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Why Linen?

Why Use Linen?

Flax/Linen is one of the oldest textile fibers known to humankind. Though the fiber and the fabric are both commonly known as linen, it is actually flax, the fiber of the Linum plant.

But that alone is not what makes wearing linen unique and useful.

Before we had air conditioning in nearly every part of the world Linen was and still is favored for its fine, strong, cool-wearing properties as it drapes away from the skin rather than clinging to it.

Pressed, Air dried or just pulled out of the dryer our linen guayaberas, linen shirts and boxers are perfect fro any occasion.

WHAT IS LINEN?

LINEN, made from the small and beautiful little plant known as Flax or Linum or by it's full Latin name Linum Usitatissimum and from which the cellulose fiber linen is obtained.

The stems of the plant are processed into long, strong fibers by hackling, retting, and scutching processes. This is one of the most elegant, beautiful and durable refined luxury fabrics historically known to us.

Linen was used in the wrapping of mummies in Egypt and to this day these linen wrappings remain intact and strong on newly discovered mummies. Linen is the strongest of the vegetable fibers and has 2 to 3 times the strength of cotton.

Linen table cloths and napkins have been handed down generation to generation. Not only is the linen fiber strong, it is smooth, making the finished fabric lint free. The soft and subtle luster of linen only gets softer and finer the more it is washed.

Linen is made from flax, a bast fiber taken from the stalk of the plant. The luster is from the natural wax content.

Creamy white to light tan, this fiber can be easily dyed and the color does not fade when washed. Linen does wrinkle easily but also presses easily. Linen, like cotton, can also be boiled without damaging the fiber.

Highly absorbent and a good conductor of heat, this fabric is cool and naturally wicks moisture away.

Our high quality 100% Chinese sand washed linen is amazingly soft and durable.

Our 100% Chinese linen is the softest you can find on the market without the Sand Washing, when we add the "sand washing" we have found that the level of softness and the quality of the fabric drape are greatly improved