How linen is made - material, manufacture, making, history, used, processing, parts, machine, History Linen Background Linen yarn is spun from the long fibers found just behind the bark in the multi-layer stem of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum). In order to retrieve the fibers from the plant, the woody stem and the inner pith (called pectin), which holds the fibers together in a clump, must be rotted away. The cellulose fiber from the stem is spinnable and is used in the production of linen thread, cordage, and twine. From linen thread or yarn, fine toweling and dress fabrics may be woven. Linen fabric is a popular choice for warm-weather clothing. It feels cool in the summer but appears crisp and fresh even in hot weather. Household linens truly made of linen become more supple and soft to the touch with use; thus, linen was once the bedsheet of choice. While the flax plant is not difficult to grow, it flourishes best in cool, humid climates and within moist, well-plowed soil.

The process for separating the flax fibers from the plant's woody stock is laborious and painstaking and must be done in an area where labor is plentiful and relatively inexpensive. It is remarkable that while there is some mechanization to parts of the fiber preparation, some fiber preparation is still done by hand as it has been for centuries. This may be due to the care that must be taken with the fragile flax fibers inside the woody stalk, which might be adversely affected by mechanized processing. Flax remains under cultivation for linen fiber in a number of countries including Poland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the British Isles. However, the grade of fiber the plants yield in different parts of the world varies. Many believe that Belgium grows the finest-quality flax fibers in the world, with Scottish and Irish linen not far behind. There is no commercial production of linen fabric in any significant quantity in the United States except, perhaps, by individual hand spinners and hand weavers. Thus, the linen fabrics Americans use and wear are nearly all imported into the country from one of these flax-growing and weaving countries.

History Flax has been cultivated for its remarkable fiber, linen, for at least five millennia. The spinning and weaving of linen is depicted on wall paintings of ancient Egypt. As early as 3,000 B.C. , the fiber was processed into fine white fabric (540 threads to the inch—finer than anything woven today) and wrapped around the mummies of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Mentioned several times in the Bible, it has been used as a cool, comfortable fiber in the Middle East for centuries as well. Ancient Greeks and Romans greatly valued it as a commodity. Finnish traders are believed to have introduced flax to Northern Europe where it has been under cultivation for centuries. Both wool and linen were tremendously important fibers in the New World. Relatively easy to grow, American settlers were urged to plant a small plot of flax as early as the seventeenth century. While flax is easy to grow, settlers knew all too well the tedious chore of processing the woody stalks for its supple linen. Before the industrial revolution much sturdy, homemade clothing was woven from linen cultivated, processed, spun, dyed, woven, and sewn by hand.

It may be argued that until the eighteenth century, linen was the most important textile in the world. By the late eighteenth century, cotton became the fiber that was most easily and inexpensively processed and woven in the mechanized British and New England textile mills. By the 1850s, linen production had virtually been abandoned in the United States because it was so much cheaper to buy the factory-made cotton. Some New Englanders of Scot or Irish background continued to cultivate some flax for processing into linen used for fancy domestic linens such as bedsheets, toweling, and decorative tableclothes as their ancestors had for centuries. However, most Americans abandoned the cultivation of the plant in this country and instead chose cheap cotton that was carded, spun, woven, and roller-printed for just pennies a yard. Thereafter and until recently, a different variety of flax plant was raised in this country not for its linen fibers but for its seeds which exude a useful vegetable oil known as linseed oil when pressed. Raw Materials All that is needed to turn flax fiber into linen, and then spin and weave the linen fibers into linen fabric is the cellulose flax fiber from the stem of the flax plant.

The process for separating the fibers from the woody stalk can use either water or chemicals, but these are ultimately washed away and are not part of the finished material. Design The manufacture of linen yarn requires no special design processes. All that has to be determined prior to manufacturing is the thickness of the yarn to be spun. That will depend on the grade of linen in production and the demands of the customer. European flax wheel used to spin flax into linen thread. (From the collects of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan.) This is a European "flax wheel" used to spin flax into linen thread within the home. Folklore tells us that it was brought by Henry Ford's Irish grandmother to the New World; it was one of the few family keepsakes Ford had from his Irish ancestors. In fact, it was not unusual for the Scots or Irish to bring such wheels to this country. The British Isles have a long and proud linen tradition, and even decades after others abandoned linen production for cotton in the New World the Irish and Scots here tenaciously clung to their linen-making traditions.

Ford's grandmother placed unspun flax on the tall, vertical, turned distaff and then push the treadle with her foot to power the wheel. The bobbin and flyer mounted horizontally in the center of the wheel would spin the flax and wind it on the bobbin at the same time. The rather small wheel below the bobbin required the spinner to treadle rafher fast to keep it moving and because of the small wheel this spinning wheel was not a popular style. It is lovely to look at, though, as this flax wheel is rather fancy, with inlaid bone or ivory set within the wheel. Some refer to this type of European spinning wheel as a "castle" or "parlor" wheel because of its lovely inlays and turnings. Nancy EV Bryk Process Cultivating 1 It takes about 100 days from seed planting to harvesting of the flax plant. Flax cannot endure very hot weather; thus, in many countries, the planting of seed is figured from the date or time of year in which the flax must be harvested due to heat and the growers count back 100 days to determine a date for planting.

In some areas of the world, flax is sown in winter because of heat in early spring. In commercial production, the land is plowed in the spring then worked into a good seedbed by discing, harrowing, and rolling. Flax seeds must be shallowly planted. Seeds may be broadcast by hand, but the Once flax is harvested and the fiber removed from the stalks, a scutching machine removes the broken outer layer called shives. seed must be covered over with soil. Machines may also plant the seed in rows. Flax plants are poor competitors with weeds. Weeds reduce fiber yields and increase the difficulty in harvesting the plant. Tillage of the soil reduces weeds as do herbicides. When the flax plants are just a few inches high, the area must be carefully weeded so as not to disturb the delicate sprouts. In three months, the plants are straight, slender stalks that may be 2-4 ft (61-122 cm) in height with small blue or white fibers.

