Introduction

• Linen is a vegetable fibre obtained from the inside of the woody stalk of the flax plant.
• Moist, mild climate is necessary for growing flax for fibre.
• Flax is a tall, reed-like plant, with long fibres
• The plants are picked, then left to soak in water till the outside of the stem rots, to reveal the long soft fibres (this is called ‘retting)
• Then the fibres are spun into linen thread
• Most of the labour in foreign countries is done by hand

History

• The use of linen or ‘flax cloth’ dates back for about 10,000 years
• These people dressed in skins but used flax for course cloth & fishing nets
• Fragments of cloth and nets have been discovered in parts of Switzerland, the home of the Neolithic lake Dwellers
• Fine linen was used as burial shrouds of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
• When the tomb of Tutankhamen was opened, the linen curtains were found intact whereas all other fabrics crumbled into dust.

Properties

• Elegant, Beautiful and Durable
• Linen is thermo regulating , non-allergenic
• Linen is antistatic and antibacterial
• A refined luxury fabric
• Strong, smooth and lint free
• Highly absorbent and a good conductor of heat
• Absorbs humidity and allows the skin to breath
• Becomes softer with washing
• Dies well and colour does not fade with wash and use
• Linen has low elasticity, therefore keeps its shape well
• Linen is a lint free material therefore good for tea towels

Disadvantages

• Creases fairly easily
• Constant creasing in the same place i.e. collars & cuffs, can break the linen thread