Covering your dining surface with a cloth helps to soften the clatter of plates and glasses and gives your table setting an individual touch…
Covering your dining surface with a cloth helps to soften the clatter of plates and glasses and gives your table setting an individual touch…
Daily use
Choose darker colours or PVC‐covered cotton for casual meals. Have two or three different ones, so that they can be cleaned often.
Special occasions
Choose white or pale coloured good quality cotton or damask, if you want a traditional look. It’s useful to remember that in case of stains, white cotton or linen will respond well to mild bleach solutions, which would discolour coloured or printed fabrics.
Natural fibres
Generally speaking, it is easier to clean natural fibres than it is to clean synthetics or blended cottons. This is especially true of grease stains, which can leave an unappealing clammy feeling to the cloth.
Napkins
Cloth napkins can greatly enhance the feel of a sit‐down meal and are essential for any kind of formal dining. When buying napkins make sure that they are generous sized and that they are strong and thick in texture.
Stain removal
The key to effective stain removal is to act as soon as possible. There’s no need to interrupt the dinner, just don’t leave it until the next day.
Red wine
There are several theories on the best way to deal with red wine spills. One of the conventional ways of dealing with minor splashes is to immediately cover the spot with enough table salt to absorb the excess.