(Flax plants with blue flowers yield the finest linen fibers.) Harvesting 2 After about 90 days, the leaves wither, the stem turns yellow and the seeds turn brown, indicating it is time to harvest the plant. The plant must be pulled as soon as it appears brown as any delay results in linen without the prized luster. It is imperative that the stalk not be cut in the harvesting process but removed from the ground intact; if the stalk is cut the sap is lost, and this affects the quality of the linen. These plants are often pulled out of the ground by hand, grasped just under the seed heads and gently tugged. The tapered ends of the stalk must be preserved so that a smooth yarn may be spun. These stalks are tied in bundles called beets and are ready for extraction of the flax fiber in the stalk. However, fairly efficient machines can pull the plants from the ground as well. Releasing the Fiber from the stalk 3 The plant is passed through coarse combs, which removes the seeds and leaves from the plant. This process, called The fiber is combed and separated by length. Line fibers (long linen fibers) are spun into linen yarn.

rippling, is mechanized in many of the flax-producing countries. 4 The woody bark surrounding the flax fiber is decomposed by water or chemical retting, which loosens the pectin or gum that attaches the fiber to the stem. If flax is not fully retted, the stalk of the plant cannot be separated from the fiber without injuring the delicate fiber. Thus, retting has to be carefully executed. Too little retting may not permit the fiber to be separated from the stalk with ease. Too much retting or rotting will weaken fibers. Retting may be accomplished in a variety of ways. In some parts of the world, linen is still retted by hand, using moisture to rot away the bark. The stalks are spread on dewy slopes, submerged in stagnant pools of water, or placed in running streams. Workers must wait for the water to begin rotting or fermenting the stem—sometimes more than a week or two. However, most manufacturers use chemicals for retting. The plants are placed in a solution either of alkali or oxalic acid, then pressurized and boiled.

This method is easy to monitor and rather quick, although some believe that chemical retting adversely affects the color and strength of the fiber and hand retting produces the finest linen. Vat or mechanical retting requires that the stalks be submerged in vats of warm water, hastening the decomposition of the stem. The flax is then removed from the vats and passed between rollers to crush the bark as clean water flushes away the pectin and other impurities. 5 After the retting process, the flax plants are squeezed and allowed to dry out before they undergo the process called breaking. In order to crush the decomposed stalks, they are sent through fluted rollers which break up the stem and separate the exterior fibers from the bast that will be used to make linen. This process breaks the stalk into small pieces of bark called shives. Then, the shives are scutched. The scutching machine removes the broken shives with rotating paddles, finally releasing the flax fiber from stalk. 6 The fibers are now combed and straightened in preparation for spinning. This separates the short fibers (called tow and used for making more coarse, sturdy goods) from the longer and more luxurious linen fibers.

The very finest flax fibers are called line or dressed flax, and the fibers may be anywhere from 12-20 in (30.5-51 cm) in length. Spinning 7 Line fibers (long linen fibers) are put through machines called spreaders, which combine fibers of the same length, laying the fibers parallel so that the ends overlap, creating a sliver. The sliver passes through a set of rollers, making a roving which is ready to spin. 8 The linen rovings, resembling tresses of blonde hair, are put on a spinning frame and drawn out into thread and ultimately wound on bobbins or spools. Many such spools are filled on a spinning frame at the same time. The fibers are formed into a continuous ribbon by being pressed between rollers and combed over fine pins. This operation constantly pulls and elongates the ribbon-like linen until it is given its final twist for strength and wound on the bobbin. While linen is a strong fiber, it is rather inelastic. Thus, the atmosphere within the spinning factory must be both humid and warm in order to render the fiber easier to work into yarn.

In this hot, humid factory the linen is wet spun in which the roving is run through a hot water bath in order to bind the fibers together thus creating a fine yarn. Dry spinning does not use moisture for spinning. This produces rough, uneven yarn that are used for making inexpensive twines or coarse yarns. 9 These moist yarns are transferred from bobbins on the spinning frame to large take-up reels. These linen reels are taken to dryers, and when the yarn is dry, it is wound onto bobbins for weaving or wound into yarn spools of varying weight. The standard measure of flax yarn is the cut. It is based on the measure of 1 lb (453.59 g) of flax spun to make 300 yd (274.2 m) of yarn being equal to one cut. If 1 lb (453.59 g) of flax is spun into 600 yd (548.4 m), then it is a "no. 2 cut." The higher the cut, the finer the yarn becomes.

The yarn now awaits transport to the loom for weaving into fabrics, toweling, or for use as twine or rope. Byproducts/Waste Of greatest concern are the chemicals used in retting. These chemicals must be neutralized before being released into water supplies. The stalks, leaves, seed pods, etc. are natural organic materials and are not hazardous unless impregnated with much of the chemicals left behind in the retting process. The only other concern with the processing of linen is the smell—it is said that hand-retted linen produces quite a stench and is most unpleasant to experience. Where to Learn More From flax to linen From flax to linen From flax to linen Linum Usitatissimum translates from Latin as "most useful linen." In naming this species, botanists recognized the inherent value of the humble flax plant. For ten thousand years or more, man has known this gentle gift of nature was the source of textiles with special properties: soft hand, rich color absorption, lasting durability, and unrivalled comfort. Always ecologically-correct, every part of the flax plant is at man's service. The seeds provide oil for dyes, paint, cosmetics and floor coverings.

When ground, they form a flour used in poultices. The fibers have been used as sutures. The by-products of linen production are processed into a pulp used for banknotes or fiberboard. However, flax is most renowned as the raw material for an extraordinary fabric. Flax is one of the few crops still produced in Western Europe, with nearly 75,000 acres under cultivation annually. Climatic conditions in this region are perfect for growing flax, and increasing worldwide demand for linen makes it an important cash crop. The growing cycle is short and sweet, with only 100 days between sowing in March and harvesting in July. The plant ripens by the end of June into golden yellow color, and then it flowers, dotting the fields with blossoms of violet, blue and white. This display is over quickly, however, for each flax plant blooms for one day only. Harvesting: To preserve the full potential of each plant, flax is never mowed but must be uprooted. Up through the Second World War, this was an exhausting process done by hand. Today, mechanical grubbers do this tiring work.

Drying: After harvesting, the flax is stacked in hedges to dry. Once dried, the seeds are removed. Retting and Turning: Then flax is exposed to moisture to break down the pectins that binds the fibers together. In the past, flax was retted in rivers, particularly in the Lys region, which imparted a lovely golden glow to the fibers. Today, for ecological reasons, retting is no longer performed in rivers. The preferred method still requires the intervention of Mother Nature as the flax is spread out in the fields and exposed to rain, dew and sunshine for several weeks. Stripping and Combing: During these mechanical processes the fibers are separated from the straw (shives), and then graded into the short fibers (tow) which is used for coarser yarns, or the longer fibers (line) which will be used to create the finest linen yarn. Spinning: Drafting and doubling, or carding, draw out the long or short fibers into sinuous "ribbons" which are then plied together on spinning looms in various weights and thicknesses. The fine yarn is "wet spun" to impart a smoother, shiny appearance.

