Complete guide to linen care: cleaning, drying, ironing and storage.

Immaculate white, soft or bright colors, plain or embroidered, linen has reappeared in our homes in recent years to become a chic and elegant decorative element, almost essential. Curtains, bedding, sheets, cushions, tablecloths... or simply to dress, it is everywhere. Its advantages are numerous: timeless and ecological, linen is a natural fiber, easy to wear and at the same time very resistant and with thermoregulatory properties.

Since it is a natural fiber and its characteristic wrinkled appearance, its maintenance may seem cumbersome. As always, we advise you to follow the manufacturer's instructions indicated on the labels. However, at Home Healthy Home, we give you some very simple tips that will help you wash and care for your linen garments in complete safety.

A cold water bath will make it easier to maintain your linen clothes.

Linen is a delicate material that must be cared for. To guarantee its durability, maintenance must begin from the moment of purchase.

Before washing your linen clothes for the first time, and even before using them, we advise you to soak them in a container with cold water and 25 cl of white vinegar for about 12 hours.

Cold water will soften the fiber, promote better resistance to possible future stains and help reduce possible shrinkage. It must be taken into account that linen can lose 5% to 8% of its surface after the first washes.

As for white vinegar, it will help the colors to set in the fiber, to maintain its original color during the next washes.

Therefore, this crucial step serves to extend the life of your clothes . It preserves both the softness of the fabric and its colors that will remain vivid and vibrant after several machine washes.

By hand or in the washing machine with medium temperature and minimum spin.

Washing your linen garments softens the fiber and makes it more pleasant to the skin. Linen is an authentic and living material that becomes more beautiful with time. In fact, wash after wash, linen acquires a certain patina and becomes increasingly softer and more pleasant to the touch.

In general, wash your linen textiles separately and avoid mixing materials . Polyester, for example, will create lint that will adhere to the linen fibers and make them rougher and less flexible.

Sort the pieces according to their color and do not hesitate to wash your bedding sets or linen sets at the same time to avoid possible color variations.

To protect and not damage the fibers of your clothing, keep in mind that you should never exceed 50 ° C if it is white linen and 40 ° C if it is a colored linen garment. If you machine wash, choose a delicate, wool and linen program. If you prefer to wash by hand, avoid wringing the linen to avoid breaking its fibers.

Use a mild laundry soap without detergents, bleaches or bleach. At Home Healthy Home we have developed a Laundry Soap for silk and wool with lavender No. 13 with olive oil, ideal for caring for and maintaining linen, wool and silk. It is imperative not to use chlorine-based detergents that can turn yellow and damage the fiber of the textile .

When spinning in the washing machine, limit yourself to a maximum of 600 revolutions to reduce your clothes rubbing against the drum as this could damage the fibres.

Linen drying.

Linen is a material that dries quickly so, whenever possible, opt for air drying; Your clothes will be much more beautiful and, above all, they will be less wrinkled.

If you want to tumble dry your clothes without wrinkling, use the lowest dryer temperature setting with a cool cycle at the end. Also, don't overfill the dryer drum.

The trick: wool drying balls in the drum reduce possible fiber breaks and maintain the beauty of the fabric. Two or three dryer balls placed in the dryer soften the fabric and speed up the drying process by up to 25%. They prevent clothes from clumping during the drying cycle. This way, air can circulate freely, allowing the natural fibers to separate. This way your linen sheets will be softer, nicer and more comfortable.

Some tips for ironing linen.

After washing, you have two options:

- Maintain the natural wrinkled effect of your linen clothes or sheets to preserve all their charm

- Or, if you prefer perfectly smooth clothes and for that you have to follow these tips:

To start, lightly dampen your linen garment. You will see that, from the first pass of the iron, the fabric will remain tighter. Never dry iron linen. Turn the garment inside out to avoid wrinkles and use a hot iron at 200°C. Nowadays most irons have a special temperature for linen.

How to remove stains from linen clothes?

A stain is never irreversible, not even when it falls on a linen garment: the most important thing is not to let it become embedded and treat it before washing.

Depending on the type of stains, care is different so read our little tips carefully:

• Red wine stains: Rub with club soda or white wine, then place the garment in the washing machine.
• Grease stains: lather with dish soap and let sit overnight before putting in the washing machine
• Coffee or Chocolate Stains: Remove as much of the stain as possible with a clean, dry cloth. Then, scrub with soapy water and rinse with warm water
• Blood stains: rinse with plenty of cold water... and place in the washing machine.
• Grass Stains: Rub with our wet stain remover stick and put it in the washing machine.

How to store your linen clothes.

To maintain the quality of the fiber, you also have to take care of the way you store your clothes:

As with any textile, store your clothes when they are completely dry to avoid possible mold.

Fold your clothes once ironed and store them flat . If your shelves are rough (wooden, for example), put a sheet of tissue paper to protect your textiles.

Remember that sunlight and artificial lighting can discolor your clothing, especially when it comes to clothing made from natural fibers. Therefore, it is advisable to store them away from light.

With these tips you no longer have excuses to take care of and show off your linen garments...

Do you still have doubts? Do not hesitate to write to us at hello@home-healthy-home.com, we will be happy to help you 😍.