How to Care for Linen So It Lasts Ten Years

Linen is among the oldest textile fibres still in use. Flax fibres recovered from a cave in Georgia, dated to roughly 30,000 years ago, were already spun, dyed and knotted, although the identification has been disputed in print since. It is also one of the few fibres that gets better as it ages. A linen shirt five years on is softer, hangs better and has more character than on the day it was bought.

That only happens if it is looked after in a particular way. Here it is.

Washing

Cold water, below 30 degrees. It is the temperature we give for every linen piece we make, and washing hotter costs the cloth some of its drape.

Delicate cycle, room in the drum. The fibres fold under mechanical pressure. A full drum spinning fast presses in creases that will not come out.

Low spin, 600 rpm at most. Most permanent creases in a linen garment are made here, not in the wash.

Neutral detergent, no optical brighteners. Brighteners add brilliance at first and yellow the fibre after a few dozen washes. On pastel colours, they fade them.

Never fabric conditioner. Conditioner leaves a film on the fibre that blocks moisture absorption, which is precisely the property you buy linen for. It also prevents the natural softening that comes with wear. Linen softens on its own. Let it.

Drying

In the shade, on a hanger, while still damp. Take the piece out as soon as the cycle ends. Damp linen left folded in a drum for two hours keeps creases that stay.

Shake it before hanging. Two sharp movements, holding it by the shoulders. It undoes half the creases before they set.

Not in direct sun. Light colours yellow over time, pastels fade. Shade with a through-draught dries just as quickly.

No tumble dryer. Heat makes the fibre brittle and shrinks the piece unevenly.

Ironing

Only if you want to. Many people prefer linen unironed, and it is a legitimate choice.

If you do: while the piece is still damp, and on the reverse. Damp cloth does most of the work, and ironing on the reverse keeps a shine off the face of the fabric.

On temperature, follow the label. In the international care code, the three-dot iron, up to 200 °C, is the setting for cotton and linen, but our own care label asks for a cool iron on these pieces, and the label is the instruction that applies to what you bought.

For the collar and cuffs, iron the reverse first and then the right side, so that the seam lies flat.

Storing

Hung, not folded, whenever there is room. Linen holds the memory of a fold for months.

If you have to fold, fold along the seams and do not stack more than three pieces. Out of season, store it clean. Invisible perspiration marks oxidise over the winter and appear in May as yellow stains that no longer come out.

What does harm, and nobody mentions

• Bleach. It attacks the cellulose. It weakens the fibre even when nothing shows.
• Leaving it wet in the laundry basket. Damp linen in a closed space grows mould quickly, and a mould stain on linen is permanent.
• Wire hangers. They distort the shoulder. In a cloth with no stretch, a distorted shoulder does not recover.
• Perfume sprayed on the garment. The alcohol marks pale fibre. Perfume on the skin, before dressing.

A note on creases

It will crease. After an hour sitting down, there will be creases behind the knees and at the elbows. That is not a manufacturing fault or a sign of cheap linen; it is how the fibre behaves.

Good linen is recognised not by refusing to crease but by recovering: hung overnight, the creases open on their own. If after a night on a hanger the piece still has its creases exactly where they were, the cloth is not good.

Our line

European linen at 155 g/m², five colours, made in Vila de Cucujães. Shirt, blouse, dress, waistcoat and trousers, along with a linen hat. See the collection.