Few people understand the characteristics of Linen or how to care for it. Read on to find out.

It is wrong to think linen must be dry-cleaned. Linen is stronger when wet. The more you wash linen, the nicer it becomes. Sometimes, however, colours fade or the fabric shrinks. This happens when the fabric is not dyed with colourfast dye or is not stabilized properly. As a general rule, the warmer the water used to wash linen, the more the fabric will shrink.

Some general recommendations when washing your Linen:

First of all, select an appropriate washing detergent. Many detergents contain optical whitening agent that are perfect for white linens. These are not recommended for coloured Linen however, as discolouring and spotting may result. When washing coloured linen, check that the detergent does not have whitening agent.

If you have hard water with high lime content, use a softening agent. Especially on dark colours linen.

Dark colours should always be washed separately to avoid discolouring lighter-coloured garments. When you wash dark colours particularly large pieces, avoid overloading the machine to minimise the of risk getting lighter streaks in the fabric.

Linen has to be pressed to be perfect. But if you do your own washing, you can avoid some wrinkling. Never over-dry the fabrics and avoid high dryer temperatures. When the drying cycle is over, remove laundry at once. If possible, pull out the corners and press them flat by hand. This reduces the amount of pressing later.