Fabric linen is exceptional and truly unique in its look, feel and properties. Linen textiles are one of the oldest in the world, being manufactured and used for thousands of years. 

Linen production process is intense and lengthy. It starts with the cultivation of the flax plant. Flax plant is more difficult and time-consuming to grow than cotton and requires specific climate conditions and care. Flax for high-quality linen is mainly grown in Europe, where labor and environmental standards are stricter, thus more expensive. We source the highest quality, 100% pure thick linen fabrics from Poland and other EU countries. Fibres of the flax plant grow quickly, they are ready for harvest in about 100 days. Growing a flax plant requires little water or pesticide, making it eco-friendly.

After the plant has flowered, it is ready to be harvested. This can be done mechanically or manually. The most important part of this process is to very carefully pull out the plant from its roots to avoid damaging the fibres, which run throughout the entire length of the plant. 

Once this step is completed, the flax is ratted. This process takes 1–3 weeks, depending on conditions. Retting is the process of breaking down the natural pectin that binds the fibres to the stalk. This can be done via dew retting or water retting. Dew retting means leaving the flex in the field to rot naturally,  allowing natural processes such as sun, rain and wind access to their hard and wooden stems. Water retting is soaking stems in ponds or tanks in order to relax and prepare them for next steps- drying, breaking, scutching, and hackling. 

Breaking and Scutching happens after the dried flax is crushed (broken down) to separate the woody stalks. Where the broken stalk pieces are scraped off they leave behind the long, soft fibres in the process called scutching.

Hackling combs the fibres through fine metal teeth, removing short fibres and aligning the long ones resulting in smooth, silky linen fibres, ready for spinning.

The cleaned flax fibres are spun into yarn, traditionally using a spinning wheel or now in mills. The yarn can be wet or dry-spun, depending on the desired texture. Wet spinning produces finer, smoother yarn while dry spinning results in thicker, rougher yarn.

Final steps include weaving and finishing. Weaving is when the yarn is woven into linen fabric using looms and this can be done in different styles: plain weave ( most common) and Herringbone, twill, or damask (for decorative purposes).

Linen fabric is finished by bleaching or dyeing, then softened and pre-shrunk and finally ironed, calendared (pressed), or textured, depending on its end use.

Linen manufacturing is time consuming and expensive, also requiring a high level of knowledge and expertise.  Linen is extremely durable and gets softer and stronger with time, making it a long-lasting investment fabric.