What kind of detergent are you using?

Back home, many, many years ago we used cloth napkins too. We pre-rinse them or soaked them overnight in detergent, rinsed them and boiled them. And they had to be ironed too. It does look fancy and all but not worth it, maybe just for special occasion
I think paper napkins are healthier. And it doesn't take time and effort to clean them.

mystery clock, I use Charlie's Soap, and no fabric softener. I pretreat my clothes with StainStick.

czechchick2, there's no way I'd go through all of that! I'd definitely stick to paper, if that were the alternative. :) I wash the napkins with a load of clothes, don't iron them. The napkins we use most are a plaid in blues and greens, and the others are all dark. We do have napkin rings, and usually re-use the napkins for a few meals.

I don't usually treat our everyday napkins with StainStick.

We generally change our cotton cloth napkins twice a week and they get washed in hot water along with our kitchen towels once a week. Although I use Charlie's Soap now (no softener, just vinegar in the rinse), I've used homemade soap and I don't know how many brands of detergents over the last 39 years and would consider the key is using 100% cotton cloth napkins and hot water for washing, and make sure you pretreat any stains/oils on the napkins a.s.a.p.

I'd suggest the lost art of a good soak as a treatment, and then continuing with your hot water wash.

- Something simple like BORAX or Washing Soda and hot water, even a solution of Cascade (or brand of choice) Dishwasher Detergent and hot water would also work.

- If they were mine, and depending on the type of fabric and color of the napkins, I might even pretreat them with DAWN Direct Foam (which is awesome on grease), allow to sit a few minutes, then soak in hot water with Washing Soda or Borax. Rinse well.

-Grainlady

I would try soaking them in the hottest/warmest water they can stand with dawn dish soap and baking soda over night. I had some dish rags that had a grease smell to them too and it worked. If that doesn't work, you can try soaking them again in a good auto dish detergent like cascade in the hottest/warmest water they can stand overnight. A third alternative before bleach would be to soak them in the hottest/warmest water they can stand with a 1/2 cup of Charlie's All Purpose cleaner over night.

With all 3 options rinse well and launder as usual. HTH : D

liz_h, I use cloth napkins too, and I think I know what you mean. I've had that problem with dishtowels occasionally... we don't use many paper towels so our dishtowels take a lot of abuse sometimes!

I agree 100% with what grainlady and happymom recommend.

Dawn is great for removing grease.

Are you using powdered Charlie's Soap? It has washing soda in it, which is a great grease-cutter.

Use HOT water. I'd try the Cascade soak first,if you have some.

The magic in Cascade seems to be the phosphate. Might as well just add some STPP to your detergent instead. Then you'll get phosphate without the extra stuff (e.g. bleach) that might come with the Cascade.

Cascade should help as long as the napkins are white (in case it contains bleach.) Both the phosphates and enzymes (especially) should help cut the lingering smells. Charlie's Soap has neither, fwiw.

ITA with those who recommend a good soak before washing them. The easiest way to do that would be to soak them right in the washing machine (assuming your washer has a Soak cycle) overnight, run that water out, then add any items which do not need to soak the next day before washing the entire load.

I do this with various items which need to soak, all the time. I put them in the washer, use some (not a lot of) detergent (baking soda, too, on white cottons and towels), get the washer going on the Soak cycle, let them agitate for about 30 minutes, then press Pause to let them soak all night.

The next day, after the Soak cycle has finished and drained, I add any other items which did not need to soak, put in enough detergent to wash the entire load, and wash them. This works wonderfully, with very little time and effort.

What's the issue with phosphates and septic systems?

We are on a septic tank. I use d/w detergent which is high in phosphates, have used it for years, and haven't had any problems. Haven't tried STPP.

A lot of people recommend OxiClean -- does that have phosphates in it?

Would soaking your napkins with phosphates cause them to fade?

If they have greasy stains from food, I think I'd just soak them in some Dawn dish detergent (in the washer, as I mentioned above) -- and probably some baking soda to not only boost the detergent, but also freshen them up, make them smell clean.

I use phosphates and our septic is fine-(15 years).
Never saw any problem in the yard either. We have Bahia grass.

liz_h, have you measured the temperature inside your machine when it's doing a hot wash? The definition of "hot" is rather loose these days.

I just wanted to go down memory lane.... I grew up in a household that used cloth napkins for everyday use. About every two years, my mom would sew new curtains for our front porch. The old, faded curtains would be taken down, cut up and hemmed into squares to make cloth napkins. The old cloth napkins would then be used for rags and this cycle of re-use continued over the years. Sometimes she would have me iron the napkins. I realize now that they didn't need to be ironed, she was just giving me a chance to learn how to iron and keep me busy!

janbanks, what a great idea and way to recycle!
My Mom started me out ironing napkins too! Sometimes I got a nickel if I ironed a bunch of them. I suspect Mom had good reasons to keep me ironing. :)

Long before the word "recycling" was coined, it was a way of life for many of our parents and grandparents. The saying, "Use it up and wear it out before you throw it out" was a way of life for them, not a political statement. For families who survived the Great Depression, it was simply a necessity.

Those of us who've learned from them are blessed indeed.