Martha Stewart's Clever Paper Towel Roll Trick Keeps Cloth Napkins Wrinkle-Free

If you're someone who doesn't set the table with cloth napkins very often, then you've probably found yourself in the following predicament more than once: You've spent all day running around preparing for a dinner party, slaving over a hot stove for hours, and when you start pulling out your place settings to finally lay out the perfect table, you realize that all of your napkins are wrinkle. Luckily, Martha Stewart has a trick to prevent this from happening –- and it couldn't be any easier.

The TV star and entrepreneur shared her favorite cloth napkin storage hack in a YouTube video, where she showed off a drawer of freshly ironed napkins all perfectly rolled up in neat rows. In it, Stewart said "I love having freshly ironed napkins to put on the table for dinner parties. Use your paper towel rolls –- don't throw these away -– to just roll up your ironed napkins." The trick is to roll the napkins around the cardboard tube from your paper towels, stacking them flat for organization and better storage.

The cardboard tubes from your paper towels won't only keep your cloth napkins wrinkle-free, but also more organized. Rolling instead of folding saves you space, and when you line up the rolls flat in a drawer, it can make it a lot easier to spot which ones you have. Don't worry, you don't need to roll each napkin around its own tube. Just stack a few napkins on top of each other, lay the pile flat on the counter, and place the tube on one end and roll. 

In the video on Youtube, Martha Stewart suggested taking this organization tip even further by labelling each roll with the number of napkins in the pile and maybe using a band to keep them together. You probably don't want to try to smoosh too many napkins on one roll, especially if you plan on keeping the rolls in a drawer like Stewart, but you can experiment to figure out what works best for your space. It will also help make life easier if you wash your napkins correctly.

Whether made from cotton or linen, cloth napkins should be washed on a delicate cycle in cold water with mild detergent. Shaking them out before placing them in the dryer on low will help prevent creasing. Then, once they're dry and ironed, make like Stewart and roll to your heart's content. The hack can help you store your kitchen towels too, or you can maximize storage space with Stewart's kitchen towel folding tip. Either way, it should help you save space and prevent any more last minute ironing frenzies.