Linen Care Instructions and Tips: Detailed Guide

Linen clothes are sometimes considered being difficult to care for, and we want to assure it’s not at all the truth. Due to this, we recommend that you read the detailed linen care guide and instructions.

Linen is actually very easy to launder, we just need to get to know it and understand its needs, hopes, dreams, and fears.

Linen clothes may look delicate, but many are surprisingly durable. Before washing, the rule of thumb is checking the garment care recommendation on the label!

All washable linen garments should be turned inside out before washing to prevent surface fibers from breaking. We can almost assure all linen garments can be machine and/or a hand washed in luke waters with delicate detergents. 

Even though there is no need for a tumble dry because linen dries so easily, it can be used to not dry your linen garment completely, but take out still a bit damp to hang on a padded hanger for the final stage to avoid wrinkles and maybe even ironing!

Yes, ironing as much as steam ironing is allowed, just be sure you do it on the reverse side to avoid shining!

For more details read all the questions below and if you still do not find your answer, just leave a comment or get in touch with us directly at info@sondeflor.com!

How Can We Take Off Candle Wax From Linen? 

We recommend you to put dripped-on linens in the freezer, as weird as it sounds! When the wax is frozen, gently scrape it off with a dull knife, then launder as usual.

If stain remains, place wax paper on an ironing board, flip the cloth, and iron the underside (wax dripping faces down). The wax will melt onto the paper, leaving you with a fresh, and pressed, linen. If your piece of clothing is antique, you might want to consider dry cleaning professionally. 

How Do You Remove Stains From Linen?

Linen tablecloths are the long-lasting and smart choice for table coverings.

However, like any other tablecloth or napkins, they are meant to be used and that might end in stains!

General rules for effective removal include several tips:

1. Act quickly and clean a stain right away (the longer you let the stain to sit on your tablecloth, the harder it would be to get it out);

2. Try to remove as much excess liquid or solids as you can before beginning to treat the stain;

3. For the best result, use a specific product for removing stains rather than regular soap; you can also try to sprinkle some baking soda and a few drops of vinegar, while lemon juice will help whiten any dingy material as well!

4. Very important to not rub a stain, as rubbing and applying to much pressure will help a stain to set into linen rather than get it out.

Should My Linen Always be Air-Dried? Can Linen Go in the Dryer? 

Generally, it’s okay to machine (tumble) dry your linen clothes, as long as you stick to low temperatures and take it out when it is still a bit damp to lie flat or hang on a hanger for the final stage.

However, to be more environmentally-friendly and because linen dries so easily, we offer to air-dry your linen garment on a padded hanger or place it flat on a drying rack, which will also help you avoid wrinkles and might even save from ironing!

Please do not wring linen to remove excess water. It is best to carefully roll each item in a towel to remove moisture!

For further instruction how to dry linen clothes - read our detailed guide here. 

How do I Preserve the Beautiful Dark Colors Without Ruining the White Details? 

We would recommend choosing dry cleaning or using dye trapping sheets when washing your dress.

Is Sunlight Good for Linen?

Drying your white linen under the sunlight will do no harm, on the contrary, white linen in the sun helps to retain the original white color.

However, when it comes to natural or dyed linen, we would suggest avoiding direct sun, since it’s a natural fabric and it might cause fading faster.

How We Can Reduce the Linen Color to Fade? 

All our linen garments coming in different colors but white and natural, are dyed along with the Oeko Tex recommendations, and colors are fixed and stable, so they should not bleed nor fade easily.

To avoid your linen colors from fading, follow recommended washing steps, try to avoid mixing different colors of your garments when washing, try not to wash your linen garments with other hard items, such as jeans, hoodies or towels, and avoid drying your linen garment in the direct sun.

Because linen is a natural fabric, it’s impossible to avoid fading forever, yet even faded linen has its charming character and confidence in wearing, haven’t you noticed that?

How Do You Remove Blood From Linen? 

The most important part here is to wash the stain with cold water and as quick as possible. Do not use any hot water or it will set the stain permanently.

After that, we advise one trick that works 99% of the time: if you have a fresh bloodstain on your item, apply couple drops of hydrogen peroxide directly to the stain, rinse with fresh water and launder as usual.

What Should You Use To Wash Linen? 

Product-wise, linen is best washed with a mild detergent. Linen naturally gets softer with every wash, and stonewashed linen is already at its maximum softness, thus avoid the use of fabric softener, because it weakens the fibers reducing their absorbency and moisture-wicking properties. 

Never use bleach on linen clothing, even if it's white.

How Do I Hand Wash Linen Clothes?

If you hand wash linen clothes, only use a gentle swishing motion – never wring, twist or scrub the fabric.

Hand washing is recommended for clothes that are not heavily soiled, or for linen fabric with a loose weave. This might be more easily damaged during a machine wash.

Gently agitate the clothing items, then remove from the soapy water. Drain the soapy water, rinse the sink and refill with cool water. Rinse the garments and repeat until the water is soap-free.

Any Tips On Keeping Linen Clothing as Wrinkle-Free as Possible Without Ironing? 

This is a quite common question, as linen is well known as a material that gets wrinkled very fast when you wear it!

To be honest, we do not see this as a flaw, on the contrary, we believe linen looks even better when a little worn and lived in. 

However, if you want your linen clothes to stay pressed-looking for the duration of wear, you can use spray starch for a crisper look, and to ensure that whisker-points like the knees, elbows, and crotch don't become impossibly creased as the day wears on.