The tow are commonly "dry spun" yielding a less regular and napped yarn. Weaving, Bleaching and Dyeing: Before any weaving occurs, the linen yarns are examined for strength, evenness and pliancy. Close tolerances on these properties are required because of the great speed of today's power looms. The looms of Libeco·Lagae run around the clock and are monitored by a central computer to ensure quality and efficiency. During their 8-hour shift, each weaver can now be responsible for 10 to 15 looms. After weaving, each yard of fabric is examined and quality tested. If the fabric is not being used in this raw state, it moves to the finishing department where it is bleached and/or dyed. Bleaching linen requires consummate skill-enough chemicals to remove any pectin or shive residue, but not so much as to compromise the structure of the fibers. After bleaching or dyeing, various treatments to make it crease- or soil-resistant can be applied. Linen is crisp, clean and comfortable. Soft, yet strong and durable. The more it is used, the softer and stronger it becomes.

It can absorb up to 20% of its weight in moisture before it feels damp, and easily releases moisture to the air to remain cool and dry to the touch. Flax remains colorfast and launders beautifully. It has the additional advantage to be non-allergenic. Flax requires considerably fewer pesticides and fertilizers than other crops. The fibers are recyclable and eventually biodegrade. For all these reasons, linen offers fashion designers unlimited creative potential, and wearers lasting enjoyment. Bedding of pure or blended linen is in vogue once more. We never tire of linen at the dining table. The utility of linen in the kitchen is unrivaled. No other fiber can offer this unique blend of luxury and comfort, supreme elegance and down-to-earth practicality From flax plant to beautiful Irish linen From flax plant to Irish Linen Transforming the flax plant gave work to all the family Home → Irish crafts → The Flax Plant Retted flax plant stems Linen begins life as the flax plant, a pretty true-blue flowering plant, which is harvested in August, 100 days after sowing. Traditionally, the process involved many members of a family.

Men were usually responsible for seeding while women took charge of weeding as the plants grew. Keeping weeds to a minimum not only encouraged vigorous growth, it also meant the stem was more likely to grow upright. Care had to be taken in pulling the flax from the ground so that every inch of the stem would be retained. These stems were bundled together into sheaves (called beets) before being carried in carts to fallow fields where women and girls would spread them into stacks called stooks and leave them to dry in the sun. At about one metre in height, the plant was ready for harvest, an operation that usually involved all adults and older children. When they had dried, the seeds were removed and saved either for next year's planting, or to make linseed oil or cattle feed. (See the left-hand column for details of how this remarkable plant is used as an important component in many day-to-day products.) Retting 5 steps of yarn production After drying, the flax plant is transformed into yarn in five stages: (l-r) Pulled flax; Retted flax; Scutched flax; Hackled flax; Spun flax (yarn). Click image for enlarged view.

Then came the nastiest part of the process to transform the flax plant into beautiful cloth: retting. This was strictly men's work and involved placing the stems, still bundled in beets, into a pond or dammed area of waterway, and leaving them to steep. For our rural Irish ancestors, retting was an unmistakeable feature of life because the stench of the decomposing plants hung heavily over the countryside. Smelly though it was, retting helped to separate the valuable fibres from the core of the stem. After ten days, the retted flax could be removed from the pond. It was hard and unpleasant work lifting the heavy, sodden, stinking mess from the water. Scutching & Hackling After a few weeks drying off the rotting flax plants in fields, the next steps of the process began. Scutching was an unhealthily dusty job and was usually, but not always, performed by men as it required quite a bit of stamina. It involved beating the stems with a wooden mallet or blade to separate and clean the flax fibres, resulting in a tangled bunch of fine fibres. These were then straightened by a hackler using combs of decreasing fineness.

Hackling made the fibres soft and ready for spinning into a continuous thread: yarn. Spinning Both sexes could be involved in hackling but it was always women who spun the fibre into yarn. This is where the term 'spinster' originated and why it can only be applied to a woman. Spinning was done on a low Irish wheel which was kept in motion by a foot treadle and resulted in bobbins of yarn which were then boiled in soapy water and dried. Even very young children played their part in the process by winding yarn onto pirns or bobbins. From the spindle, the yarn was transferred to a loom to be woven into a cloth which, in its natural state, was a brownish colour. Weaving In the days before industrialisation of the linen market, many households had two or more looms and weaving was done by men. When the mills and factories took over the industry in 1830s, it was women who began to take charge of the looms, even those who were homeworkers under the so-called 'putting out' system. The main reason was that mill spun yarn was widely available and was easier to weave.

The introduction of power looms spelt the beginning of the end for the domestic, cottage-based, industry. In 1850 there were fewer than 60 of them in Ireland but within 25 years, there were more than 17,000. Even so, hand loom weaving of the very finest Irish linen fabric continued in workshops in the Linen Homeslands of Ulster for another 50 years. Bleaching Traditional bleaching methods included boiling the cloth in a solution of water and ashes, seaweed or fermented bran. The cloth was then rinsed and spread over an area of grass (bleach greens) to dry in the sun. Having aired, it was steeped in buttermilk, rinsed and spread out again. This process was repeated many times. All this rinsing in Irelands soft water was said to be the secret ingredient that made Irish Linen superior. Beetling Beetling involved the pounding of the cloth with mechanised mallets to close up the weave. It was the final process in the transformation of the flax plant into beautiful cloth. This action is what gives Irish linen its dense sheen.

How Linen is Made – Deck Towel Stockists How Linen is Made Technically, linen is a vegetable. Linen fabric is made from the cellulose fibers that grow inside of the stalks of the flax plant, or Linum usitatissimum, one of the oldest cultivated plants in human history. Flax is an annual plant, which means it only lives for one growing season. From seed-planting, it is ready to be harvested in about a hundred days. Unless the weather is particularly warm and dry, flax requires little watering or attention during this time. It grows to about three or four feet tall, with glossy bluish-green leaves and pale blue flowers, though on rare occasions, the flowers bloom red. Flax is cultivated around the world not only for its fine, strong fibers, but also for its seeds, which are rich in nutrients such as dietary fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Flax oil is also a popular drying oil amongst oil painters. Types of Flax To date, no method of flax cultivation has been discovered that maximizes both quality and yield of both seed and fibers. To obtain the highest quality flax fibers, one must harvest before the plant fully matures, which results in poorer-quality oil.

