Think of Katherine Hepburn in “The African Queen” or Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa.”
Linen clothes andbeddingare breathable and soften and become more comfortable with every wearing.
Unlike cotton, linen is weaker when wet and prone to abrasion and should be washed with care.
The Spruce / Michela Buttignol
Always check the manufacturer’s label first, but most linen clothes can be washed.
Washable linen garments should be turned inside out before washing to prevent surface fibers from breaking.
The clothes can behand-washedor machine-washed on thegentle cycleusing warm or cold water for washing and rinsing in cold water.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Always test astain removal producton an inside seam or hem before treating the stain.
Spread a dab of the stain remover on the seam and then rub with a cotton swab.
If color transfers to the swab, don’t use the product!
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Test and use another product instead.
Linen fibers can be weakened bychlorine bleach.
Undiluted bleach should never be applied directly to the fabric, even if it is white.
Diluted bleach solutions can be used safely on linen or cellulosic fibers for stain removal and whitening.
However, even dilute solutions will weaken fibers causing them to rip and wear out if used too often.
Hang clothes immediately and allow them to finish air-drying.
Some people choose to never iron linen clothes and embrace the slightly rumpled look of the unironed linen fabric.
If you choose to iron linen, it is easier to iron linen garments while they are slightly damp.
Always be sure to use the correct iron temperature setting when pressing linen.
Extremely high temperatures when ironing can scorch linen fibers.
The scorching or yellowing occurs as the fibers begin to burn.
Burned fibers cannot be revived.
History of Linen Garments
Many of the first clothes were made of linen fibers.
Flax plants grow well throughout the Mediterranean and Central Asia.
The finest fibers were used to create white fabric for tunics and cloths.
Egyptian mummies were wrapped in this fine linen.
Coarser fibers were woven into boat sails and fabric for grain sacks.
When the Romans conquered Egypt, they began to dye the linen vivid colors.
Linen was the predominate fabric until the mid-1800s when cotton production was thriving in the Southern states.
Most of our fabric is imported from other countries; with many considering Belgium linen as the highest quality.
