From Wash To Wear: A Comprehensive Guide To Linen Care

With a wispy fabrication that invites the summer-loving feel of resort wear into your wardrobe year-round, linen clothing is the perfect pairing for day and nighttime dressing. Despite boasting a breathable and lightweight fabrication that is easy to wear, linen clothes have developed a misunderstood reputation for being a little high maintenance. 

To help you reimagine linen tops and bottoms into your everyday style and make them a warm-weather staple you’ll quickly love, our guide will detail how to wash linen and offer helpful advice for caring for linen clothing.

How to wash linen clothing

Before you send your linens to the dry cleaners, review the linen clothing’s care label for specific instructions tailored to the fabric composition to preserve its weave and colour finish.

Depending on whether your piece features an applique or other delicate detail, most linen garments can be machine-washed using a gentle cold-water cycle with a mild detergent. For the best results, carefully balancing your load so that it isn’t overloaded will prevent other clothing from pulling, stretching, and distorting its shape. Alternatively, you can enclose them in a washable garment bag to ensure optimum care of linen clothing.

If you’re preparing your ensemble for the next day and prefer to hand wash, opt for cold water with a mild detergent and avoid wringing or aggressively scrubbing the fabric. This could damage the weave of the linen and detract from its airy and smooth finish.

We recommend turning your clothes inside-out and using cold water to prevent shrinkage to maintain their shape and fit. And like all clothing, always separate colours to avoid colour transfer. In the unfortunate event that a brightly hued sock has accidentally stained your clothes, using a laundry colour remover can help restore it to its original look.

While you can choose to use a fabric softener, it isn’t needed as linen naturally becomes plusher with every wash.

How to dry linen clothing

Most modern linen clothes indicate they can be machine-dried — however, you risk the heat shrinking your garments and distorting their shape or enabling creases in the fabric to set in deeply. Instead, hang them on the clothesline and their quick-to-dry fabrication will have it ready to wear in no time. 

One of the best ways to learn how to take care of linen clothing is to remove them from your drying rack as soon as possible, as excess exposure to the sun and UV rays can potentially discolour white linen pieces or make its soft fabrication feel overly dry and rough.

How to iron and store linen clothes

Linen naturally creases, which contributes to its lived-in and relaxed look. But if you prefer the seams and panels to emanate a crisper finish, spraying a light coat of water and ironing your linens inside-out on medium heat will deliver the look you’re going for without damaging the fabric’s weave.

After ironing, hang your clothes in a dry and dark wardrobe to prevent them from creasing when folded. If your garments have hanging straps, use the hooks on your coat hanger to avoid stretching the collar or causing dents due to the hanger's shape.

Jetting off to an exotic destination? To best care for linen clothes while stored in luggage, loosely rolling your garments while ensuring the fabric is taut can help avoid unnecessary wrinkles from folding or scrunching.

Discover easy-to-care-for linen clothes at Perri Cutten

Learning how to wash linen clothes, bedding and napery doesn’t need to be overwhelming. With a few short steps, you can launder your pieces back to their best and enjoy their premium look from one season to the next.

To make the refined appeal of linen clothing a staple in your wardrobe, explore the timeless range of dresses, tops, shirts and pants at Perri Cutten.