Abst: Linen is a yarn manufacture sustainable fabric, it is a plant based and biodegradable fiber.The processing of linen uses little water and requires ver...
Linen is a yarn manufacture sustainable fabric, it is a plant based and biodegradable fiber.The processing of linen uses little water and requires very little chemical processing for the production of the fabric. The entire plant from which linen is made can be used. Many people eat flax seed and use flaxseed oil for cooking, and we also use flax for linseed oil for conditioning wood furnture. Flax is a multiuse plant!Linen is also one of the most durable fabrics, making it last longer thus reducing the need to buy new garments, as your linen clothing will last a long time.
Linum usitatissimum is an annual plant that is harvested for both the seed and the stem.The stem is what is used to make Linen Fabric.Before the flax can be spun, the flax undergoes a process to get it ready.First, the stalks must be retted, which entails either soaking the flax in water, or allowing it to get wet with the dew. The soaking process can take days to weeks until the flax is ready.Then, when the outer layer of the stem has more or less, rotted off of the plant.The flax stalks need to be beaten in a mechanical device called a breaker.The breaker loosens the strands and separates the inner from the outer core.The inner core is called Boon, and the flax is then further processed on a hackle, similar to a comb and hackle which you may be familiar with in wool processing.
The hackle softens the fiber and separates the strings of the fiber further.The short parts of the fiber that are removed when using the hackle are called the tow, and the tow is used for course fabric, but the long strands are set aside into bundles that are called Stricks. In linen processing most of the plant is removed before you have the fiber that is suitable for garments.The stricks are dressed on a distaff and spun into yarn. To create a consistent yarn, the fiber must be constantly made wet, so at home spinners are often seen with a bowl of water nearby when spinning flax.
Egyptian Hieroglyphs also depict what I would liken to a yarn bowl, but that is filled with water and has a latch that forces the stricks of linen to pass through the water before being spun.Linen is very strong, it is there times stronger than cotton and is 20% stronger when it is wet.Linen is also highly absorbent and dries quickly. Which makes it great for Long lasting garment creation.Linen might seem a bit rough when you first get it, but the magic of linen is that the fiber softens each time it is washed.Some people wash their yarn before they knit or crochet with it. I knit with it first, and then wash the finished fabric to avoid a tangled mess in my washing machine.
