I prefer colored/patterned cloth napkins & tablecloths. They hide a multitude of sins & stains. I find that when I use plain white ones, even with bleach, they look dingy.

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Mom to David 11/17/07 & Emily 5/14/09

The price of napkins around here was crazy! I couldn't find any under $5.00 and that was just for 2! Finally a friend and I were out shopping and we found some on a clearance table. I got two packages of 4 of cream and two packages of 4 of green (kind of an olive color). We have been using them for about 3 weeks now and I love them! Everyone adjusted to using them quite well. I do wish I would have gotten all green ones instead of the cream ones though. The lighter color does stain. Because they aren't white, I don't like to bleach them, so I've just been spot treating them with Shout. They aren't to bad, but the green ones look great and so far, don't seem to be showing the stains. They are very big though...wish they were a bit smaller. I usually just keep mine for the day because I only use a small corner of it at a meal. I really love not having to buy paper napkins any more! I still have paper towels but I rarely ever use them. The kids try to sometimes but I get them to put them back and use a rag instead. Every penny counts right!

Really like the colored ones, they don't show stains. I've had a lot of problems with actually bleaching stains out of whites, it doesn't always work for me. You could always use colored for everyday use, and whites for when company comes. I'd recommend cotton naps over polyester, to me, polyester doesn't absorb and just smears stuff. If you have a sewing machines, cloth naps are a great first project, so easy, and if they're not perfect, who cares?