ABOUT LINEN

Flax and its finished product, linen, is an age-old material and traces of it date back to 8000 BC and the times of the Pharaohs.

This natural fibre, which is twice as strong as cotton, and so can be spun into far finer threads, is still prized today for its beauty, luxury and long life.

Admired for its purity and lightness, ancient Egyptian weavers perfected spinning techniques that made the fabric so fine that their linen garments could even be passed through a finger ring.

In fact, so prized was flax that it even acquired a mythical personality: In Egypt it was used as the sacred material for embalming mummies and was part of the ritualistic process for conveying the soul into the afterlife. Eastern Slavs also regarded flax as a particularly precious material on account of its properties as a barrier to black magic. In Bohemian lore, peasants also believed that seven-year-old children would become beautiful if they danced in the flax fields, and fairytales the world over abound with stories of linen spinners and weavers and their magical powers.

Flax is also a natural antiseptic. Even the word flax is translated from Latin meaning "most useful." The product is known to kill microbes and interferes with fungous diseases as well as inflammations. Linen bandages are favored over cotton because of these healing properties and today flax seeds, (linseed), are also highly valued for their omega-3 fatty acids and additional benefits in such areas as cancer research and the treatment of lupus, renal failure, high cholesterol, malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.

So popular was linen and its variety of uses that the first standard Government tax imposed in Russia by Peter the Great was the standard tax on Flax. Today linen is one of the main materials used in the manufacture of UK banknotes to improve their longevity.

Linen is not only anti-bacterial but also thermo-regulating, (keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter), and non-allergenic.

Flax and its byproducts have served humankind as a food, fibre and herbal benefit since prehistoric times and long may it continue to do so.

ALЁNSKA values every customer, so please feel free to contact us on any related matters at: info@alenska.com

HOW TO CARE FOR LINEN

Washing: Linen is perfectly washable in low temperatures, such as 30-40C (at high temperatures you do need to be careful as lt might shrink) and there is no need to use strong detergents. Your linen should naturally wash clean, please ensure that bleach in not used.

Fine hand-embroidered linen: This needs to be treated with care and preferably hand-washed or machine-washed on a gentle cycle, placed into a fishnet washing bag.

Stain removal : Despite there being many readily available stain removal products, we recommend using professional dry cleaners and laundry services.

Finishing: You can iron our bed linen and get it crispy fine, or you can simply dry it in a tumble dryer with a couple of tennis balls , then balls will break natural hardness of linen, and your sheets will not require any ironing, they will impress you with their natural welcoming softness. Here is a photo of non-ironed, tumble-dried bed linen:

Regarding table linen you should gently stretch it after washing to the original shape and iron while quite damp.

Starch: There is no need to use starch except perhaps for the finest jacquard linens because it already has a natural, built-in crispness.