Tips for Caring for Linen Materials to Last for Decades

Illustration (RDNE Stock Project/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Are you familiar with linen? The fabric that is usually made into clothes is made from natural fibers of rami plants (Boehmeria Nivea). Its distinctive feature is a smooth surface but looks fibrous and is usually only available in natural or pale colors.

The disadvantage of this fabric is that it is not elastic, so it tends to be easy to tangle. However, linen is still a high-quality material that can last for years and this is what makes it quite expensive in the market.

For those who like linen materials, make sure you know how to care for it! Because, it needs special treatment so that its condition is always maintained well and can be worn for decades. Here are tips for caring for linen that can be done at home:

The more often it is washed, the softer it is.

One of the uniqueness of linen is that when it is often washed, it can become softer and more comfortable to wear. The difference from other materials that are more often washed is damaged, linen is even more pleasant to wear and does not seem dull. It is best to use cold water to wash it so that the material does not shrink.

Don't use bleach.

Even if you have white linen clothes, you should avoid bleaching clothes. The content of laundry bleach can damage the fibers in linen materials which makes it stiff. Washing linen with ordinary detergent is enough!

Do not dry in the washing machine

If you wash linen clothes in a washing machine, you don't need to continue to the drying stage, yes! After washing is finished, just shake it a few times so that it doesn't wrinkle then dry it with a padded hanger. The dryer of the washing machine can make linen materials easy to shrink.

Avoid ironing directly

If you need to iron linen clothes, you shouldn't get it directly! You can give a cloth base to avoid contact between the clothes and the iron so that the color remains beautiful and the fibers are not damaged.

Use a steamer

The best way to keep linen clothes neat is actually to use a steamer. So clothes don't have to go through the washing machine dryer and iron. You just hang clothes or put them on a clean towel, then use a steamer to smooth it so that it doesn't look crumpled and wrinkled.

Suspended, not folded.

After the neat clothes, don't fold it! It's best to hang all linen collections in the closet. Choose a hanger that is sturdy enough such as wood or thick plastic. Why should linen be hung? Because folding it can make the material easy to tangle and avoid you having to iron it again when you wear it.