Why linen clothing and outfits become more and more popular with every single season?
The answer is simple as it comes to fabric's unique benefits: it effectively absorbs perspiration, wicking away moisture from your body as well as regulating your temperature.
Linen pants, linen shirts and linen dresses are highly popular because of this airy feeling they provide. Let's see what makes it so special.
**Terracotta Linen Set with Shorts can be found in our Sleep Shop
Linen is considered to be one of the most ancient fabrics and were already worn in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It's popularity is increasing season by season, partially due to its amazing benefits and partially due to the ever-growing natural trends and sustainability.
Unlike cotton, flax is not a shrub, but a grass that grows up to 1 meter in height. The fiber is taken from the bast layer of the plant stem (between the outer layer and the core). Its main function is to conduct water, so flax is very hygroscopic. The stem is a rather fragile part of the plant, if it breaks, it no longer straightens itself, so the linen fabric is also very wrinkled. Flax fiber is shaped like a long cone with a small longitudinal air channel, on one side it is much thinner than on the other. Due to the small size of the air channel, the fiber retains heat poorly.
Flax is a rather unpretentious plant of the northern humid climate. It withstands any bad weather and does not require special field treatment, it is very resistant to various pests and fungi. It is an environmentally friendly and clean material. Growing flax is not dangerous to the environment unlike cotton. Up to 20% of all used pesticides are poured onto cotton fields in the world and a huge amount of water is used, both soils and groundwater suffer from this. Therefore linen is much more economical, safer and more environmentally friendly.
Fabric production
Flax harvesting begins at the end of summer. The harvester cuts the stems of the plant near the ground and spreads it in long narrow rows over the area of the entire field for three weeks. During aging under the action of rain and sun, the biological treatment of straw takes place, the substances that stick the fiber to the wood are destroyed, so the fibers will be easier to separate from the stem.
At the plant, flax is kneaded, the wood is removed from the stem. After sorting, the fiber is woven, combed and drawn until it is as thin as thread. Then it is sent for cooking, bleaching or dyeing. Then, on spinning machines, finished yarn is made from it. Rolls with threads are treated with an adhesive - potato or corn starch, forming the basis of the fabric, into which transverse threads are woven on a loom. So in 4 weeks, linen fabric is created from the stem of a flax plant.
Advantages of flax
1. High wear resistance
Linen can withstand heavy loads and will last you a long time with proper care. This is a durable material, therefore it is also used for technical purposes. For example, in the production of textile packaging.
2. Hygroscopicity
Linen perfectly passes air, absorbs moisture and does not create a greenhouse effect. Therefore, it is considered an ideal material for summer clothes, bath accessories, bed and table linen.
hygiene
3. Linen is not electrified, so it gets dirty less than other fabrics, less dust and other fibers stick to it.
4. Medical benefits
Flax has antibacterial and antifungal properties due to the silica it contains, or silicon dioxide, which prevents putrefaction and fermentation. If you walk in linen or sleep on linen, then small pimples and wounds will heal much faster. Linen is absolutely hypoallergenic.
Fabric Properties
- Pilling
Flax does not form pellets, it can only fluff slightly. Long-staple flax does not fluff at all.
- Wrinkles
The main disadvantage of flax is that it is very wrinkled. Unless the fabric is softened, it is so strong that pure linen is almost impossible to iron to a completely even state. Is it necessary? Synthetic additives reduce wrinkling by 20-30%. If there is a lot of synthetics, then flax loses its qualities, pellets can even begin to form on it.
- Softening
If the flax is not processed in any way and is not softened in any way, then it is quite hard, it can be sharp to the body. Therefore, linen fabrics are subjected to special processing. They become soft by softening the structure of the yarn and washing out the hard protein compounds. True, their strength is reduced by approximately 10%, but this does not affect consumer properties, because initially their strength is extremely high.
Softening is chemical, mechanical and enzymatic. During chemical softening, flax is treated in a solution of high acidity, from which the cellulose is slightly destroyed and the fabric becomes softer. Mechanical softening consists in the fact that flax is passed between the shafts of a softening machine. As a rule, these two methods are used together to achieve the best result.
Check out our beautiful minimalistic linen outfits from small Ukrainian brand SoGoodLinen, - natural colours, Ukrainian sustainable production, boiled softened linen and aesthetics in every detail will make our linen sets a great choice for multiple occasions in and out.