Paper napkins here!

so much easier with paper

love cloth!

It's easier w/ paper napkins

with kids- mainly rolls and rolls of paper towels- super absorbent!

I do like to bring out the cloth for nice dinners, though and the kids do get their own- make them feel special

only cloth. just throw them in with the laundry - so easy!

we switched to cloth for napkins AND paper towels (we have a lot of reusable rags). i think there comes a point when you have to decide that it's okay to replace ultra-convenience with environmental-consciousness. in a few months, you can't even tell the difference.

I use paper napkins. I really do want to switch to cloth (for enviromental reasons), but paper napkins are just more convenient.

We use paper, but now I feel guilty. I'll have to get some cloth ones.

90% of the time I use cloth but I must be honest and say I have my moments of slipping up and using paper.

I've discovered that cloth napkins actually get nicer with more washings. Or you can find extra soft vintage ones at a thrift store or flea market.

Cloth for enviornmental reasons.

cloth is classier, and better for the earth!

My husband and I use cloth and I rip a paper towel in for my 2 kids.

growing up i used cloth napkins. my mom is obsessed. but now that i'm on my own, i use paper napkins or paper towels. i rarely have a nice sit-down dinner and paper napkins are more convenient for me. sorry nature.

We use paper towels.

Sleeve, dish towel, paper towel, dog lick. We're not fancy in our house. When we do get fancy, we use cloth napkins. If I can remember where I put them.

who wants to wash them? paper all the way baby!

Usually paper towels. Otherwise I'd be washing cloth ones constantly and that's not good either!

no washing machine + living with 3 men = paper napkins

Used to use cloth before I got married. MIL used cloth only as "decoration" to hubby had trouble with actually using the cloth napkins/placemats. I got tired of setting a beautiful table only to have him shove everything to the side and grab a paper towel. I gave up but would go back to cloth if I thought I could retrain an old dog. Also, living in an area with water restrictions, I try not to add to the laundry unless necessary, so paper it is.

bizzybee, i just found the most adorable retro-60s cloth napkins at a flea market. They are so cute--awesome fabric design that I'd have a hard time finding today. Yeah, it's a little extra washing, but using cloth napkins is better for the environment and cheaper in the long run. Plus, all of my friends are always asking me where I got the awesome napkins, which doesn't hurt, either.

always use cloth. just throw them in with the dish towels and let them dry on the line. easy, enviro-friendly and much cheaper than buying disposable ones.

Paper.

Love Cloth! so much easier, classier, sturdier.

Cloth all the way! After going green I stopped buying paper napkins, paper towels etc. I discovered that newspaper really does do a FAB job on windows and lots of other things too.

cloth - i find it really easy to wash things. I'm not sure why it would be a difficulty. I use cloth for all kinds of spills - i have rags from old clothes that work well, or scraps of fabric...those Mabu cloth things that are made of wood fibre, dish rags crocheted by my roommates mom... handkerchiefs for blowing my nose...napkins from all over the world which are great souvenirs and i use them for my hands etc when i eat.

Paper napkins, but cloth towels

Paper for everyday use, cloth for when we have company.

paper...serviettes as we call them in south africa.

I guess the better choice would have to be a fair balance between whether it is worse to trash the napkins or energy/water use of washing reusable napkins. I tend not to eat messy things and don't grab for a napkin unless I'm needing one (at home).

cloth=Holidays & special occasions
paper=everday use

I guess it started because I was too cheap to buy napkins. I don't have cloth ones either, though! I just use a dishtowel that's nearby. I did put some cloth napkins on my registry so ask me again in a few months!

Wow--these poll results and comments are depressing. There was a moment maybe 30 years ago when at least Americans were encouraged to be more ecologically-minded, but slowly yet surely that has dissipated for the sake of so-called convenience and, I'm sure, profit--even billboards and Hershey's wrappers which used to be recyclable (paper) are now plastic (some of the billboards, at least, are recycled into expensive bags), and we don't even blink. These seemingly small wastes do add up--if you don't think so, check out artist Donna Ozawa's Waribashi Project (http://www.well.com/user/indigo/donna/waribashi/) in which she collects disposable chopsticks from restaurants in San Francisco and creates room-sized sculpture installations. An Inconvenient Truth has spurred an eco-consciousness of late, but we'll soon forget, moving on to the next hot thing. But resources are finite.

I use only cloth for environmental reasons. Another tip: eliminating paper altogether for large dinner parties. Here's how: Visit the the thrift store with a friend or friends and purchase regular porcelain dishes and utensils. Rotate and share the dishes among friends every time one of them has a party. There were 3 of us that did this. Each us gets to use them whenever we need. Many more trees saved!