Conversely, if harvest is undertaken after maturation to obtain the best oil, the fiber quality deteriorates. Thus, two distinct types of flax plants are cultivated: The linseed variety is grown primarily to extract the seed’s highly nutritious oil. This type is fairly short and produces many secondary branches, which increases seed yield. The flax variety tends to grow taller, more slender, and with less branches. It is cultivated in order to extract the very long fibers from inside the wooden stem of the plant, which are then spun and woven into linen fabric. The taller the flax plant, the longer the fiber. Flax Growing Environments Flax can grow in a variety of climates, but it flourishes in cool, damp environments. It cannot tolerate extreme heat, so the planting schedule of flax varies from country to country depending upon regional climatic conditions. For instance, in warmer regions flax is sown in the winter so that harvesting can be undertaken before the heat of early spring. Because it requires a lot of organic components, flax grows best in deep loams and alluvial soils such as the Nile River valley.

Flax Harvest Flax is ready to be harvested for its fibers when the stem begins to turn yellow and the seeds turn brown. On some farms however, the plant is harvested prior to seed germination. This yields exceptionally fine fibers, but leaves the grower without any seeds for the next planting and subsequently dependent upon foreign imports. The stems of the flax plant are preferably pulled up with the root system somewhat intact, rather than cut at the base. This maximizes the quality of the fiber in several ways. First, the valuable fibers run the length of the stalk all the way into the roots, so pulling up the plant by the root increases the length of the fiber produced. This practice also prevents the plant sap from leaking out of the cut stalk, a process which dries out the fibers and ultimately results in poorer-quality fabric. Although the agricultural industry has made great strides in mechanized farming, machine harvesting of flax is still unable to preserve the root system during harvest. For this reason, despite the extremely laborious process of manual harvesting, the highest quality linens are still made from flax plants that were pulled out of the earth by hand.

Fabric made from hand-harvested flax is finer, more supple, and more highly prized than fabric made from flax that is machine-harvested. Traditional Flax Processing. From Fibers and Seeds to Linen. After harvest, flax stalks are allowed to dry in open air for several weeks before they undergo threshing, or removal of seeds from the stalk by crushing open the dried seed pods. Hand threshing is usually achieved by simply beating the dried stalks until all the seed pods have been crushed, then shaking the seeds free. Flax fibers are considered bast fibers. Bast fibers are fibers collected from the phloem, or the inner-bark of the plant. Fabrics made from these fibers are typically quite strong and durable fabrics. Aside from linen, a few other fabrics made from bast fibers include hemp, ramie, and rattan. What's in a Flax Fiber? You may remember from your Biology 101 class that the phloem is one of the two vascular structures inside of plants that carry nutrients throughout the organism (the other is the xylem, or the woody core).

Bast fibers are long, narrow supportive cells inside the phloem that provide it with great tensile strength, but still allow flexibility of the plant stem due to the fibers’ characteristic fiber nodes, or weak points that are distributed randomly along the length of the fiber. These fiber nodes are also what make linen fabric flexible without being brittle. Separating Out the Flax Fiber The xylem and phloem of plants are bundled together by calcium ions and a sticky protein called pectin, which must be broken down in order to separate the valuable bast fibers from the plant’s vasculature so that they can be processed and spun into yarn. This is achieved via a process called retting--or, literally, rotting. And yes, with the same awful smell! Retting (a quick biology lesson from DeckTowel). Let's get technical. The malodorous process of retting can be achieved in a variety of ways, but it typically involves prolonged exposure of the stalk to moisture. Plants hold themselves upright by increasing water uptake into their cells, which causes the plasma membrane to swell and increases internal pressure against the cell wall. This pressure keeps the plant structures stiff (Biology 101 review: Turgor pressure ).

Prolonged water exposure during retting eventually causes the cells of the phloem to lyse, or burst open, and allows local micro-organisms that break down the sticky pectins to invade the plant cell. The image to the right is a cross section of a bast fiber: "X" is xylem; "P" is phloem; "C" is cortex; "BF" is bast fibers. How do these micro-organisms break down those sticky pectins? A man named Sergei Winogradsky figured out the answer to this question back in the 1890s. Winogradsky, a microbiologist and soil ecologist, is actually quite famous for this answer - his discovery of chemosynthesis - a process wherein autotrophs (organisms that make their own food) absorb carbon and inorganic nutrients from their surrounding environments in order to mediate the chemical reactions with which they create their own energy. Prior to this discovery, scientists believed that all autotrophs were dependent upon sunlight for energy production (remember photosynthesis ?). But Winogradsky found a little bacterium living in the root nodules of legume plants that changed everything.

He identified it as Clostridium Pasteuranium, an obligate anaerobe that, by definition, cannot survive in the presence of atmospheric oxygen (O2). The presence of this autotrophic bacterium inside of the root nodules, without access to atmospheric oxygen and therefore also without access to sunlight, led Winogradsky to investigate how it managed to survive. He found that C. Pasteuranium uses water molecules to break up the sticky pectin bonds that hold the bast fibers to the phloem, a process called hydrolysis. It then uses the chemical pieces of the broken up pectins to create ammonia (NH3) out of free, bioavailable nitrogen (N2) in its surrounding environment, which can then be utilized by the bacteria in its metabolic processes. This is is called nitrogen fixation. You’ve learned about it before this biology lesson (the nitrogen cycle ), and you’ve seen it with your own eyes ( lightning ). Scientists have since isolated more than 22 different kinds of autotrophic, pectin-dissolving bacteria from retted flax, mostly belonging to the Clostridium family. Methods of retting Water retting is the most widely-employed practice and produces the highest quality fibers.

It is best accomplished in stagnant or slowly-moving waters, like ponds, bogs and streams. As a rule, the more stagnant the water source, the more abundant the bacterial fauna and the faster the retting process. Flax bundles weighted down in ponds and bogs generally ret in anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on water temperature. Because the water is stagnant and the microfauna abounds, pond or bog retting is particularly foul-smelling. Stream retting usually takes a few weeks longer, but yields cleaner (and less stinky) fibers. Dew retting is the preferred method in areas where water sources are limited but that enjoy warm daytime temperatures and heavy nighttime dews. Flax stalks are spread out evenly across a grassy field, where the combination of air, sun and dew causes fermentation, which dissolves much of the stem within 2-3 weeks. Dew-retted fibers are typically of poorer quality and more darkly pigmented than natural water-retted fibers. Tank retting takes place in large vats that are typically made of cement, as the acidic waste products of the bacteria corrodes metal.

Stalks are first leached, or soaked, for 4-8 hours to remove dirt and pigment from the bundles. This water is then changed, and the bundles allowed to soak for 4-6 more days to complete the retting process. Flax can also be retted chemically, which speeds up the process. It is, however, more harmful to both the environment and the fibers themselves, and is therefore not preferred. Dressing the flax The retted stalks, called straw, are dried mechanically or in natural air, and are then usually stored for anywhere from a few weeks to months in order to allow curing to take place. After curing, the woody stalks that still cling to the bast fibers are further broken, usually by passing the brittle straw through rollers that crush the wood into smaller pieces that can be more easily removed, a process called scutching. Scutching involves scraping a small wooden knife down the length of the fibers as they hang vertically, pulling the broken woody bits away from the fiber. This is a labor-intensive process. One person scutching can produce only about 15 pounds of flax fibers per day; less if the fibers are coarse, hard, or have been poorly retted.

