The 9 Best Cloth Napkins of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Best Overall

Williams Sonoma Dinner Napkins

$70 At Williams-Sonoma

The Williams Sonoma Hotel Dinner Napkins are soft and absorbent, but also robust and easy to clean, which is why they're easily our favorite dinner napkins. These napkins are a bit plain, but that's why they fit seamlessly into both formal and informal place settings throughout the year. With full hems and mitered corners, and no overwrought adornments, they're clean and classy but not flashy. They're even easy to clean, made from 100 percent cotton that's machine washable.

These cotton dinner napkins are available in five colors and no patterns, but, according to Koschitzky, neutral colors are a great bet when starting your collection. "You can build your collection over time as your tablescape creativity blossoms," she says. Subtle details like the deep hems, clean stitching, and neatly sewn corners make them feel a bit more thoughtful than the plain dinner napkins you might be used to at restaurants.

We love how incredibly versatile and well-made these napkins are for the price. They come in sets of 12 and have a slightly larger-than-average size—20 x 20 inches versus the standard 18 x 20 inches.

_{Material: Cotton | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 12 | Care: Machine-wash warm gentle cycle, tumble-dry}

Best Value

Ruvanti Cloth Napkins

$20 At Amazon $3 At Wayfair $27 At Walmart

Our Ratings

• Design
  4.5/5
• Fabric
  4.5/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4.5/5
• Durability
  4/5
• Overall Value
  4.5/5

Don't let their low price point fool you: after more than a month of use, we found the Ruvanti Cloth Napkins to be an all-around solid option. Made with a sturdy poly-cotton blend, these napkins are available are an all-around solid option that wore incredibly well. They're sold in an economical 12-pack—ideal for larger households—and available in more than a dozen colors, though we wish there were more neutral choices.

While we usually prefer all-natural weaves, we liked that the soft, sturdy, canvas-like fabric doesn't wrinkle like 100 percent earth-sourced materials. These cloth napkins are low-maintenance, too: they were good-as-new coming out of the dryer and folded up really nicely.

_{Material: Poly-cotton blend | Size: 18 x 18 inches | Quantity: 12 | Care: Machine-wash cold, tumble-dry}

Best Splurge

Matouk Scallop Edge Napkin

View On Matouk.com

Matouk Scallop Edge Napkins bring a sense of sophistication and whimsy to any table, with 13 color options to suit any occasion. These napkins are crafted from 100 percent European linen, they’re quite large, and they’re versatile enough to bring out for a casual lunch or formal dinner. They’re also machine-washable, although you need to stick to the gentlest wash and tumble-dry cycles available.

The first thing we noticed with these napkins was the eye-catching taped border detail, which helps reinforce the edge of the napkin while drawing attention to Matouk’s signature scalloped edge design. Each combination features a white or muted colored base, and then a bold splash of color around the edge.

These napkins are bigger than the average cloth dinner napkin, but they are somewhat oval in appearance due to the way the edges are scalloped. That unique look is one of the things we love about them, but the measurements are a bit misleading since these aren’t traditional square napkins. 

_{Material: Linen | Size: 22 x 22 inches | Quantity: 4 | Care: Machine-wash cold gentle cycle, tumble-dry low heat, iron while damp}

Best Everyday

Food52 Five Two Everyday Soft Cotton Napkins

$25 At Food52

Our Ratings

• Design
  5/5
• Fabric
  5/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  5/5
• Durability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  4.5/5

Shopping for an everyday set? You can't go wrong with Five Two Cloth Napkins. Available in quantities of four or six, they earned perfect scores across the board. Our only complaint was the relatively steep price, but if you're truly planning on using them every day, we'd say they're worth the initial investment.

These exceptionally soft yet sturdy napkins are made of 100 percent cotton, with a subtle crinkled texture that helps conceal any wrinkling. They don't require any special care and came out of the dryer with very few creases and smoothed out nicely. We also appreciate that the color options include several versatile neutrals (we tried the eucalyptus color, but there are plenty of even more neutral hues).

_{Material: Cotton | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 4 or 6 | Care: Machine-wash, tumble-dry low}

Best for Special Occasions

Crate & Barrel Aspen Cloth Napkins

$6 At Crate & Barrel

Our Ratings

• Design
  4.5/5
• Fabric
  5/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4.5/5
• Durability
  4/5
• Overall Value
  4/5

With their versatile yet somewhat formal aesthetic, the Aspen Napkins from Crate & Barrel would make the perfect option for special occasions. They're made of 100 percent cotton and are smooth to the touch with almost no texture, like fine-dining table linens at a fancy restaurant.

