Our Tips and Tricks for Caring for Your Linen Home Textiles
Flax fibres love water, so linen fabric becomes softer, less prone to creasing, and increasingly voluminous and gentle with every wash. Linen is the strongest of all natural fibre fabrics. It is therefore highly durable, allowing you to enjoy your washed linen table or bed linen for many years to come.
WASHING
Sort colours before every wash. Do not overload your drum. Wash linen well unfolded in the machine. Before first use, we recommend soaking your linen items overnight in cold water, then washing them at 40°C with a gentle spin (800 rpm max). This precaution helps remove finishing products and residual pigments, naturally sets the dye within the flax fibre, and minimises shrinkage of the linen fabric.
For coloured linen, it is preferable to use a detergent free from bleaching agents (no optical brighteners), as these may dull your linen’s colour. For whites, choose a mild detergent to preserve the brightness of your linen. Occasionally, you can add a glass of white vinegar to the softener compartment of your machine: it’s both ecological and economical, with natural cleaning, sanitising and softening properties, and will help whiten yellowed linen. Never use bleach or fabric softener.
STAIN REMOVAL TIPS
To avoid setting stains, wash your linen household textiles promptly after they become stained. To remove stains from linen, use gentle natural products to avoid damaging the fibres. At EMBRIN, we use Marius Fabre soap or Savons d'Ici made in Normandy.
A few tips to make life easier. You can remove stains from... with...:
- Chocolate with warm white vinegar • lemon juice • water + washing-up liquid (for greasy stains) • Blood with warm water or washing-up liquid (let it work, then machine wash) • Wine with sparkling water or talcum powder
- Coffee by rubbing with Léon stain-removing soap from Savons Normands Savon D'Ici
- Lipstick or eosin with methylated spirits
- Ink by soaking the stain in milk, then gently rubbing with white wine vinegar.
- Carrot by dabbing with a cloth soaked in 90° alcohol. Rinse, then machine wash or leave to dry in the sun!
- Tea with 90° alcohol mixed with white vinegar
DRYING TIPS
Linen dries quickly and looks beautiful with its natural creases. Before placing linen in the tumble dryer, unfold and loosely refold sheets to prevent them from balling up and remaining damp inside!
Linen household textiles can be air-dried straight after the wash cycle, or tumble-dried on a low temperature with a slightly damp finish (this is the “ready to iron” setting on most machines). Remove them as soon as the cycle ends for a lovely natural crumpled look. Tumble drying will restore the softness of your bed linen, even from the very first night!
EXTRA TIP
Finish drying flat on the bed to naturally remove fold marks. If you wish to iron your linen, for ease we recommend using a hot iron and ironing while the linen is still slightly damp.
Iron your linen household textiles on the reverse side to avoid creasing and product alteration. Do not iron dry. If in doubt, please contact us for personalised advice.