The small pieces of leftover bark that remain after scutching are called shive, and are sometimes used as a filler in thermoplastic composites . The separated bast fibers are next heckled, or combed through a bed of nails that splits and polishes the fibers, and removes the shorter tow fibers from the mix. These tow fibers can then be spun into a coarse yarn from which low-quality linen products are made. The longer fibers (sometimes as long as three feet!) are then ready for spinning. Spinning The (at long last) separated flax fibers, called stricks, are traditionally spun by hand using a distaff. A distaff is simply a long vertical pole that attaches to a spinning wheel from which the fibers are hung. This helps keep the fibers organized and prevents them from turning into a tangled mess. Spinning involves twisting together the drawn out strands of fiber to form yarns, then winding the yarn onto a bobbin, or spool. The yarn is often slightly dampened during spinning, which helps prevent fly-away strands from escaping the twist and creates an especially-smooth yarn (check out this really cool photojournal of a woman hand-spinning flax).

Flax is always spun very finely--especially the longest of the fibers--resulting in a thin yarn. In order to create a thicker yarn, multiple skeins of this thin yarn can be spun together, a process called plying. You’ve probably heard this term before in reference to your toilet paper. One ply: thin and sufficient. Two or more ply: preferred! The resulting yarn (usually 3-ply or thereabouts) is typically finished by boiling for several hours in soapy water, which gives it a nice shine. Weaving Linen yarn is generally woven into sheets--a process wherein multiple threads are interlaced both horizontally and vertically on a loom. Occasionally, linen yarn is also knit, or formed into fabric by creating consecutive rows of loops that intertwine with one another. By virtue of these loops, knit fabrics have a degree of stretch inherent in them, and because linen yarn has no elasticity, it is quite difficult to knit and so more frequently woven. The Rise of the Machines This pre-industrial method of linen production hasn’t changed in centuries.

Though over the last few hundred years we’ve developed machines that complete the tasks of harvesting, retting and dressing flax, these processes damage the delicate fibers such that finest linens are still manufactured almost entirely by hand. Because the process is still so laborious, even mechanized flax production actually requires a great deal more handwork than other mass industrially-produced textiles like cotton and rayon. Check out this awesome timelapse video, called The Art and Science Linen, to see what mechanized flax production looks like today. So that's how mechanized production turns flax into linen, but where in the world is it done the best and why? Where is the best quality linen made? The quality of the linen fabric is greatly dependent upon the retting process. For example, as you already learned, over-retting produces a mushy, weak fiber, and under-retting makes the bits of shive difficult to remove such that the fibers can be damaged during scutching; factors entirely under the control of the retter. The secrets of flax processing have been passed down throughout cultures for thousands of years (Don’t know about the history of flax?

Read about it here ), and the best linens tend to originate from the enclaves within Europe that have long traditions of flax cultivation: (The map below shows the major centers of linen production in Europe.) The best quality linen is retted in slow-moving natural water sources such as streams and rivers. In fact, the highest quality linen in the world is retted in Belgium in the River Lys, though to this day chemists have been unable to determine what makes the waters so conducive to the retting process. Harvested flax is sent to Belgium from France, Holland, and even as far away as South America to be retted in the magical waters of the River Lys, which is typically crowded for miles with weighted down flax bundles. Irish linen is the best known and most valuable, though most of the flax used for manufacturing is grown elsewhere and imported into the country for processing. The climate in Ireland is quite favorable for flax processing, and the slow Irish bleaching methods inflict minimal damage on the fibers. European linens are the next finest, with the French producing the whitest and most delicate of textiles. Scotch linen is generally considered of medium quality, and German linen quality ranges from good to poor.

Flax is perhaps most widely cultivated in Russia and China, though the fibers tend to be of poorer quality than their European counterparts. Smaller flax production centers exist in Egypt, Northern Italy, parts of Canada and the northern United States. So you’re probably still wondering what actually makes linen fabric so magical and highly prized, even above other bast-fiber fabrics? We wondered this, too. So we decided to look in depth (read, microscopically!) at the flax plant and its mysterious awesomeness. Check out our FAQs: Mythbusting Linen: Hard Science Made Easy . Basking Ridge, New Jersey Flax - International Year of Natural Fibres Flax Contact us to get involved: IYNF Coordinating Unit Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy Natural fibres Flax One of nature's strongest vegetable fibres, flax was also one of the first to be extracted, spun and woven into textiles The plant Matthias Buchmeier Flax fibres obtained from the stems of the plant Linum usitatissimum are used mainly to make linen. The plant has been used for fibre production since prehistoric times.

It grows best at northern temperate latitudes, where moderately moist summers yield fine, strong but silky flax. In Poland, a hectare of flax plants yields 1.5 to 3.5 tonnes of fibre. The fibre Like cotton, flax fibre is a cellulose polymer, but its structure is more crystalline, making it stronger, crisper and stiffer to handle, and more easily wrinkled. Flax fibres range in length up to 90 cm, and average 12 to 16 microns in diameter. They absorb and release water quickly, making linen comfortable to wear in hot weather. CNR-ISMAC, Biella, Italy or you need to Get the Flash Player . Producers Skansen The leading producers of flax fibre are France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Other significant producers are China, Belarus and the Russian Federation. The total area dedicated to flax cultivation for fibre is estimated at around 120 000 ha in Europe, and some 320 000 ha worldwide.

Production and trade In 2007, the European Union produced 122 000 tonnes of flax fibre, making it the world's biggest producer, followed by China with about 25 000 tonnes. China is also a major buyer of raw flax for processing, with imports of 60 000 tonnes a year, including most of Europe's flax fibres. Bulk linen production has shifted to Eastern Europe and China, but niche producers in Ireland, Italy and Belgium continue to supply the market for high quality fabrics in Europe, Japan and the USA. Uses of flax Eveincopper Fine and regular long flax fibres are spun into yarns for linen textiles. More than 70% of linen goes to clothing manufacture, where it is valued for its exceptional coolness in hot weather - the legendary linen suit is a symbol of breezy summer elegance. WS Home Linen fabric maintains a strong traditional niche among high quality household textiles - bed linen, furnishing fabrics, and interior decoration accessories. Stemergy Shorter flax fibres produce heavier yarns suitable for kitchen towels, sails, tents and canvas.