You can buy the Aspen Napkins individually or in sets of eight, which makes it easy to stock up on however many you need. During use, we were particularly impressed by how soft these napkins were. That being said, the material is relatively thin and the hems aren't reinforced; because of this, they wouldn't hold up well to everyday use. As is standard with cotton, the fabric wrinkled slightly in the wash but smoothed out pretty well by hand.

_{Material: Cotton | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 1 or 8 | Care: Machine-wash cold, tumble-dry}

Best Organic

Coyuchi Sonoma Textured Organic Napkins

$148 At Wayfair $58 At coyuchi.com View On Perigold.com

Our Ratings

• Design
  5/5
• Fabric
  5/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4.5/5
• Durability
  4.5/5
• Overall Value
  4.5/5

With a soft, subtly crinkled texture, Coyuchi's Sonoma Napkins are a practical yet design-forward option that mirrors the quality of Coyuchi's towels and bed linens. Made from sturdy organic cotton certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the quality is immediately apparent with these table linens. Still, they're one of our more costly options.

These napkins come rolled up with twine—a down-to-earth touch and a design-forward alternative to traditional folding. We wish there were a few more colors to choose from, but the available shades are chic and sophisticated (we loved the "deep ocean" option, a dark teal hue that's rich but not too vivid). Though the corners rolled up slightly after washing, the napkins held up well overall and refolded smoothly.

_{Material: Organic cotton | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 4 or 12 | Care: Machine-wash cold, tumble-dry low}

Best Linen

Quince Linen Napkins

$30 At onequince.com

Our Ratings

• Design
  5/5
• Fabric
  4.5/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4.5/5
• Durability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  4.5/5

Linen napkins are a great way to add casual elegance to your dining setup and let your best flatware sets and silverware shine. These beauties from Quince are undoubtedly one of the best options you can find. Sold in a set of four, they're woven from a premium, flax-sourced linen that will only get softer with time. Plus, they come in at a far lower price point—not surprising since Quince is known for their luxe home decor at major discounts.

Another benefit of this type of linen is its durability: flax-sourced linen is among the strongest, longest-lasting textiles you can buy. While prone to wrinkling, we'd argue that this effect looks more intentional with linen than with traditional cotton. And while they don't fold very flat, they look great rolled up and tied in the middle.

_{Material: Flax linen | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 4 | Care: Machine-wash cold, tumble-dry low}

Best Fringed

World Market Slub Napkins With Fringe

$8 At World Market

Our Ratings

• Design
  4/5
• Fabric
  4/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  5/5
• Durability
  4/5
• Overall Value
  4.5/5

"Napkins can change the mood of your tablescapes," says interior designer Cindy Rinfret—and if you want to add some character but aren't keen on prints and patterns, consider these fringed options from World Market. These are an affordable option that is best reserved for special occasions, especially given the quality.

We found the fabric to be a bit thin and transparent, and while they don't require any special care to maintain, we found that the fringe went a bit haywire in the wash. That being said, they didn't really wrinkle and folded up nicely. All in all, these table linens are imperfect, but they're very reasonably priced and come in a wide array of colors to complement any table decor or dinner party theme.

_{Material: Cotton | Size: 20 x 20 inches | Quantity: 4 | Care: Machine-wash, tumble-dry}

Best Patterned

Ruvanti Cotton Cloth Napkins for Parties

$16 At Amazon

For something a little less plain than the traditional cloth napkin, the fun patterns and bold colors of these Ruvanti Cotton Cloth Napkins will really liven up your tablescape. We like the multi-design version that includes 12 napkins in various patterns and colors, including stripes, diamonds, floral, gingham, and more. If that isn’t what you’re looking for, Ruvanti offers 30 different pattern options to fit any occasion.

These napkins are made from 100 percent cotton in a duck weave, so they’re both absorbent and very strong. They’re also machine washable, with colors that neither fade nor run after repeated washings. They are a little thin, with the pattern only fully visible on one side, but they look great folded flat or in a napkin ring. 

_{Material: Cotton | Size: 18 x 18 inches | Quantity: 12 | Care: Machine-wash, tumble-dry}