Our family of four includes two children who can get very messy during mealtime. Instead of having them use cheap one-ply napkins that fall apart the minute you try to wipe your hands with them, I decided to use cloth napkins.
The napkins can usually be purchased for $0.50 to a $1.00 each depending on where you buy them. I once purchased a clearance priced set of 4 from Target for a $1.00. I made sure to purchase enough for when we have family over.
You can also make your own from old cotton t-shirts but keep in mind the type of fabric you use will determine the amount of absorbency. I would strongly recommend you refrain from decorating the homemade napkins with glitter or puff paint as that might defeat their purpose.
By A Trevino from San Antonio, TX
This page contains the following solutions.
Instead of using paper napkins or short lived cloth napkins, I bought a stack of 8" x 8" micro-fiber cloths in the mid 90's. They can absorb 8 oz (1 glass) of water, each.
Purchase terry cloth finger tip towels in different colors to use as every day napkins. I did this when our kids still lived at home and am still using them.
This is a page about using cloth instead of paper products. You can leave less of a footprint on the environment and save money, by using cloth towels and napkins.