How to Get Cloth Napkins Clean

Cloth napkins add a decorative and special touch to your dinner table.

There was a time when cloth napkins were the norm at most every meal. Nowadays, you are likely to see cloth napkins only at fancy restaurants or holiday meals. No matter what type of food or drink you're serving, adding cloth napkins to your table brings a touch of luxury to your meal. The only problem with cloth napkins is the numerous stains to which they're exposed. From wine to lipstick to beets to coffee, cloth napkins are likely to end up frequently stained. Clean your cloth napkins as soon as possible to ensure the easiest stain removal.

Things You'll Need

• Table salt
• Bucket
• Measuring cup
• Enzyme-boosted laundry detergent
• Dishwasher detergent
• Measuring spoons
• Glycerine
• Powdered oxygen bleach

Instructions

1. Wet cloth napkins stained with wine, then lay them flat. Pour table salt over the wine stain, covering it completely with the salt. Allow the table salt to sit on the wine stain on your cloth napkins for 15 minutes.

2. 

   Table salt wicks up the wine stain from your cloth napkins.

   Dump the table salt into the garbage then repeat the previous step with the other side of the cloth napkin. Pour the salt off the second side of the napkin after 15 minutes.

3. Prepare a pre-wash soak for all types of stains on your cloth napkins by filling a bucket with 1 cup enzyme-boosted laundry detergent, 1 cup of dishwasher detergent and enough water to just cover the cloth napkins. Mix the solution well and allow your cloth napkins to soak overnight.

4. Remove your cloth napkins from the pre-soak solution in the bucket. Rinse them off with cool water and wash.

5. Treat any lipstick stains on your cloth napkins by pouring 1 tsp. of glycerine on each lipstick stain and rubbing the glycerine into the lipstick. Allow the glycerine to sit on the lipstick stains on your cloth napkins for 15 minutes before rinsing off with cool water.

6. Launder your cloth napkins in the hottest water allowable. Add enzyme-boosted laundry detergent and powdered oxygen bleach to your wash water.

7. Hang your cloth napkins to dry in the sunlight. The sun works as a natural bleaching agent to remove any traces of stains left on your cloth napkins.

Tips & Warnings

• Spray your cloth napkins with spray starch when you iron them. The spray starch will act as a stain repellent the next time you use your cloth napkins.

• Set-in stains are harder to remove. Wash your cloth napkins as soon as possible after use.

References

• Napkin Folding Guide: Cloth Napkins