Paper towels VS Napkins?

[MOM21SON]

Okay, I know the difference, but my family does not.

I am so tired of trying to train them, but they like the paper towels and it drives me nuts.

If they use napkins they grab a handful and never open one, just use the wad of napkins.  Paper towels just go spinning off the holder one at a time until they are gone. 

Drying hands, paper towel, etc.

How about your house?

[Outdoor Girl]

I only use napkins when I have company (other than my Dad).  If I'm having a large party, I'll buy paper but otherwise, I use cloth.  I use paper towel as napkins when it is just me since I use select a size style and one perforation is perfect as a napkin.  I use them under fatty foods to absorb oil and I use them to clean up cat yak but otherwise, I use a towel attached to my oven door for my hands.  It gets washed every time I do laundry and I'll change it in between if it gets grubby.  Which tends to happen if I'm on a big cooking or baking jag.

[jmarvellous]

We use cloth napkins at dinner for two to four, paper towels for messes and very occasionally for meals, and paper napkins for more than two guests -- we bought them for our housewarming, and more than a year later, we haven't used a third of a midsize package.

[TootsNYC]

Paper napkins aren't quite as durable as paper towels.

We only use napkins (and yes, for daily use, we use paper--I actually prefer them in terms of function) at the dinner table. And since we set the table with them, they are there, so nobody goes to get a paper towel. I also prefer to have 2, since the ones we use are thinner. (I don't like the thicker, "dressier" paper napkins, because they're too smooth, less absorbent, and I don't like the thickness. I'd rather just use an extra paper one when I need it.)

We use paper towels for other things (messes, sometimes on face and hands, if it's not a mealtime).

I use cloth napkins when we're entertaining, but I really don't like them. They're thick, they're not absorbent, etc.

[Onyx_TKD]

I grew up with cloth napkins. That's what I tend to use now that I'm living on my own as well, unless I'm eating something really messy. To me, if the meal is casual enough for paper napkins, then it's probably casual enough that paper towels would be fine, too. Also, because I so rarely use paper napkins, I generally don't buy them. Since I do have paper towels on hand, I'd rather use those.

[sempronialou]

We use paper towels.  The select-a-size bounty is nice because you can use a whole sheet to wipe up messes and a half sheet as napkins.  There's only 2 of us.  For guests (if I ever had any), I get out the cloth napkins. 

I grew up with paper napkins for everyday and cloth for when we fancied it up.   Once I moved out, I found it more convenient to use paper towels.  There was no sense in buying a big package of napkins for 1 person.  I just kept the same mind set when I get married.  Incidentally, my MIL uses paper towels instead of napkins.  Even for big family gathers which are buffet style, she uses paper towels.   

I wipe my hands after washing them with a hand towel.  We have so many hand towels it's not even funny.

[Zilla]

I  don't buy paper towels for the reason you said OP.  I have dozens of tea towel  for cleaning up,  wiping etc.   we use one a day and then it goes in the washer.   Casual  days we have  paper napkins and use cloth napkins for guests/ holidays.

[gramma dishes]

We've never found affordable paper napkins that don't soak and shred immediately.  So yes.  When it's just the two of us or our immediate family (kids, spouses and grandkids) we do pretend that paper towels are napkins.  We joke about their elegance.

But for 'other than family' company, we use cloth napkins.  We also usually use a different table in a different room with different dishes, glasses and silverware.   

[MOM21SON]

We've never found affordable paper napkins that don't soak and shred immediately.  So yes.  When it's just the two of us or our immediate family (kids, spouses and grandkids) we do pretend that paper towels are napkins.  We joke about their elegance.

But for 'other than family' company, we use cloth napkins.  We also usually use a different table in a different room with different dishes, glasses and silverware.   

So your butler is that good?

[gramma dishes]

We've never found affordable paper napkins that don't soak and shred immediately.  So yes.  When it's just the two of us or our immediate family (kids, spouses and grandkids) we do pretend that paper towels are napkins.  We joke about their elegance.

But for 'other than family' company, we use cloth napkins.  We also usually use a different table in a different room with different dishes, glasses and silverware.   

So your butler is that good?

LOL!   

[Deetee]

I usually use cloth napkins but if I use paper it would be a paper towel. Like other posters I find then more absorbent and tougher. Napkins always seem smeary.

[Bijou]

We didn't always use paper towels regularly but for some reason started doing so a couple of months ago.  When we recycle, all the short fiber paper (napkins tissue, paper towels) go into a specific waste basket.  I was totally shocked...I mean shocked... at the amount of this kind of paper we use.  I'm going start keeping a roll of toilet tissue in the kitchen to use instead....at least I can flush that away!

[MrTango]

I use paper towels instead of napkins most of the time.

[clio917]

We use paper towels rather than paper napkins. They are called "fancy eatin' napkins" (said ironically) in my family. If I was having a big fancy china and crystal dinner I would dig out the cloth napkins I have buried somewhere in a closet.

[TomatoBunny]

At my parents' house, we use paper towels with dinner. There's a hand towel for drying pots and another for hands and even another for wiping off the counter/misc little drops/smudges of things. If it's like.. tomato sauce spill or something seriously stain worthy, paper towels would be used instead.

When I lived with roommate(s), we never got around to getting any hand towels (for the kitchen) and just used paper towels for everything. I did wind up getting a collection paper napkins from various fast food places, which I left in a pile in the kitchen and I used those with meals instead of paper towels. I don't like the way paper towels feel for personal use. Then the roommates caught on and the napkins were used faster than they appeared, so it was back to paper towels.