Editing Linen (section)

== Uses ==
[[File:Green Pleated Linen Dress, 'Irish Moss' by Sybil Connolly - Full Length Back.jpg|thumb|upright|Green Pleated Linen Dress, 'Irish Moss' by Irish fashion designer [[Sybil Connolly]]]]

Many products can be made with linen, such as clothing, bed sheets, aprons, bags, towels (swimming, bath, beach, body and wash towels), napkins, runners, and upholstery. It is used especially in sailcloth and lent cloth, sewing threads, handkerchiefs, table cloth, sheets, collars, cuffs etc..

Today, linen is usually an expensive textile produced in relatively small quantities. It has a long [[Staple (textiles)|staple]] (individual fiber length) relative to cotton and other [[natural fiber]]s.<ref name="textiles">''Textiles'', Ninth Edition by Sara J. Kadolph and Anna L. Langford. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall</ref>

Linen fabric has been used for table coverings, bed coverings and clothing for centuries. The significant cost of linen derives not only from the difficulty of working with the thread but also because the flax plant itself requires a great deal of attention. In addition, flax thread is not elastic, and therefore it is difficult to weave without breaking threads. Thus linen is considerably more expensive to manufacture than cotton.{{Cn|date=October 2022}}

The collective term "[[linens]]" is still often used generically to describe a class of [[weaving|woven]] or [[knitting|knitted]] bed, bath, table and kitchen textiles traditionally made of flax-based linen but today made from a variety of fibers. The term "linens" refers to lightweight [[undergarment]]s such as shirts, [[chemise]]s, waist-shirts, [[lingerie]] (a cognate with ''linen''), and detachable shirt collars and cuffs, all of which were historically made almost exclusively out of linen. The inner layer of fine composite cloth garments (as for example dress jackets) was traditionally made of linen, hence the word ''lining''.<ref>lining. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. {{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lining |title=Lining &#124; Define Lining at Dictionary.com |access-date=2014-10-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006115259/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lining |archive-date=2014-10-06 }} (accessed: October 3, 2014).</ref>

Over the past 30 years the end use for linen has changed dramatically. Approximately 70% of linen production in the 1990s was for apparel textiles, whereas in the 1970s only about 5% was used for fashion fabrics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hakoo |first=Ashok |date=2018-03-28 |title=Characteristics of Flax/Linen Fiber |url=https://www.textileschool.com/2632/linen-fiber-from-flax-plants-and-the-linen-fabrics/ |website=TextileSchool.com |access-date=2024-03-15 }}</ref>

Linen uses range across bed and bath fabrics ([[tablecloths]], bath towels, dish towels, bed sheets); home and commercial furnishing items (wallpaper/wall coverings, upholstery, window treatments); apparel items (suits, dresses, skirts, shirts); and industrial products (luggage, canvases, sewing thread).<ref name="textiles" /> It was once the preferred yarn for hand-sewing the uppers of [[moccasin (footwear)|moccasin]]-style shoes ([[loafers]]), but has been replaced by synthetics.

A linen [[handkerchief]], pressed and folded to display the corners, was a standard decoration of a well-dressed man's [[Suit (clothing)|suit]] during most of the first part of the 20th century.

Nowadays, linen is one of the most preferred materials for bed sheets due to its durability and hypoallergenic properties. Linen can be up to three times stronger than cotton. This is because the [[Cellulose fiber|cellulose fibers]] in linen yarn are slightly longer and wrapped tighter than those found in cotton yarn. This gives it great durability and allows linen products to be long-lasting.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Behera |first=B.K. |date=2007-03-01 |title=Comfort and Handle Behaviour of Linen-Blended Fabrics |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/aut-2007-070104/html |journal=AUTEX Research Journal |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=33–47 |doi=10.1515/aut-2007-070104 |issn=2300-0929}}</ref>

Currently researchers are working on a cotton/flax blend to create new yarns which will improve the feel of denim during hot and humid weather.<ref name="agr_research">{{cite magazine |title=Flax Fiber Offers Cotton Cool Comfort |magazine=Agricultural Research |date=November 2005 }}</ref> Conversely, some brands such as 100% Capri specially treat the linen to look like denim.<ref name="MH">{{cite web|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1964798.html|title=Just add water|newspaper=Miami Herald|date=5 June 2014|access-date=11 March 2020}}</ref>

Linen fabric is one of the preferred traditional supports for [[oil painting]]. In the United States cotton is popularly used instead, as linen is many times more expensive there, restricting its use to professional painters. In Europe, however, linen is usually the only fabric support available in art shops; in the UK both are freely available with cotton being cheaper. Linen is preferred to cotton for its strength, durability and [[archival]] integrity.{{Cn|date=October 2022}}

Linen is also used extensively by artisan bakers. Known as a [[couche]], the flax cloth is used to hold the dough into shape while in the final rise, just before baking. The couche is heavily dusted with flour which is rubbed into the pores of the fabric. Then the shaped dough is placed on the couche. The floured couche makes a "non stick" surface to hold the dough. Then ridges are formed in the couche to keep the dough from spreading.

In the past, linen was also used for books (the only surviving example of which is the [[Liber Linteus]]). Due to its strength, in the [[Middle Ages]] linen was used for [[shield]]s, [[gambeson]]s, and [[bowstring]]s; in [[classical antiquity]] it was used to make a type of body armour, referred to as a [[linothorax]]. Additionally, linen was commonly used to make riggings, sail-cloths, nets, ropes, and canvases because the [[tensility]] of the cloth would increase by 20% when wet.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh1dm0t |title=Textiles and the Medieval Economy: Production, Trade, and Consumption of Textiles, 8th–16th Centuries |date=2015 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78925-209-5 |volume=16 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvh1dm0t|jstor=j.ctvh1dm0t }}</ref>

Because of its strength when wet, [[Irish linen]] is a very popular wrap of pool/billiard cues, due to its absorption of sweat from hands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Game and Entertain |title=Complete Guide to Pool Cue Wraps: Everything You Need to Know |url=https://gameandentertain.com/complete-guide-to-pool-cue-wraps-everything-you-need-to-know/ |website=Game and Entertain |access-date=2024-02-01 }}</ref>

In 1923, the German city [[Bielefeld]] issued [[banknote]]s printed on linen.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Walter |last1=Grasser |first2=Albert |last2=Pick |title=Das Bielefelder Stoffgeld 1917-1923 |publisher=Erich Pröh |location=Berlin, Germany |date=1972 }}</ref> United States currency paper is made from 25% linen and 75% cotton.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Currency |url=https://www.moneyfactory.gov/hmimpaperandink.html |website=Bureau of Engraving and Printing |publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury |access-date=12 May 2020 |ref=BEP }}</ref>