Favorite Kitchen Linens

August 17, 2023

15 minutes reading time

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Below I’ll be sharing my favorite kitchen linens, such that I use everyday or regularly. Good kitchen linens are valuable in a functioning kitchen and I know I sometimes take for granted how easy life is that I just need to reach into a drawer for another towel or cloth that was easily laundered and dried earlier.

Every time I step into my kitchen to do baking, dish washing, cooking, or food preparation I put on an apron! Gone are the days when I carelessly did these tasks without an apron to protect my clothes. After ruining a few favorite blouses and dresses I knew I had to make a change. My all-time favorite apron style is this linen cross back apron. This style is comfortable and fits well without being too tight and can accommodate various differences in body size or shape. There is no need to ensure the apron strings are tied while having to battle with ties that are too tight or too long.

An abundance of cotton kitchen towels is essential to the function of my kitchen during the week. I have enough cookware and dishes that must be handwashed that I wind up soaking 1-2 towels during washing each day and wind up going through my whole drawer of dish towels each week. But no problem! Washing machines make laundry effortless. My favorite kitchen dish towels are made from flour sack fabric. This set of three flour sack towels is under $11 and is a great value.

Besides drying, flour sack towels are perfect for covering bread while rising and wrapping around fresh bread to maintain moisture. You probably know that gluten-free bread is notorious for being dry and crumbly. Not so my bread! In addition to having and using great recipes that ensure the bread is moist, I also keep my bread wrapped in a linen or cotton towel and store the bread in a bread box in the refrigerator to maintain freshness and moisture. I usually store my gluten-free baked goods in the refrigerator due to the fact that they contain little to no preservatives and thus spoil more quickly.

I also found these 12 flour sack towels for under $20. There are several color options to choose from to best match your kitchen.

Reusable cotton mesh bags are great for produce! I don’t mind plastic shopping bags because I reuse those but those plastic produce bags are small, tear easily, and often can’t be reused. There are many options on the market to fit what you’re looking for in a reusable produce bag; I like this kind with shoulder straps for easier carrying (comes in a set of 3 for under $11), as opposed to the reusable bags that have a drawstring closure. These reusable cotton mesh bags with shoulder straps are stretchy due to the wide mesh design and can hold quite a lot.

If the drawstring design is what you’re looking for, here is a great deal! This is a set of 15 bags (3 sizes) for under $12.

Along with all my by-hand dishwashing comes water drips on the floor! Thus I have 2 rugs in my kitchen; one at the sink and one at the stove, all to catch my drips and spills. Cotton woven rugs are my favorite and are what I have in my home. Cotton rugs remain soft and pliable over the years and don’t become itchy and scratchy like polyester rugs.

This woven cotton rug is comfortable and slightly cushioned. I have 3 of this kind and they’re my favorite. They’re easy to wash and dry. The remaining rugs in my home are this low-pile, tightly woven cotton rug. This kind of rug is easier to wash due to being smaller in mass and dries faster.

Finally, my last must-have kitchen linen is cloth napkins. I use these every day and they have been my faithful companions at every meal wherever I go, wherever I am.

Cloth napkins are absorbent and larger than disposable paper napkins and can last years to decades. My sweet and generous in-laws bought me a set of navy cloth napkins and a set of white cloth napkins. You can find such cloth napkins here in a variety of 26 colors.

Cloth napkins don’t need to be relegated to that stale linen cabinet to be pulled out only during holidays. Feel free to use them daily! There are many aspects of my life that I strive to make sustainable. Washing and folding cloth napkins is no more difficult than folding wash cloths; how hard is that? I never need to iron mine; they never get wrinkly. I wash and dry them and they come out of the dryer wrinkle-free. I have no special treatments that I use on them. They get thrown in with everything else and sometimes get left in the clean laundry basket for a day or two before folding. No harm done.

If you’re looking for cloth napkins with a pattern that are more interesting than plain, hotel restaurant cloth napkins, these are cute and fun!