Editing Linen (section)

=== Modern history ===
Linen continued to be valued for garments in the 16th century<ref name="Pollen 1914">{{cite journal |last=Pollen |first=John Hungerford |date=1914 |title=Ancient Linen Garments |journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs |volume=25 |issue=136 |jstor=859719 |pages=231–237 }}</ref> and beyond. Specimens of linen garments worn by historical figures have survived. For example, a linen cap worn by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]] was carefully preserved after his death in 1558.<ref name="Pollen 1914" />

There is a long history of the production of linen in Ireland. When the [[Edict of Nantes]] was revoked in 1685, many of the [[Huguenots]] who fled France settled in the British Isles and elsewhere. They brought improved methods for linen production with them, contributing to the growth of the linen industry in [[Ireland]] in particular.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lutton |first=S.C. |title=Background history of Linen from the flax in the field to finished linen cloth |journal=Journal of Craigavon Historical Society |volume=8 |issue=1 |url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/luttonhistoryoflinen.html |access-date=5 June 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512024057/http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/luttonhistoryoflinen.html |archive-date=12 May 2021 }}</ref> Among them was [[Louis Crommelin]], a leader who was appointed overseer of the royal linen manufacture of Ireland. He settled in the town of [[Lisburn]] near [[Belfast]], which is itself perhaps the most famous linen producing center throughout history; during the Victorian era the majority of the world's linen was produced in the city, which gained it the name [[Linenopolis]].<ref name="Prance">{{cite book |last=Prance |first=Sir Ghillean |title=The Cultural History of Plants |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135958114 |page=295 }}</ref> Although the linen industry was already established in Ulster, Louis Crommelin found scope for improvement in weaving, and his efforts were so successful that he was appointed by the Government to develop the industry over a much wider range than the small confines of Lisburn and its surroundings. The direct result of his good work was the establishment, under statute, of the Board of Trustees of the Linen Manufacturers of Ireland in the year 1711. Several grades were produced including coarse [[lockram]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} The [[Living Linen]] Project was set up in 1995 as an oral archive of the knowledge of the [[Irish linen]] industry, which was at that time still available within a nucleus of people who formerly worked in the industry in [[Ulster]].

The linen industry was increasingly critical in the economies of Europe<ref>{{cite journal |last=Takei |first=Akihiro |title=The First Irish Linen Mills, 1800–1824 |journal=Irish Economic and Social History |date=1994 |volume=21 |pages=28–38 |doi=10.1177/033248939402100102 |jstor=24341383 |s2cid=199275871 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Belfanti |first=Marco |s2cid=108825085 |title=Reviewed Work: The European Linen Industry in Historical Perspective by Brenda Collins, Philip Ollerenshaw |journal=Technology and Culture |date=2006 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=193–195 |doi=10.1353/tech.2006.0056 |jstor=40061028 }}</ref> in the 18th and 19th centuries. In England and then in Germany, industrialization and machine production replaced manual work and production moved from the home to new factories.<ref name="Textiltechnikum" />

Linen was also an important product in the American colonies, where it was brought over with the first settlers and became the most commonly used fabric and a valuable asset for colonial households.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Keegan |first=Tracy A. |title=Flaxen fantasy: the history of linen |journal=Colonial Homes |date=1996 |volume=22 |issue=4 |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18599708/ITOF?u=dclib_main&sid=ITOF&xid=aa5e6d55 |page=62+ |access-date=4 June 2020 }}</ref> The [[homespun movement]] encouraged the use of flax to make home spun textiles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2017 |title=Spinning in Colonial America |url=https://hudsonvalley.org/article/spinning-patriotic-sentiment-in-colonial-america/ |website=Historic Hudson Valley |access-date=September 8, 2020 }}</ref> Through the 1830s, most farmers in the northern United States continued to grow flax for linen to be used for the family's clothing.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wyatt |first=Steve M. |title=Flax and Linen: An Uncertain Oregon Industry |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |date=1994 |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=150–175 |jstor=20614577 }}</ref>

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, linen was very significant to Russia and its economy. At one time it was the country's greatest export item and Russia produced about 80% of the world's fiber flax crop.<ref name="Akin" />

In December 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the [[International Year of Natural Fibres]] in order to raise people's awareness of linen and other [[natural fiber]]s.<ref name="UN 2009">{{cite web |title=Profiles of 15 of the world's major plant and animal fibres |url=http://www.fao.org/natural-fibres-2009/about/15-natural-fibres/en/ |website=International Year of Natural Fibres 2009 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |access-date=15 May 2020 }}</ref>

One study suggests that the functional properties of linen fabric can be improved by incorporating chitosan-citric acid and phytic acid thiourea. The effects of this process include improved levels of antibacterial activity, increased wrinkle resistance, flame retardancy, UV protection, and antioxidant properties. Additionally, the linen fabric was able to retain durability for about 20 washes.<ref>{{citation |title=Multifunctional modification of linen fabrics using chitosan-based formulations 2018 }}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=May 2025}}