In the event, you want to maintain the natural rumpled look of linen, but a garment has gotten heavily creased, use a spray bottle of water to eliminate them by lightly spritzing the creased section, laying the item flat, smoothing it with your hands and allowing it to air dry!

Can You Steam Linen Instead of Ironing? 

Absolutely!

You can steam linen instead of ironing, but it’s important to follow the exact guidance on this process. This will never happen with our dresses, but if the linen has not been preshrunk, it can easily shrink when you steam it. Also, linen tends to become shiny if steamed incorrectly.

Can You Re-Dye Natural/White Linen? 

Yes, absolutely, we spotted some of our clients doing that as well, just be sure that your garment is sewn with natural thread that it also catches the dye.

What Sort of Machinery Is Used To Make Flax Into Linen?

The whole path from flax to form of linen fabric involves not one instrument and a pair of loving hands.

But if you are interested in the exact moment when flax threads are interlaced to form of linen – it’s a weaving process in which a loom is used to weave the cloth.

What Types of Weaving Do Exists For Linen Fiber and What Are Their Specific Qualities? 

It’s worth mentioning that linen is a great choice for environmentally conscious weavers. It’s made from the fiber of the flax plant, which is very important in crop rotation and disease reduction. When it comes to choosing a pattern, you really can do no wrong here.

What's important, you have to know well certain linen qualities and how to deal with them while weaving. Paying attention to moisture, as linen behaves much better while damp, keeping good tension when weaving and either hand press or mangling finish are the main aspects to focus on.

What Can Qualify Truly Good Linen? 

This is a wonderful question requiring more attention and a story which we promise in the near future!

The quality of linen depends on many factors, including the qualities of the season when the flax is grown (sunlight and humidity) moving to the weaving and finishing techniques undertaken by the weaver to complete the fabrics.

Generally, the quality of linen is measured by the length, strength, and fineness of the fibers used to produce the fabric.

When I Get My Order Should I Wash the Dress First Or Is It Fine To Wear? 

All our dresses are softened and pre-washed before they reach you. We take beautiful care of them in our office, we pack them responsibly when shipping, thus we believe they are completely safe to wear them without washing.

However, due to traveling, they might be wrinkled, thus we advise to sprinkle them with water and hang on a padded hanger or steam-iron before wearing to minimize the wrinkles!

Can You Please Tell Me If Your Dresses Shrink Once Washed?

All our dresses are pre-washed and softened before they reach your wardrobe, thus with properly followed washing instructions, it should not shrink at all or significantly. 

Do You Put Sewing Patterns on Your Website? 

No, unfortunately, we do not put sewing patterns on our website due to several reasons.

First of all, we have a lot of different sizes in our patterns, starting with extra small and moving towards extra-large. But mostly, because all our garments are softened after being produced, thus we apply different shrinkage percentages due to different sizes, styles, types, and even color of the linen.

Would you believe that linen shrinks differently with vertical and horizontal seems? None of our patterns would apply to already soften linen sown in home conditions.

I’ve Got the Red Classic Dress, Will Washing Stain the White Inside Skirt?

The white hem of your Red Classic Dress might already have a light petal shade, thus it should not color bleed anymore if you follow our washing recommendations.

The red color is extremely complicated to handle, but we believe to have found the formula. If you feel uncomfortable washing your red dress, choose dry cleaning or use dye trapping sheet when washing your dress!

How Often You Should Wash Your Linen Clothes? 

Because linen gets softer and milder with every wash, there are no restrictions in this area. However, every wash requires electricity and detergents, thus for the love of Earth do that responsibly! 

How to Soften Linen To Not Scratch Your Skin?

Time, wear and repeated washing softens linen. You can speed the softening process without damaging the fabric, but the result will depend on how the linen was originally manufactured.

One of the tips is to soak the linen overnight in a stronger solution of 1 cup of vinegar to 1 gallon of water before washing.

Also, ironing helps to soften the fabric more quickly and if you dry your garments outside, place it in a good breeze. Keeping it moving during the drying process helps to reduce the stiff feeling.

My Linen Overalls Are Piling and Thinning From Thigh-Chafe. Can I do Something To Mend It? 

It’s not quite possible to completely avoid it, but try to focus on tightly woven linen fabrics while purchasing the new item. As for the ones you already own, wash it in a detergent with enzymes to reduce piling.

Will Hanging My Dress Damage The Seams? 

We believe it’s a myth! You can hang your dress with confidence and enjoy wearing it for years!

Where Do You Get Your Linen? 

All our materials and complementing components are coming from responsible producers and suppliers based in Lithuania.

We are proud of cooperating with one of the oldest sewing factories in Lithuania, employing people with hearing disorders. We respect the rights of all the people involved in the production, sales, and delivery of our garments.

Do You Wear Linen in Winter? Any Layering Needed?

Even though linen is generally considered a summer fabric, because it wicks moisture away from the body, which gives the fabric its characteristically cool, airy feeling, however, it’s a great choice all year round depending on the style, color, and the thickness of your linen garment.

Our Classic Peter Pan Collar Dresses, rich in fabric feel amazing in colder days in darker colors. If you are not convinced then we suggest trying our twill linen, which is way thicker and rich in structure but still soft and comfortable to wear during colder days.

We also have double-layered linen jackets, perfect for warm and cool seasons!

Even though extra layering is cute and might help you feel warmer in winter days, it’s not necessary, unless you really like layers. We have introduced light petticoats to wear under our dresses in colder days if need is there!

Thank you for all the questions! If you still have any, please comment below or contact us as info@sondeflor.com and we will keep this section updated!