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What Is Linen Fabric? Linen vs. Cotton

Everything you should know about linen, from composition to benefits and uses

Linen shirts folded and stacked on bed with yellow cover

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Linen fabric is a natural textile made from plant fibers for clothing, curtains, tablecloths, pillows, rugs, rope, and more. Throughout the history of textiles, they have been so popular for their breathability, durability, and versatility that "linens" is a word used today to refer to all laundry. Linen is prone to wrinkling and stiffness, so it gave way to cotton, another natural plant fiber, in popularity. However, it is often blended with cotton to give it softness and loosen creases.

What Is Linen?

Linen is a lightweight, sustainable fabric made from flax fibers. Flax comes from a flowering annual plant, Linum usitatissimum, growing about 3 to 4 feet tall. The tall varieties make fabric; the seeds make linseed oil and flax milk.

The taller the flax plant, the longer the fiber. It is the world's strongest natural fiber, far more durable than cotton. It grows fast in temperate climates, ready for harvest after 100 days, preferring full sun and moist soil.

Linen vs. Cotton

Linen and cotton are similar fabrics made from plant fibers with many of the same qualities. While cotton fabric is derived from the fibers in the bolls that grow around the plant's seed heads, linen is made from fibers in the stems of the flax plant.

Linen has some advantages over cotton and some deficits. Linen can be two to three times stronger than cotton and dries much faster—a quality that helps dissipate heat faster. But it is also more expensive and less elastic, so it wrinkles more than cotton.

The Benefits and Uses of Linen

Linen has been a popular choice over millennia, with good reason.

  • Absorbent: Its porous nature and moisture-wicking properties make it a popular summer fabric for clothing or bedding.
  • Conducts heat: Linen is a natural conductor of heat, keeping you warm but retaining the heat in its fibers, not your skin.
  • Breathable: This fabric allows more airflow to and from your body, making your linen clothes feel airy and comfortable to wear.
  • Easy to dye: Its natural fibers hold dye colors better than other materials; thus, the fabric is available in almost any imaginable color.
  • Antibacterial and hypoallergenic: Linen is naturally antibacterial and antifungal, making it a popular choice for bandages and bed linens for centuries. It's hypoallergenic, making it a good alternative for people with allergy sensitivities.
  • Long-lasting: It is one of the longest-lasting natural fabrics, outpacing cotton, and can last 30-plus years.
  • Eco-friendly: This sustainable textile is quickly biodegradable, requires less water than cotton to cultivate, and can grow in challenging environments, making it an earth-friendly choice.

Types of Linen Fabric

Linen types can be distinguished by their texture, weave pattern, and how they are woven.

  • Damask linen: This is a very ornate and delicate form of linen fabric woven on special looms. The fabric resembles fine embroidery. It is generally used in craft items rather than for apparel and other uses.
  • Plain-woven linen: This relatively rough-textured fabric is often used in hand and bath towels. It is a surprisingly durable fabric.
  • Loosely woven linen: This utilitarian fabric is often used in reusable diapers and crafting cloths. It is not a very durable fabric.
  • Sheeting linen: This closely woven fabric is commonly used in apparel and linen bedding. It has an untextured, soft surface. The thread count is generally relatively high, making for a durable, dense fabric.
  • Linen blend: Often combined with cotton, it combines the best qualities of cotton and linen with improved softness and wearability, making it less prone to creases. Linen blends are also less expensive than pure linen.
Pillows covered with blue and off-white linen pillow sheets near bedside table with lamp

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Linen Care

Linen is notorious for being wrinkly. If you like the look and feel of linen clothing, learn how to iron linen to keep wrinkles at bay unless you want to embrace the wrinkles for a more casual look. High heat on your iron and a touch of spray starch (especially on collars) will get you smooth and crisp results. But don't be fooled—once you wear your linen garment, it's bound to get at least a little wrinkly.

To avoid wrinkles, opt for linen blend fabrics. Be sure your linen clothes are completely dry before wearing them, as wrinkles can be even more exaggerated when the material is damp.

What Is Starch?

Laundry starch is a spray typically made from water and cornstarch. The product adds body and crispness to the fabric, defends against stains and pilling, reduces static, and makes ironing easier.

This fabric will soften as you wear it over time. If you want the fabric to remain crisp and sturdy, dry clean your linen clothing. A big plus is that linen can be washed in the washing machine, but much like cotton, it can shrink. Wash linen items in cold or warm water. Be careful when removing stains from linen since some dyed linen may not be colorfast. Test an inconspicuous spot for colorfastness.

Spray starch applied to gray linen shirt on iron board behind blue iron

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

The History of Linen Fabric

The flax plant has been cultivated in almost every country and used to make fiber for thousands of years. Historical evidence points to its use by humans dating back more than 35,000 years in Paleolithic times from an archeological dig site in the common-day Republic of Georgia. It was once so precious that it was used for wrapping the bodies of mummies in Egypt, contributing to preserving these ancient treasures.

Linen's antibacterial and antifungal properties have made it an important textile for use on battlefields throughout history. Today, linen is blended with cotton to make the sturdy, paper-like substance used to create American dollar bills. Historically, Europe was one of the largest producers of linen, with France as the largest producer in Europe. Today, China produces the most flax into yarn in the world.

How Is Linen Fabric Made?

Modern-day linen is still made much like it was made in ancient Egypt. The plants are cut or pulled by hand from the ground (it's said that pulling creates finer linen). The flax is dried for several weeks. Next comes threshing (winnowing or ripping) or removing the seeds. In some cases, the flax was harvested before the seeds were ready, making for a stronger fiber.

Retting or steeping in water removes the fibers from inside the flax plant stalk. Soaking breaks down the cells inside the plant, enabling the collection of unbroken fibers. The getting process removes the plant stock from the fibers. Once the fibers are separated to collect the longest pieces, up to nearly 8 inches long, they are spun into yarn and woven into fabric.

FAQ
  • How much does linen fabric cost?

    On average, linen fabric costs several dollars a yard for low quality and up to $20 for higher quality. Organic linen is the priciest.

  • Is linen better than cotton?

    Linen is better than cotton regarding durability and breathability, but cotton is softer and less wrinkly.

  • What is linen made out of?

    Linen is made of flax plant fibers.

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Oldest known fibers to be used by humans discovered. The Harvard Gazette.