I believe linen is stronger than cotton, so they won’t wear out as quickly. The linen is often rougher than cotton. Ironing linen is a challenge, at least to me. In order to get a smooth, finished look, I often iron my linen pieces while they are still quite damp.

I have a bunch of old Irish linen napkins and those are what we use every day. They are not the loose, rough weave that often is being sold today, but a very fine, tight, smooth weave. They bleach and iron like a dream. I put them in the dryer until damp dry, then iron them. You can usually find them on eBay for not a lot of money.

Same as Fun2Bhere - antique linen, which is BEAUTIFUL. I often see it for sale at online auctions, ebay, etsy for very low prices. Antique dinner napkins are larger than current day napkins.

I don't use bleach on linen -- only oxyclean and it has gotten everything I can think of. The quality of the linen maters. I bought some hand towels online and they were very lightweight linen, which was fine for what I wanted, but they were nearly impossible to iron. My better linens press pretty easily. I like linen, especially for towels. It absorbs water and dries you or your dishes easily, but then it dries faster than cotton. Linen also has natural antimicrobial properties. I've read that -- and I cannot think of anything linen I have had that has had a funky smell to it.

If you just lay out the linen napkins without putting them in the dryer and smooth them with your hands. Works great.

I have hundred year old table linens that although they have slightly yellowed look so good still and we use them every holiday and for birthday curry dinners. Red wine, gravy, tomato sauces and yellow curry all disappear with a soak and general wash. I lay flat to dry and quick iron before dry.

Iron? What's that?

I prefer linen to cotton, but both are good. I use cotton sateen for every day (and I make the napkins myself), but I also have antique linen napkins for special occasions. The sateen napkins are fine without ironing, but I do iron my linen damask napkins, which is extremely easy to do. If you do not want to iron linen napkins, you can hang them to dry instead, and they will have fewer wrinkles than if you dry them in the dryer.