How to care for linen clothes

Linen is one of the most popular materials for sewing clothes. Linen is durable, practical and sustainable. Clothes from it are usually sewn for summer. The fabric is breathable and hardly felt on the body. The care of linen clothes should be special – the fabric is capricious, which we will talk about further.

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Main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of linen fabric

Linen is a matte material with a subtle muted shine, has a rough weave and is difficult to drape. The fiber is not elastic, strong and tough to the touch. Due to this, in the first minutes after washing and ironing, it feels like “chain mail” on the body. However, after 5-10 minutes this sensation disappears. To give textiles a softer structure that would not irritate the skin, add 2-3% lavsan or its analog. They make the fabric softer and more elastic. Flax makes great summer clothes: shirts, T-shirts, trousers, dresses.

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Advantages of textiles:

• lightweight, practically weightless, perfectly breathable;
• hygroscopic, prevents the body from overheating in hot weather;
• durable, with proper care, the service life of linen items is several years;
• reflects light, which also prevents overheating.

Linen is not without flaws. Firstly, the material wrinkles strongly, and secondly, it has a high degree of shrinkage after washing and the first wear – up to 25% from the original size.

How and how to wash linen

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Only thick linen can be washed at home. It is better to give things made of thin material to dry cleaning, otherwise the washing machine may simply tear it. Linen can be washed at temperatures up to 95 degrees, while the number of revolutions should not exceed 600, plain-colored linen must be washed on a delicate cycle at temperatures up to +40 degrees at 400 revolutions. The correct choice of temperature guarantees minimal shrinkage and color retention. Also, for automatic washing, it is recommended to use a special bag for linen items and completely refuse to spin.

How to dry and iron linen clothes

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Dry lLinen clothes need to be naturally suspended or laid out on a flat surface. The fewer creases, the better. To iron linen clothes according to the following rules:

• iron damp things – immediately after taking them out of the washing machine;
• to prevent the appearance of creases, you can moisten clothes with water from a spray bottle.
• immediately after ironing, things must be neatly folded or hung on a hanger.

How to store clothes

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You need to store linen clothes in the closet on hangers. Ideally, the shoulders should be wide and sloping, without sharp corners. If it is not possible to store clothes vertically, then try not to stack piles of other things on them. These rules will keep capricious linen clothes in perfect condition.