Lower fibre grades are used as reinforcement and filler in thermoplastic composites and thermoset resins used in automotive interior substrates, furniture and other consumer products. Linen History – Deck Towel Stockists Introduction to the History of Linen The history of textiles production spans cultures and millenia. From the silkworms of ancient China to the cotton bolls of pre-Incan Peru, art and artifacts from prehistoric sites across the globe hint at the stories of early man’s first clever triumphs over nature. Radiocarbon dating of trace textile fibers found at prehistoric sites range from four to as many as thirty-four thousand years before present! But the oldest textile of them all—and the only one to inspire papal edicts and elaborate Roman courtroom antics—is linen. Flax Fiber Varieties Affect the Feel of Linen There are two varieties of flax fibers: shorter tow fibers used for coarser fabrics and line fibers used for finer fabrics. Flax fibers can be identified by their typical “nodes” which add to the flexibility and texture of the fabric. The cross section of the fiber is made up of irregular polygonal shapes which contribute to the coarse texture of the fabric. It can range from stiff and rough to soft and smooth.

Linen is Made from Flax Linen is woven from the spun fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Flax grows wild in the region extending from Northern Africa to India and north to the Caucasus Mountains in Western Europe. Long before we lounged on sunny yacht decks on gauzy linen towels, prehistoric man was busy spinning these exceptionally-strong fibers into the simple thread that changed the world. Oldest Textiles Discovered by Archaeologists are Flax Fibers At an upper-Paleolithic excavation site at Dzudzuana Cave in the eastern-European country of Georgia, archaeologists discovered flax fibers that were preserved inside pollen chambers for 34,000 years . To date, they are the oldest evidence of manmade textiles ever discovered. The fibers at Dzudzuana showed evidence of having been knotted and dyed bright colors like turquoise and pink, consistent with the style of other artefacts left behind by our expressive ancestors.

Fast forward a few thousand years of evolution and innovation and we find, at an ancient site in eastern Turkey, a piece of 9,000 year-old, simply-woven linen cloth clinging to a bone tool—presumably once wrapped around the handle for a better grip. Archaeologist and ancient textile expert Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood supposes this rudimentary fabric was produced on a crude loom of only four sticks, and woven in a manner derived from the already well-established practice of basket-weaving. Woven Bags--A Serious Evolutionary Advantage A simple piece of linen fiber or cloth might seem like rather un-exciting discoveries in the face of glittery riches from pharaohs’ tombs, but in fact they offer unparalleled insight into the evolution of the tools of early man. Imagine yourself a caveman (or cavewoman) in prehistoric times. You live in a loosely-associated hunter-gatherer society, and venture out of your dark cave every morning in search of your daily sustenance. Just think how many more nuts and berries (or slabs of meat) you could carry if only you had a bag to keep them in instead of just your fists.

Imagine the lightbulb light up: Oh, I could carry all these berries home if I wrap them up in my mammoth pelt, tie it shut and sling it over my shoulder! With enough food for the whole week, I’ll have all this free time to sit around and tame those wild dogs and invent the wheel! The Taming of the Flax Intentional cultivation of the wild flax plant likely began sometime between 5,000-4,000 BCE in the regions of North Africa and the Fertile Crescent, and from the beginning, linen was holy. In ancient Mesopotamian city-states like Babylon and Ur, linen fabric was rare and accounted for only 10% of textile production. While the flax plant is not difficult to grow and reaches maturity in about 100 days, it also leaches most of the nutrients from the soil such that the fields must be let lie fallow for several years after a harvest. The laborious process of linen-making then took an additional 130-150 work days. Because production was so labor-intensive, only members of the elite like priests and royal figures could afford clothing and other articles made of linen.

Cuneiform sources tell of thrones and statues of deities draped in bolts of fine linen inside temples. Across the Sinai Peninsula not too many years later, the fertile Nile river valley provided a much more agreeable ecology for flax cultivation. The annual flooding of the Nile brought alluvial deposits that replenished the nutrients in the soil that had been depleted by the flax plant. Coupled with the surplus of the same slave labor that built the pyramids, flax quickly became ancient Egypt’s number one non-foodstuffs crop. King Tut’s Favorite Fabric. Unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians prized linen fabric for much more than its exclusiveness. Linen fabric is durable, lightweight and wicks moisture away from sweaty skin. Linen thus became the favored material for clothing under the scorching desert sun, from the coarse linen garb of the slaves to the intricately-woven finery of the high priests. Linen is also resistant to insects and microbial growth, and has a smooth, lint-free surface. Egyptians were obsessed with hygiene, so for these qualities, linen was considered pure. The whiter the fabric, the purer Egyptians believed it to be. By far, the greatest demand for linen was for ritual purposes.

Priests were permitted to dress only in linen. “Chief Royal Bleacher” was an actual job title, though an unenviable one. Tomb paintings and models from across the region depict the repetitive process of washing the wet linen cloth, rubbing it with detergent, pounding it on a smooth stone with wooden clubs, rubbing the surface with balls of leather, rinsing, repeating, again and again; then finally laying it out to bleach dry in the hot sun. One papyrus scroll describes: the laundryman launders on the banks of the rivers, a neighbor of the crocodile...When he puts on the apron of a woman, then he is in woe...I weep for him spending the day under the rod.# Indeed, Herodotus, a Greek historian who visited Egypt in the 5th century BCE, noted that the people [of Egypt], in most of their manners and customs, exactly reverse the common practice of mankind.

The women attend the markets and trade, while the men sit at home at the loom; and here, while the rest of the world works the woof up the warp, the Egyptians work it down.# Upside down or rightside up, the linen woven in ancient Egypt has survived so many times over into our modern age that when we think of Egyptians and linen, we picture everything from white-linen-garbed slaves hauling gigantic bricks of limestone, to the toilet-paper wrappings of little boys’ Halloween costumes. When the mummy of the boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun was unearthed in 1922 CE, portions of the linen wrappings that covered his remains were almost perfectly preserved, the hieroglyphed dates still legible despite the millennia. The Rainbow Always Wins. In keeping with our flamboyant prehistoric ancestors, linen boasts a way more colorful history than the whitest whites of the Nile Valley: The Romans conquered Egypt in the 4th c. BCE and they came with sword and beast--and dye, apparently. Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History of a contest held by Alexander the Great as he sailed the river Indus.

