The Pottery Barn Classic Hotel Napkins are great. I think 6 of them cost me about $24 dollars. They are wonderful and thick and a true white cotton that can be bleached to remove stains. I entertain a lot and used to use linen napkins that required dry cleaning. Ugh. I love the cotton napkins. Also, they look great with either a casual or more formal place setting. I liked them so much I bought the smaller cocktail napkins too.

Another thing about the Pottery Barn napkins. I dry them on a medium setting and then fold them right away and they are crisp and don't require ironing.

I am thrilled with the ones at World Market. They have the weight of tea towels, so they aren't a pain to maintain, and they're soft and absorbent. Plus, about 2-3 bucks a piece!

I bought a few yards of high quality cotton at a fabric store and hemmed them into big napkins. They aren't white, so they don't show stains too quickly, and the fabric seems to resist wrinkles better than, say, my dish towels. And at $6 spent and an hour sewing to make a dozen napkins, they're a great deal!

I'm not sure if it's even possible to have high quality cotton napkins that won't require some ironing. A poly blend might resist wrinkles but they won't look or feel nearly as nice.

Ours are from Williams Sonoma and are high quality, thick cotton that have held up for 4 years so far. If I were going to buy another dozen, I might check a restaurant supply store.

I recently bought thse on etsy, and i love them. They aren't crisp, but i like them for everyday use. and they are easy to wash because they can be bleached. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vt_related_1&listing_id=33416015

I think a heavier-weight cotton would resist wrinkles better than a lighter weight.

You could also try line-drying them to avoid wrinkles. I take my cotton napkins out of the washer, shake them out, pull on the edges to smooth out the wrinkles, and hang them on a drying rack so that they are folded over halfway. Not sure if that makes sense...but I've found that if I take the time to hang them properly and carefully, then I don't need to iron. Actually, I think that a drying rack with solid bars (which is what I use) would be more effective than a line, which could sag, causing the napkins to wrinkle.

We have a set of cotton napkins from Macy's. They are too thick for my taste, but do the trick on an everyday basis. Line drying like k_mw suggests works well.

Linen napkins get washed on the delicate cycle in my front load machine, using Ivory Snow. I found dry cleaning chemicals too smelly & way too expensive. I tested one of my antique napkins & haven't looked back. They get shaken out & line dried. They require ironing, but for a nicer dinner party, they look beautiful on the table.

To truly avoid stains, get a wild woven or printed pattern. They look nice on a table set with plain dishes & hide any stains- even bbq stains! I have a set from Pier One that initially weren't my taste, but I've grown to love them. They wash & dry easily & I haven't broken out the iron for them once.

Line drying is definitely the way to go. For all washing in fact - the only things I iron are my business shirts, everything else the crinkles just drop out of (and line dried stuff feels *so* much nicer than machine dried).

Question though Faith - where are those napkin rings from? I saw a similar one here in Melbourne, heavy & silver, but only one style - I'd love a mixed set like the ones in the picture...

I think they're just Crate & Barrel rings; the photo is from C&B, so if you click through you might be able to track them down there...

I've bought sheets and made them into napkins.
This can be very economical if you find sheets you like at a thrift store. The ones we use are colored, so the stains don't show. I also think they aren't 100% cotton, so they look nice without ironing.

That's what I first thought, but unfortunately couldn't find them on the website - a few other fairly nice designs, but no snowflakes, boo :-(

I second the vote for printed cloth napkins. I have 5 or 6 sets acquired from assorted locations. The batik set from World Market is the best at hiding stains. Another cheap and easy option is bandanas. They have them at the craft stores for under a buck apiece. Great for informal settings.

I have the CB ones, and they work great.

I like the the microfiber napkins I got at Target. They're off white, but all the better for hiding stains. Not that they get stains because they rarely hold stains to begin with. It's kind of amazing. They have a silky feel though, not crisp, if you're partial to that. But that being said, you don't really have to iron them either. Can't remember how much I paid for them, but it's Target so how expensive could they be?

I have a bunch from a variety of sources... Crate and Barrel's are good, but also, Pier 1 is worth checking out. We use them for everything, INCLUDING backyard BBQs...I just roll up a set of utensils in each (like they do at chain restaurants...I'd NEVER do it for a dinner party) and put them next to the side dishes so people can bring them out to the yard. I have about 30 melamine plates from Target for those events. I think the key to reusable ANYTHING is quantity. We have lots of napkins, lots of reusable shopping bags, etc.

Oh, forgot to say...the ONLY napkins I iron are the WS Hotel ones I use for holidays. The others are all heavy textured cotton and resist wrinkling quite well..maybe a little at the edges, but not enough to bother me. So I would say look for heavy fabric and texture, not a plain weave.

I have a huge drawerful of colored cotton napkins. If I take them out of the dryer and fold them while warm, I don't have any troubles with wrinkling. They are pretty old now and quite soft from wear.

For fancy dinners, I do have to iron my white vintage damask napkins (great estate sale finds), but they are worth the effort. If those get stained, I just soak them overnight with Biz and they come out snowy white.

I'm on board w/marthachick - our family has been using cotton napkins from World Market for a few years now & we love them. Someone purchased some poly-blend napkins for us (WalMart, I believe) and they're nowhere near as nice (or absorbent, obviously). Go full-on cotton. Ours are well made and we never need to iron.

foodiegreenie: They must be an older set, found them on ebay. I agree, having a nice mix of designs is hard to find. I wish companies offered variety more often!

frzndaqiri: cheers, I'll have a look there!