[Sca-cooks] Number of times cloth napkins can be used and washed

[Sharon Gordon]

> When I was a child my mother had three different sets of linen cloth
napkins,
> which we used once and then put in the wash.  Since there were only four
of
> us, the 36 napkins lasted 9 days before running out.  Since my mother did
laundry
> once a week, we never really ran out.  She would wash them and then iron
them.
> And when I grew old enough to handle an iron, I was the designated ironer.
> When I was in my late teens, I remember rebelling and asking for paper
napkins.
> My father backed me up in this rebellion and we stopped using cloth.  Only
> one set was getting shabby by that time and probably wasn't 100% linen.
We
> turned those into dust cloths.  I still have the other two sets and they
are
> looking fine.  So for 20 years of constant use and then 34 years of only
special
> occasion use, I think that they are holding up well.

Thank you.  That is the sort of data I am looking for.  So with that sort of
schedule, the first set to go was used a little over 40 times a year.(365/9)
Over the course of 20 years that works out to 811 times.

If each napkin of the other two sets was used as often as once a month for
the next 34 years, that would be another 408 times.  Is that close to your
special occasion rate or would you estimate more or fewer times per year?

Sharon
gordonse at one.net