The first man to attempt to dye linen, according to Pliny, he challenged his generals to a competition as to which man could most strikingly dye his linen sailcloth. He bade spectators judge from the banks of the river as the nautical parade sailed by. A few centuries later, he claims “Cleopatra had a purple sail when she came with Mark Antony to Actium”# and she sailed with the same purple sail as she fled. When Caesar was dictator of Rome in the 1st c. BCE, he ordered linen awnings, dyed blue and spangled with stars, stretched across the whole of the Roman Forum, so that “those engaged in lawsuits might resort there under healthier conditions.” Pliny also claimed to have witnessed what he called “incombustible linen,” grown in the ungodly heat of the Indian desert and, because of the extreme climate, grown impervious to fire. It was purportedly used for royal funerary shrouds, in order to keep the ashes of the corpse separate from those of the pyre. Even the Torah had something to say about this ubiquitous textile.

Jewish law decrees: “do not wear Shatnez, wool and linen together” (Deuteronomy 22:11). Shatnez applies to garments made of yarn spun from both materials. At the time the law was written, pagan priests traditionally wore garments made of shatnez, and early scholars of the Torah, like Maimonides, believed this law served to prevent Jews from participating in Pagan rituals. However, the priest's girdle and the tzitzit worn by Orthodox Jews are preferably made of shatnez, and are thus exempt from the law. Modern Jewish scholars now believe that shatnez was thus perhaps a way of setting aside this fiber blend specifically for holy purposes, and linen only for those who could afford to buy it pure. Weaving northward. When the Romans fell, Egypt was conquered and ruled by a succession of Islamic dynasties in the 7th century CE. By this time, the industry of flax cultivation had spread throughout the Lower Countries of Europe. When Pliny wrote his Natural History in 77 CE, he made distinctions between different varieties of flax that were grown in different areas, each of which were known for producing linen suited for particular articles.

In Spain they wove fishing nets, the Gallic provinces sailcloth, and Egyptian flax, he noted, “is not at all strong.” Linen was produced en masse only in Spain and the rest of the Lower Countries of Europe until the 12th century, when France and Italy began using linen for tablecloths. Before the Middle Ages, the custom for formal dining was to recline while eating; as upright chairs and tables became more popular at meals, so evolved the tablecloth. People sitting around the table would use the edges of the linen to wipe their hands and faces in lieu of napkins, an act mothers around the world would chastise their children for today! King Tut’s Favorite Fabric. The Protestant Huguenot weavers fled religious persecution in France to more Northern countries in the 16th century, and they took with them their knowledge of flax cultivation and intricate linen-weaving techniques. Flax thrived in the cooler, damper climates, and the Huguenots continued to weave ornamental damasks that rivaled those of the Egyptians at which Pliny had marveled more than a thousand years prior.

The invention of the flax-spinning wheel in the 15th century made the handheld spinner obsolete, and two centuries later, a wheel operated by a foot-treadle left both hands free to spin. By that time, household items made of handwoven linen had become expensive status symbols of the elite. Napkins, towels, and table linens, often decorated with family crests and ornate themes of mythical or religious subjects, were woven to commemorate marriages and other special events. In the 17th century, Ireland became known for weaving the finest of linen, and this reputation has persisted until present day. Because of the booming linen trade on mainland Europe and the relative ease with which one can cultivate flax, Irish farmers began to grow flax crops to supplement their incomes. The Irish harvest the flax plant before it reached maturity, which results in fibers that create very soft, fine thread. However, because the plant never matures, it also never produces any seeds to use for subsequent crops. The linen industry in Ireland thus remains, to this day, entirely dependent on the importation of flaxseed. Flaxseed Sails the Ocean Blue.

When the tired, poor and huddled masses packed their worldly goods and flocked to the New World, the Irish packed their imported flaxseed. They weren’t the first to grow flax in the colonies--the Virginia Company had encouraged (unsuccessfully) the settlers at Jamestown to grow flax, and as early as 1626 the settlers of New Netherland were cultivating flax and shipping it back to Holland. As more and more immigrants came to the colonies, there emerged at least a dozen different enclaves of linen production, each one reflective of the traditions its people brought with them from their homelands. They quickly learned that the warmer, drier North American climate grew a coarser and more brittle linen. Textiles produced in the warm Southern colonies were used mostly for rope, sailcloth and canvas; while the cooler Northern colonies produced finer linens. Like the Irish, most rural farmers grew flax in addition to their other crops to supplement their income with the sale of the linen. They would, however, also keep a portion of the fabric produced for their own households for use as table linens, drapery, flour bags, burial sheets, and even wagon covers.

Linen goods and bolts of fabric were used for trade in lieu of money. Akin to the barn-raising party, communities would organize “scutching bees,” where men and women alike would attend festivities centered around the monotonous tasks of flax processing--a merry way to organize rural labor. In Ephrata, a Seventh Day Baptist town in Pennsylvania, the shorter tow fibers of the flax plant that are usually discarded during processing were used to manufacture paper, on which the community printed its local paper, the Ephrata Press. Spinning into the Future. The invention of mechanized spinning and weaving in the 19th century increased linen production exponentially. Everything from undergarments to bread-towels could be made more quickly and cheaply than ever before. The backbreaking burden of linen production thus fell from the shoulders of rural farmers into the more enduring metal arms of machines, and household items made of linen became more accessible to the lower classes. In 1854 CE, when the Catholic Church reaffirmed the dogma of immaculate conception, Pope Piux IX even declared the Virgin Mary the patron saint of linen maids, in perhaps the first official fashion statement of the Vatican.

But it was not until after the 1970s, when the bulk of linen use shifted from household items to the apparel industry, that it became the perfectly-wrinkled fabric of expensive linen pants we love today. In fact, modern fashion designers make all sorts of claims about the amazing properties of linen fabric: it is moth and dirt-resistant, insect-repellent, cooling, durable, lint-free. Obviously the Egyptians agreed to the point that their holy men wore clothing made of no other fabric. What makes linen so amazing? Find out here! Basking Ridge, New Jersey flax | plant | Britannica.com plant Alternative Titles: common flax, Linum usitatissimum Related Topics flaxseed Flax (Linum usitatissimum), plant of the family Linaceae , cultivated both for its fibre , from which linen yarn and fabric are made, and for its nutritious seeds, called flaxseed or linseed, from which linseed oil is obtained. Though flax has lost some of its value as a commercial fibre crop owing to the availability of synthetic fibres, it has grown in popularity as a health food and remains economically significant in a number of countries around the world, including China , Russia , and Canada .

