High-quality fabrics have been created from linen, a natural fibre, for thousands of years. Despite the fact that we have quite a variety of materials these days, linen cloth is still preferred for the strength, softness, and durability in a great number of industries.
In this blog, we will go over everything you need to know about linen fabric — definition, types, properties, and more.
What is linen fabric?
The linen fabric material, made from the flax plant, is mostly for home textiles. Though similar to cotton, it’s fabricated from the stem fibre of the flax plant instead of the dolls around the seeds of the cotton plant.
Linen garments are more favoured in hot, humid climates. Unlike cotton, which tends to retain the moisture it absorbs for long periods, linen dries easily, making it much better at reducing the sensation of heat in overly hot temperatures.
Since the invention of the cotton gin, linen has been gradually losing its lustre because the process of making linen is much more time-consuming and resource-intensive than making cotton.
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How Is Linen Fabric Made?
Manufacturers of this fibre begin by separating the flax fibres from the woody interior of the flax stems so that the fibres are ready for linen production. In the past, manufacturers would soak the raw flax stalks to do this, while in the present day, manufacturers might use chemicals. These chemicals are washed away prior to spinning the flax fibres into yarn, but the risks are that harmful materials might still remain in the chemically separated flax fibre.
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1. Cultivation
Flax plants require up to about 100 days to harvest maturity. Flax plants require to be cultivated during the cool months of the year in order to avert crop death due to being unable to withstand heat.
2. Irrigation
Flax seeds are now usually planted by the use of machines. The use of herbicides and tilling usually stops reduced yields in flax crops since flax plants cannot prevent weed infiltration.
3. Harvesting
Flax plants are prepared for harvesting when their stems become yellow and their seeds become brown. While it is possible to harvest flax by hand, in most cases, machinery is used in the process.
4. Identifying Fibres
Post-harvesting, flax stalks are processed through a decorticating machine to remove the seeds and leaves. Manufacturers then extract the soft, woody core from flax’s fibrous outer stalk. This is called retting, and if done without expertise, it could damage the delicate flax fibres that are meant to be woven into fabrics.
5. Disrupting
This is then followed by breaking the decomposed stalks, separating the useful inner fibres from the inner section of the flax stalks and the outer ‘useless’ fibres. This is done through running rollers over the flax stalks and subsequently using rotating paddles to extract the outer ‘useless’ fibres from the stalks.
6. Blending
The inner fibres can now be combed into thin strands because they have been split off from the outer fibres. The fibres will be ready for spinning after they have been combed.
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7. Spinning
Today, instead of using the foot-powered flax wheel that was traditionally used to spin flax yarn, flax producers use industrial machinery for that purpose. These short, combed fibres are drawn together with tools known as spreaders in order to create flax fibres, and the strings resulting from this process, which are called rovings, are thus ready to be spun.
8. Casting
The yarn, once spun on a spinning frame, is reeled onto a bobbin. The reeling process is required to be carried out in damp, humid conditions to ensure that the flax yarn won’t break, and then the spun yarn is run through a hot water bath in addition to ensuring cohesion.
9. Desiccating
Finally, the now-ready yarn is desiccated by flax manufacturers before being wound into bobbins. The yarn is then prepared for dyeing, processing, and manufacture of textile products such as clothing and household goods.
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What Different Types of Linen Fabric Are There?
1. Damask linen
Produced on a jacquard loom, this delicate linen is so intricate that when finished, the product looks like embroidery. Damask linen is used more on decorative pieces rather than everyday pieces.
2. Plain woven linen
Plain woven linen is so loosely woven that it’s often used in hand towels, linen fabric cotton, and cotton and linen fabric. It’s so tightly woven that it’s very durable with no significant loss of toughness.
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3. Loose weave linen
This type of linen woven with a loose weave is the least durable linen. However, loose-woven linen is the most absorbent. Common uses are sanitary napkins and reusable diapers.
4. Sheeting linen
Sheeting linen is so closely woven that its surface is soft and doesn’t have a texture. This type of linen is typically used for linen clothing.
Where Is Linen Fabric Produced?
At present, China is the largest linen fabric supplier in the world, as it is with most linen fabric shirts. Yet, many European nations still have an interest in producing fine linen goods, and Ireland, Italy, and Belgium remain the major producers. A relatively large amount of linen is also produced in the United States and used for home goods.
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Key Takeaway
The release of chemicals used in the retting process into nearby ecosystems is the main environmental concern related to the manufacturing of linen fabric material. The most common methods of extracting flax fibres from the woody interior of flax stems are alkali or oxalic acid. Though undoubtedly chemical retting is much faster and more effective than any microbial methods, both alkali and oxalic acid are very poisonous if used in relatively small amounts.
Water-retting flax stems is thus an environmentally preferred option, and water-retting flax fibre is usually necessary for organic certification. However, water retting merely adds to the already high cost of flax, with organic flax remaining too expensive for most consumers.