Dopo cena, pulisco il tavolo con un panno pulito.

In Italian, names of meals often appear without an article after prepositions like a, dopo, prima di, etc.

• dopo cena = after dinner
• prima di pranzo = before lunch
• a colazione = at breakfast

You can say dopo la cena in some contexts, but that usually sounds more specific, as if you mean after the dinner / after that particular meal. In this sentence, dopo cena is the normal, general expression.

Italian often drops the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb ending.

• pulisco already means I clean
• pulisci = you clean
• pulisce = he/she cleans

So io is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• Pulisco il tavolo. = I clean the table.
• Io pulisco il tavolo, tu lavi i piatti. = I clean the table, you wash the dishes.

Pulisco is present indicative of pulire.

In Italian, the present tense can express:

• something happening now
• a habit or routine
• a general fact

So here it most naturally means something like After dinner, I clean the table as a regular action or simple present statement.

Pulire is a -ire verb that takes the -isc- pattern in many forms.

Its present tense goes like this:

• io pulisco
• tu pulisci
• lui/lei pulisce
• noi puliamo
• voi pulite
• loro puliscono

Many common -ire verbs work this way, for example:

• capire → capisco
• finire → finisco
• preferire → preferisco

So pulisco is the correct standard form.

Italian uses the definite article more often than English does.

So where English says:

• I clean the table

Italian says:

• pulisco il tavolo

This is very normal with everyday objects, body parts, and things understood from context. Italian usually prefers the article where English might sometimes be more flexible.

In Italian, countable singular nouns usually need an article or determiner.

So:

• un panno = a cloth
• il panno = the cloth

Saying just con panno pulito would sound incomplete in standard Italian. You need un, il, questo, etc.

It tells you the means/instrument used to do the action.

• con = with
• un panno pulito = a clean cloth

So it answers the question How do I clean the table? → With a clean cloth.

It attaches naturally to the verb phrase pulisco il tavolo.

The two words come from the same verb family, but they do different jobs:

• pulisco = I clean → this is a verb
• pulito = clean → this is an adjective

So the sentence is not repetitive in a bad way. It means:

• I clean the table
• using a clean cloth

Italian allows this kind of repetition naturally.

In Italian, adjectives often come after the noun, especially when they describe a physical quality in a straightforward way.

• un panno pulito = a clean cloth
• una casa grande = a big house
• un libro interessante = an interesting book

Some adjectives can go before the noun, but pulito normally comes after it in this kind of sentence.

Normally, no. Grammatically, pulito agrees with panno, so the phrase means with a clean cloth.

• panno is masculine singular
• pulito is also masculine singular

Although tavolo is also masculine singular, the structure con un panno pulito is understood as one noun phrase: a clean cloth. So the adjective naturally describes panno, not tavolo.

If you wanted to describe the table as clean, you would say something different, for example:

• Pulisco il tavolo, che è pulito.
• Pulisco il tavolo pulito is not the natural way to express that meaning here.

The comma is possible and natural, but not always absolutely necessary.

• Dopo cena, pulisco il tavolo...
• Dopo cena pulisco il tavolo...

Both are acceptable. The comma helps separate the introductory time expression Dopo cena from the main clause. In writing, it can make the sentence a little clearer or more natural.

Usually pulisco is the best basic choice.

• pulire = to clean
• ripulire = to clean up / clean again / clean thoroughly
• nettare exists, but it is much less common in everyday speech for this meaning

For a simple everyday sentence like this, pulisco il tavolo is the most natural and standard option.

Yes. Italian word order is flexible.

You can say:

• Dopo cena, pulisco il tavolo con un panno pulito.
• Pulisco il tavolo con un panno pulito dopo cena.

Both are correct. Putting dopo cena at the beginning emphasizes the time frame first. Putting it later sounds a little more neutral in some contexts.