Linen is more than a great material for your clothes, it’s strong, breathable and light. But do you know what linen is made from? A plant, yes, but which one? Read on and be amazed at what makes linen so special.
What is linen?
First we need to make sure we have linen, and for that we need to sow our little plant.
Which plant exactly? Flax!
You may have seen it or heard of it before. Flax is used in various things, for example: to make linseed oil.
The plant has a long woody stem, and inside it lies the magic part we need to make linen.
We can only start sowing once the weather turns milder. Flax is quite delicate and needs a specific environment in order to grow.
The ideal environment for flax consists of:
- Mild temperatures, with occasional sun. (approx. 15 to 28 degrees)
- Moist soil (regular rain showers, but not too much)
These factors make it no coincidence that West Flanders in Belgium is the ideal environment for this plant. If you ask specialists, you will certainly hear more than once that Belgian linen is one of, or even the best, in the world.
Retting.
Once the flax has grown to the desired stage, the plant is pulled out entirely, roots and all, and laid flat on the ground.
Now Mother Nature lends us a hand.
Like all the good things in life — wine, beer, cheese — the flax first has to undergo a kind of ripening/fermentation process.
Here the environment plays a crucial role. Earth, rain and sun cause micro-organisms to break down the pectins of the plant.
Processing.
Now that the plant is ready to be made into linen, bales of the flax are collected. These bales are first fed into a kind of scutching machine.
This machine separates the fiber used for linen from the woody stem.
After separation, this is spun into a thread, with different techniques used depending on the desired result.
The yarn of the finest linen is always wet-spun.
Now the linen can finally be woven into fabric and further processed into various products including: clothing, curtains, kitchen towels, etc…
As you can read, linen is a pure and natural product that feels light and pleasant.
That’s why, for many (myself included), nothing beats a pure linen shirt on sultry warm summer days.
Conclusion:
As you can see, there’s more work behind it than you might think, but despite this wonderful fabric having been around for so long, it’s still one of the best materials you can wear.
Share this article with someone you know. If you have any questions about our collection, don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’ve briefly summarized all of this from the book “linen craft” published by Libeco, one of the oldest weaving mills in Belgium, and they also offer the best quality you can find.