(For additional information on the nutrition and uses of the seeds, see flaxseed ). Harvesting flax near Hrodna, in western Belarus. A. Perekhod/Tass from Sovfoto Flaxseed, or linseed, harvested from flax (Linum usitatissimum). AdstockRF Flax is an herbaceous annual . When densely planted for fibre, plants average 0.9 to 1.2 metres (3 to 4 feet) in height, with slender stalks 2.5 to 4 mm (about 0.10 to 0.15 inch) in diameter and with branches concentrated at the top. Plants cultivated for seed are shorter and many-branched. The leaves , alternating on the stalk, are small and lance-shaped. The flowers , borne on stems growing from the branch tips, have five petals, usually blue in colour but sometimes white or pink. The fruits are small dry capsules composed of five lobes. Flax (Linum usitatissimum) in bloom.

The plant is grown for its useful fibres as well as for … © Mykola Ivashchenko/Shutterstock.com A bast fibre , flax is one of the oldest textile fibres. Evidence of its use has been found in the prehistoric lake dwellings of Switzerland . Fine linen fabrics, indicating a high degree of skill, have been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs. Phoenician traders apparently brought linen from the Mediterranean area to Gaul and Britain , and the Romans introduced linen manufacture throughout their empire. In the 17th century the German states and Russia were major sources of raw material, and the linen industry was established in the Netherlands, Ireland, England , and Scotland. In North America the expansion of the cotton industry reduced the importance of linen. Similar Topics Flax yarns from Europe through Swicofil - the noble linen fiber Properties 70% is composed of cellulose, it cannot provoke allergies, absorbs humidity and allows the skin to breathe: therefore it is very indicated in the manufacture of summer articles. Very resistant, above all if wetted it can be washed many times without alteration, rather it becomes softer, something very important for articles of clothing and for daily use which require frequent washing such as shirts.

Having very low elasticity, linen cloths do not deform themselves. European linen fabrics today are luxurious, elegant, comfortable and practical. Linen is thermo regulating, non-allergenic, antistatic and antibacterial. Because it can absorb up to 20 times its weight in moisture before it feels damp, linen feels cool and dry to the touch. It is not by accident that the world’s oldest and most useful fiber is still in great demand. Fabrics for light aviation use Automotive end uses Reinforce plastics and composite materials. Flax could conceivably be mixed with excess grass seed straw or softwood fiber in composite boards Consumers around the world buy linen because they like the way it looks, feels and performs. With new varieties of flax; new processing techniques; and new ways of spinning, weaving and finishing, the European linen industry has reinvented itself. And all of the links in the supply chain are working together through the European flax and linen organization, Masters of Linen, Paris, to market linen globally to a new and growing trade of niche players. The flax plant has also a couple of other important end uses Industrial Uses: Flax is still produced for its oil rich seed.

Linseed oil has been used as a drying agent for paints, varnishes, lacquer, and printing ink. Unfortunately these markets have eroded somewhat over the years with the production of synthetic resins and latex. One bright spot in the market has been the use of linseed oil as an anti-spalling treatment for concrete where freezing and thawing effects have created problems on streets and sidewalks. Occasionally the straw is harvested and used to produce some paper products. Livestock Feed: Linseed oil meal is an excellent protein source for livestock containing about 35% crude protein. Flax straw on the other hand, makes a very poor quality forage because of its high cellulose and lignin content. Human Food: Recently there has been some interest in seed flax as a health food because of its high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the oil How to treat articles in linen White articles should be washed in the washing machine at 60ï¿½ C, whilst colored ones at a lesser temperature. White articles should be ironed damp with a very hot iron, even steam, first on the inside, then on the right side. Colored articles, above all if dark, should be ironed only on the inside.

Starching is not needed as with ironing linen returns to being stiff. If you hang the articles folded in a suitcase over a bath of hot water, they will return to their original state: the steam will help to soften the folds. Linen clothing wrinkles easily - therefore the trade speaks about "Edelknitter" = noble wrinkle Processability Flax plants are pulled from the ground rather than cut, in order to obtain the full length of the fibers, and to prevent fiber discoloration. At one time, this work was done all by hand. Today pulling machines are used. The equipment is often owned by cooperatives and loaned to each farmer. The plants are first de-seeded. Next comes retting — separating the straw or bark from the fiber. There are two main methods of retting — dew and water. Dew retting, the process mostly used in Western Europe, is done by spreading the flax in the field. The actions of dew, rain and sun, along with soil-borne bacteria, help to loosen and dissolve the outer bark. After retting, the farmers roll and store the flax Flax also can be water-retted.

This process involves submerging the flax in water for between six and 20 days, allowing bacterial action to cause the bark to be loosened. Today, many farmers consider this process too expensive. Egypt is one country where flax is water-retted — in the Nile River. Scutching is the next step to be done. This process extracts the flax fibers from the retted straw. Special machines move the flax on long tables to remove impurities. Other equipment is used to further thresh the flax and extract the fibers. During the scutching process the flax is divided into fine fibers called line, shorter fibers are called tow and shives. Shives are the woody part of the plant. Line is further processed by hackling to form sliver. Line sliver is weighed, manually sorted and packed in bales or rollers weighing 100 kilograms. Line can be wet- or dry-spun. Tow can be dry-spun on the cotton system or spun on the worsted system. It is also used for non-wovens, including paper, and for technical products such as insulation. Shives are packed and shipped for a variety of industrial products.

The linen fibres are mixed with cotton, wool, silk, viscose, and polyester and this mixed thread allows one to obtain many types of cloth. The combination of two fibres allows one to obtain a different "hand", i.e. a consistency and aspect different from those obtained with simple threads. Handmade textiles deriving from the production zones of France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Holland are the best - they claim the quality mark MASTERS OF LINEN. Linen is also cultivated in Eastern Europe, Russia, Brazil, China and the Baltic countries, but its quality is not comparable to that of Western Europe. Natural Fibres from Plants | Wild Fibres natural fibres Buy plant fibres for spinning The types of plant fibre include seed fibres, bast fibres and hard fibres. Seed fibres are collected from seeds or seed cases. e.g. cotton and kapok. Read more about seed fibres . Bast fibres are collected from the inner bark or bast surrounding the stem of the plant. These fibres have higher tensile strength than other fibres. Therefore, these fibres are used for durable yarn, fabric, packaging, and paper. Examples are flax, jute, kenaf, hemp and ramie.

Read more about bast fibres . Hard fibres are collected from leaves, e.g. sisal, banana and agave, or from fruit, e.g. coir around the hard shell of coconuts. More on abaca & sisal coming soon. The most used plant fibres are cotton, flax and hemp, although sisal, jute, kenaf, bamboo and coconut are also widely used. Plant fibre is composed mainly of cellulose and cellulose fibres are most commonly used to make paper and cloth. Cellulose produces long, often highly lustrous fibres when suitably prepared.

Question: Name the plant used in the production of linen?
Answer: Flax