01 am
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Hopefully after you bathe or shower, there's no grease or sauce
to dirty up the towels.
If your napkin don't get dirty, great, reuse them. However, I
think most of us are imaging napkins that's stained by dinner.
Like if you eat fried chicken or grilled cheese and wiping your
hands and mouth. And what kids and even teens can manage to do
to them!
I would at least rinse a napkin and hang it to dry after use.
Even though it's my own mouth, I don't want to wipe it again
because of food particles marinating overnight on the napkin.
What others do with their own personal napkin is none of my
business.
#Post#: 19588--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: Aleko
Date: November 22, 2018, 9:54 am
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--- Quote ---
> I have heard of people who use a fresh towel each time they
shower or bathe. I can't even contemplate the level of laundry
that creates.
--- End Quote ---
Me neither. Unless you are belong to the King Henry VIII school
of thought re bathing (don't use any water, just play a good
hard game of tennis to raise a sweat, then wipe off the sweat
with a scented towel and put on a clean shirt), sending a towel
to the wash every time you use it is just wantonly and
pointlessly polluting the world.
#Post#: 19589--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: bridalviolet
Date: November 22, 2018, 10:07 am
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Re napkins: we certainly use paper napkins if we're doing
something messy--sloppy joes or something like that. And if
there were children in the house I'm sure we would go paper all
the way!
#Post#: 19597--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: peony
Date: November 22, 2018, 12:49 pm
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If I used cloth napkins I would wash them after every use.
However, I change my bath towels once a week. My reasoning is
that your mouth and food residue is on the napkins but the
towels are at least in theory pretty clean.
#Post#: 19602--------------------------------------------------
Re: Miss Manners 2012 : Reusing cloth napkins
DIR By: OnyxBird
Date: November 22, 2018, 1:54 pm
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--- Quote from: bridalviolet link ---
>
> It's just my husband and me in our household, we use cloth
napkins and will re-use them if there are no obvious stains. I
change them out two or three times a week, but we certainly
re-use them, say at breakfast and then again at dinner that same
day.
> I wonder if people feel the same way about bath towels? Will
they hang a used towel to dry and re-use it, or do they want a
fresh towel each time they shower? Not being snarky, honestly
want to know. (As with napkins, we re-use and get a fresh one
about twice a week.)
>
--- End Quote ---
My family used cloth napkins all the time I was growing up, and
we re-use them as well. Everybody in the family has their own
unique napkin ring to keep them unambiguously identified (we've
had some really fun ones picked up at antique stores, etc., over
the years). We wash after multiple days of use or earlier if we
decide they are getting too dirty. If we have a particularly
messy meal (and I find them a lot more effective than a paper
napkin for that), then they get tossed into the wash and we pull
out clean ones. Anyone who is thinks their own napkin is too
dirty for re-use can toss theirs in the wash and get another
one--no one's going to force someone to re-use a napkin they
think is too dirty. For single-meal guests, it's a moot point,
but for multi-day visits, we have extra (unique) napkin rings
for guests. And again, anyone who thinks their napkin is "too
dirty" would be given a fresh one. If a guest wanted a fresh
napkin for every meal, we might find it a bit silly unless they
were a particularly messy eater (and I don't think it's ever
happened), but it wouldn't be a problem...It would, however, be
an issue if a guest expressed disgust at the fact that we re-use
our own napkins.
As you mention, we also routinely re-use our own bath towels,
sheets, etc., multiple times before laundering unless they get
unusually dirty. People are arguing that towels are different
because you're clean when you use them, but there are a lot of
people who shower in the morning rather than before bed (and
even those that shower at night still can have stuff on their
feet from walking around post-shower, sweat during the night,
etc.), yet sheets are not routinely washed daily. Aside from
cloth items, toothbrushes literally go in our mouths to remove
food debris and usually reside in the bathroom, yet those are
expected to
HTML https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/faqs/toothbrush-handling.html<br
/>be re-used daily for months and just be rinsed in between
uses.
I don't get why re-using napkins in particular is so horrific to
people, unless it's just the common principle that anything a
given person considers "normal" seems self-evidently fine while
anything "not normal" is easily labeled as
[gross/dangerous/evil/negative adjective of your choice].
I've got to say, the posters (not the OP!) who jumped straight
to calling it unequivocally "gross," "disgusting," and
comparable to reusing diapers have probably killed the chances
of getting an unbiased set of answers. :( Who isn't going to
hesitate to honestly answer your question if they know fellow
posters are going to react like they said they smear dog poop on
the table?
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