Linen

Linen is the fabric made from the fibers of flax, a bast fiber obtained from the stems of the plant, which is labeled as flax or linen.

Linen is the fabric made from the fibers of flax, a bast fiber extracted from the stems of the plant, which is labeled as flax or linen.

We know it as a tea towel on a hook and as a napkin that lies crumpled next to the plate after a meal. Those who know where the fiber comes from also understand why a linen cloth absorbs so much water and what to look for on the label.

What kind of fabric is linen?

A fabric from a stem. Cotton grows as fiber on the seeds of its plant, whereas linen is found inside the stem: The EU regulation on textile fibers describes it as a bast fiber from the stems of flax, Linum usitatissimum. The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp, the European industry association, distinguishes between oilseed flax, grown for its seeds, and fiber flax, from which the fabric is made. Fiber flax is sown in March or April, blooms in June, and grows to about 100 centimeters high; each flower opens in the morning and wilts over the course of the day. Starting in July, it is not mowed but pulled out by the roots—rippled—so that the stems retain their full length.

Then the weather takes over. During dew retting, the flax lies in swathes in the field from July to September, and microorganisms from the soil, aided by rain, dew, and sun, break down the pectin that binds the fibers to the woody stem. Afterward, it is broken, scutched, and hackled. The Handwebmuseum Rupperath demonstrates the traditional steps: during scutching, short fibers fall away, and during hackling, the tow is removed, leaving only the long-fiber flax, shiny and combed in parallel.

Is linen a high-quality material?

It is certainly rare. According to the Alliance, linen accounts for less than 0.5 percent of all textile fibers in the world, and three-quarters of the world's scutched flax fiber comes from Western Europe, from a coastal strip between Brittany and the Netherlands. However, it is not rarity that makes it high quality, but the length of the fiber. The textile industry uses the longest fibers, which are soft, strong, and absorbent.

This leads to three touchstones. The label, more on that in a moment. The weight: The fabric density in grams per square meter indicates how much body a cloth has. The origin. The "Masters of FLAX FIBER" label (formerly European Flax) verifies the European origin of the fiber throughout the entire chain up to the finished piece. A product may only bear it if it consists of at least 50 percent linen, this linen is fully certified, and every stage of the supply chain is as well.

How this looks in everyday life is shown by Linen Tales, a family business from Vilnius. There, they found that the gray, rough linen of the past did not fit today's everyday life, and they introduced color and softness with their own formula. Their tea towels and napkins weigh 215 g/m², are stone-washed, pre-shrunk, and produced within a 100-kilometer radius of their warehouse. According to the company, they generally shrink by no more than three percent during washing.

What does 100% linen mean?

Exactly that, with a small, regulated tolerance. According to the Textile Labelling Regulation (EU) No. 1007/2011, only textiles consisting exclusively of one fiber may bear the addition "100%", "pure", or "all". Foreign fibers of up to 2 percent of the weight are permitted if they cannot be avoided in clean production and are not intentionally added. The word itself is also protected: Linen cannot be used for any other fiber, not even as an adjunct. A cloth made of hemp is therefore not linen, but hemp.

For blends, all fibers are listed on the label with their weight percentage, with the largest first. "Half-linen" (Halbleinen) is a fabric with a warp of pure cotton and a weft of pure linen, and the linen must account for at least 40 percent of the fabric weight. The composition must be clearly visible before purchase, both in-store and online. Therefore, read the label before relying on a word in the product name: the decisive factor is the fiber listed there with its percentage.

What is better, linen or cotton?

For drying: linen. In 2014, the Alliance had fabrics made of pure linen, pure cotton, viscose, and polyester compared at the University of Lorraine, and linen absorbed liquid immediately and distributed it the furthest. EU law also calculates more moisture for linen: it adds 12 percent to the dry mass, compared to 8.5 percent for cotton. The two also differ in the field: flax is generally not irrigated from sowing to harvest, while the German Environment Agency cites 3,600 to 26,900 cubic meters of water per ton for cotton.

One characteristic not everyone likes: linen wrinkles. Linen Tales advises simply leaving the creases. If you want smooth napkins, iron them while slightly damp and inside out, at a medium to high temperature. In return, linen becomes more supple with every wash, and the color develops a patina over time.

Wash linen at about 40 °C and only go up to 60 °C for stubborn stains. Use a mild detergent without enzymes and without bleach: cellulase enzymes can weaken the fiber over time, and bleach should only be used on white linen, and then only oxygen-based. Set the water level to the highest setting because linen absorbs a lot of water, and hang the cloths outside to dry.

This is what it looks like then: on Sunday, two napkins with mitered corners lie next to the plates, a cloth covers the bread basket, and after the meal, a tea towel dries the glasses before hanging back on its loop on the hook.

Tea towels and napkins made of Lithuanian linen

All four pieces are from Linen Tales, made of 100% linen. The Linen Tea Towel Forest Green is a dark forest green, the Linen Tea Towel Cafe Creme a warm cream-beige; both measure 45 x 65 cm and have a loop in the corner. For the table, there are the Linen Napkins Blue Fog in a set of 2 in misty blue-gray and the Linen Napkins Mustard in a set of 2 in earthy mustard yellow, each 40 x 40 cm with a mitered hem on all four corners. All colors can be found under Linen Tales.

Sources