I have used cloth napkins exclusively for over a year now. We started with napkins my mom gave me; lots of yellow, orange and green styles made of polyester. They are serviceable, but hardly the best-looking napkins especially since they are older than me (although hardly used in the last 20 – 30 years)! Still, they are much more eco-friendly than paper napkins, and since I throw them in with the towels and other kitchen laundry, it doesn’t really affect our water consumption to use them.
One of our cuter napkins, a vintage Vera Neumann pattern
All last year, I sent Ari to school with a cloth napkin in her lunch.She never complained about using her napkins; in fact some of her classmates liked them! I know she wasn’t crazy about the days I sent her in with some of the not so cute napkins, but she never said a negative word about them. Fast forward to this summer. I was looking through some of the blogs I follow and came across a giveaway for Fabkins cloth napkins for kids on Over Coffee: The Green Edition. I left a comment, and moved on to reading my next blog.
Imagine my surprise a few days later when I received an email telling me I was the winner! Ari was so excited. Once they arrived, she got to open the package and she said she loved them. She hadn’t been happy when I told her she would not get a new lunchbox this year (because “all of the other kids were getting new lunchboxes), and these napkins more than made up for it! She decided to take the heart napkin to school the first day. She told me that several kids and told her they liked her napkin on her first day of first grade!
The napkins right after they arrived
Fabkins napkins are made from 100% cotton and do not shrink. Each one has a cute design on it and the sewn-in label has space to write your child’s name. They are machine washable and are a nice size for a child’s napkin, 13 inches, perfect to use as a place mat too. We washed them before I packed one in Ari”s lunch (as was suggested on the label) and they looked great.
I am very happy with our Fabkins. Ari loves them, and because they are so cute it encourages her to want to use her “green” napkins. My suggestion for the company would be to look into using greener fabrics and dying processes, such as organic cotton or hemp with clay or natural dyes. I think this would make people who are looking for eco-friendly napkin choices for kids even more likely to choose their product over a competitor’s. I also wish they had a line of adult napkins; I’m still bringing the 70’s era napkins with my lunches!
And purchased, so pretty! I almost feel bad wiping food on them. I had never thought about how many paper towels we use! The husband is a bit resistant, but he will learn to love them.
I do like having the older napkins because they are great for spaghetti nights when you might be afraid to use something pretty to wipe your hands. We have paper napkins given to us 3 years ago, and we have not used them at all. I’m thinking it is try to donate or freecycle!