How to wash and care for linen: bedding, napkins and tablecloths

Linen is easier to look after than its reputation suggests. Wash it at 30 or 40°C on a gentle cycle with a mild liquid detergent, leave out the bleach and the fabric softener, give it plenty of room in the drum, and dry it on a line or on a low tumble setting, taking it out while it is still slightly damp. That covers almost everything. Below is the detail for bedding, napkins, table runners and tablecloths, plus stains, creases and storage.

Check the label first

Linen is woven from flax, and the right way to wash a piece depends on its weave, dye and finish, so the care label always comes first. What follows is general good practice for pure linen and linen blends.

It also helps to know if your linen was washed before it reached you. Stonewashed and washed linen, like our Nagahama stonewashed sheet set, arrives soft and gently crumpled because it has already been through a wash. Unwashed linen feels crisper and can shrink a little in its first few washes, which is one more reason to keep the first wash cool.

Washing temperature and cycle

For most linen, 30 or 40°C is right. Hotter washes are not needed to get linen clean, they fade coloured linen faster and they raise the chance of shrinkage. White linen bedding whose label allows it can have an occasional 60°C wash for a deeper clean, but it does not need one every week.

Choose a gentle or delicates cycle and a lower spin. Linen fibres are strong but fairly stiff, and a long, fast spin presses hard creases into the cloth that are difficult to shake out afterwards. Around 800 to 1000 rpm is plenty.

Wash coloured linen with similar colours, and put new dyed linen through on its own the first time in case any colour runs. Do up zips and buttons so nothing catches.

Detergent, bleach and fabric softener

A mild liquid detergent dissolves fully at low temperatures, so it is less likely than powder to leave pale streaks on darker linen. Use the dose recommended for a light load, or slightly less. Too much detergent stays in the fibres and leaves linen feeling stiff.

Avoid chlorine bleach. It weakens flax fibres and can turn white linen yellow over time. Detergents with optical brighteners are best kept for whites, because they can dull or patch coloured linen. If whites need lifting, an oxygen based stain remover is the gentler choice.

Leave out fabric softener altogether. It coats the fibres, which makes linen less absorbent and less breathable, and it is not needed anyway: linen softens on its own, a little more with every wash.

Do not overload the drum

Linen absorbs a lot of water and becomes heavy when wet. If the drum is packed, the fabric cannot move through the water, so it rinses badly and comes out deeply creased. Fill the drum about half to two thirds full. For a double or king size set, that usually means the duvet cover and pillowcases in one load and the sheets in another. A duvet cover such as the Ojiya pure linen set should go in with its zip closed.

Drying linen

The best way to dry linen is on a line, outdoors or indoors. Give each piece a firm shake as it comes out of the machine, then peg it out straight, gently pulling the hems and seams into shape. Most of the creases drop out as it dries. Dark and strongly coloured linen keeps its colour longer if it dries out of bright direct sun.

If you use a tumble dryer, choose a low heat and take the linen out while it is still slightly damp. Over drying is what makes linen feel harsh, and high heat is the main cause of shrinkage. Hang the pieces over a rail or an airer for half an hour to finish.

To iron or not

You do not have to iron linen. Washed linen is meant to look relaxed, and many people prefer its soft creases. For a smoother finish, iron it while it is still damp, on the linen setting. Iron darker colours on the reverse so the surface does not develop a shine, and use a spray of water on any patches that have dried out.

Table linen is where an iron makes the most difference. A tablecloth pressed while damp and laid on the table straight away falls into neat folds at the corners. Napkins can simply be smoothed flat with your hands while damp and left to dry, which takes out most of the creasing without an iron.

Napkins, table runners and tablecloths

Table linen collects food, wine and candle wax, so deal with it promptly: shake off the crumbs, treat any marks, then wash within a day or two. A stain that is left to sit, or that goes through a hot wash or the dryer before it is treated, is much harder to shift.

Napkins work hardest and can be washed after every meal. A set of pure linen napkins like our Kitsuki napkins is softly washed and made for everyday use rather than for best; they crease gently and naturally, so there is no need to iron them.

Runners need washing less often, as they mostly sit under a jug or a bowl. We recommend a cool wash and line drying for our Iwate stonewashed linen runner, and its crumpled texture means it can go straight back on the table without pressing.

A tablecloth is the largest piece you will wash, so give it a load of its own or share it with napkins only. To dry a long cloth like the Echizen linen tablecloth, fold it in half lengthways over the line so the weight is spread evenly and the hems stay straight.

Getting stains out of linen

Blot a fresh stain rather than rubbing it. Rubbing pushes the mark deeper and roughens the surface of the weave. Then rinse from the back of the fabric with cold water, which pushes the stain out the way it came in.

For red wine, coffee, tea and fruit, rinse in cold water as soon as you can, then work in a little liquid detergent or an oxygen based stain remover before washing. Blood and egg should always be rinsed in cold water, because heat sets protein stains into the fibres.

For greasy marks from butter, oil or dressing, work a drop of washing up liquid into the stain, leave it for a few minutes and then wash as normal.

For candle wax, let it harden, lift off as much as you can with a blunt knife, then lay the cloth between two sheets of brown paper or kitchen paper and press with a warm iron. The paper soaks up the melted wax. Move to a clean area of paper and repeat until nothing more comes through, then wash.

Always check that a stain has gone before the piece goes into the dryer or under the iron, as heat can make it permanent.

Storing linen

Put linen away clean and completely dry. Even a little damp in a folded sheet can lead to mildew spots in a cupboard. Store it somewhere cool, dry and dark, as daylight can fade the edges of folds left on an open shelf.

Linen keeps best where air can reach it, so a cotton bag or a spare pillowcase is better than a plastic box or a vacuum bag for anything put away for a season. For tablecloths that only come out a few times a year, refold them along different lines now and then, or roll them, so the creases do not set into permanent marks.

Every piece in our linen bedding and throws and kitchen and dining collections lists its fabric on the product page. If you have a question about caring for something you have bought from us, email info@haloyard.com.