Flax is one of the oldest textile fibers still in use. Anyone who has gone to Sunday School probably remembers hearing Bible stories about the use of it in both the Old and New Testaments. Don’t remember? You probably know it better by its fabric name: Linen.
There is much confusion about flax and linen because they are often incorrectly used interchangeably. Flax is the fiber. Linen is the fabric made from flax. Additionally, linen is also used to describe fabrics made with thick and thin yarns and have a hand similar to “real” linen. To add to the confusion, linen is also the generic word used to describe household goods like sheets, towels, tablecloths, etc. that historically had been made from linen cloth. Technically, if you buy textiles in the United States, federal law requires the percentage of natural or manufactured fiber present to be listed in order of its predominance (Example: 95% Cotton, 5% Spandex). The fiber name can be either the generic name (example: polyester) or the trademarked name (example: Spandex). But, it isn’t unusual to find “linen” listed on the fiber content tag. In fact, I have a great Irish linen dress from Talbots that lists “linen” on the content label! When it comes to buying “linen,” you have to be on alert to make sure you are buying linen made from flax.
Cotton is made from the seed of the plant. Flax is a “bast fiber” made from the stem of the plant. When bast fibers are harvested, the plant goes through lots of steps with names like retting (decomposing the pectin by a bacterial rotting process so that the fibers can be removed), scutching (the process that crushes the outer covering of the stalks), and hackling (combing the fibers) before it can be transformed into something that can be spun. Here is a video of “Mary [showing] how to turn flax into usable fiber for weaving. This flax was grown at Mera so the weavers could learn how to work with it.”
Because flax is so labor intensive and has limited production, it is considered a prestige fiber. Most flax is produced in Belgium, France, Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. According to an article on Wikipedia, the best flax is grown in Northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The article also notes that almost all of the flax that is turned into Irish Linen is imported and not grown in Ireland.
Flax is a pretty strong fiber but it is also very stiff. Because of this, folding a linen item in the same place will cause the fibers to break at the nodes (the little joints in the flax fiber). It conducts heat very well and doesn’t absorb a lot of moisture from the air (called moisture regain) which is why it is so comfortable to wear in hot and humid climates.
Despite all of the “dry clean only” labels, flax-based linen fabrics can be machine washed and even bleached with chlorine bleach (although the bleach will take color out of the fabric). If you are going to make clothing out of flax-based linen and want to machine wash it, make sure you wash and wash it first so that it will shrink before you make the garment. You can tumble-dry linen, but just remember that the tumbling action will cause the fiber to break. Iron linen when it is still damp.
The major downside of linen is that is a wrinkle magnet. Crease-resistant finishes are often used on linen, but the finish reduces the strength of the linen. However, the more you launder linen the softer it becomes (because of the fiber breakage) and it will wrinkle less. I discovered this strategy with several of my husband’s shirts many years ago. Just remember that doing this to the linen takes away that crisp “linen look” and may explain why your grandmother’s prized linen tablecloth is so soft and drapey compared to the linen you received as a wedding gift.
Finally, flax has less of an environmental impact than does cotton because less chemicals are used and irrigation isn’t usually required. However, pulling the plants up during harvesting can lead to soil erosion if the farmer isn’t careful.
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