Linen fabric, which is generally used in many of the summer clothes, is highly popular in the fashion industry. From summer clothing to absorbent dish towels, linen is a very versatile and natural fabric that is soft and cool to the touch. What makes linen fabric highly popular and how is linen made? Let’s dive into the details.
What is linen?
Linen fabric is a strong, lightweight fabric which is obtained from the flax plant. Its structure is similar to cotton fiber and it is not allergic. Linen fabric is one of the indispensables for the fabric industry and it is used in many items other than clothing such as carpets, curtains, sheets, covers, ropes, decorative products, quality paper.
Linen fabric facilitates the air intake of the body because it has large pores. For this reason, it is frequently preferred in the summer season. Despite weaving difficulties, it is frequently encountered in all areas of our lives thanks to its soft texture, durability, absorbent properties and easy cleaning features.
How is linen made?
To extract the linen fibers from the flax plant, the plants are either cut or pulled by hand from the ground. The seeds are then removed through winnowing or ripping process, followed by retting which removes the plant stock from the fibers. Once the fibers are separated to collect the longest pieces, they are then spun into yarn and eventually woven into fabric.
The chemical structure of flax contains 80% cellulose, 3% pectin and 10% water. The leaf structure is sessile. It is gray green in color. Flaxseeds contain 40% to 45% oil.
What are the features of linen fabric?
- One of the important features of linen fabric is that it is a natural fiber.
- Linen fabric is more durable than most of the other fabric types including cotton.
- Thanks to its high moisture absorption feature, linen fabric is frequently used in bathroom products.
- Linen fabric, which has a smooth and hairless structure, is preferred because it does not get dirty quickly.
- Linen fabric, which has a shiny structure, has a low level of flexibility.
- It is more preferred in summer, as it allows the body to breathe.
Linen care
Linen is notorious for being wrinkly. That means you will do a lot of ironing if you love linen clothing. When you need to iron a linen item, you need to use high heat and some steam.
You might come across wrinkles even when your linen clothes are drying. If you put them in the dryer, you should use a low heat to avoid wrinkles.
When it comes to washing linen clothes, you do not need to dry clean them. You can wash your linen clothes by hand or in the washing machine.