Linen cleaning is a delicate job, and no one really is an expert on how to handle it. Most people get their linen cleaned by professionals or just ruin them through misuse and neglect. Others don’t even use it for fear of spoiling them. Therefore, it’s a good idea to learn how to care for your linen. The older linens, especially, can be damaged by many sources and once their fine materials are destroyed, they can be impossible to replace. It is important to learn to properly clean and care for your heirloom linens so that they are not destroyed by your neglect and others who inherit these from you can enjoy them too. And it is just a shame to store away old linens like museum pieces for fear of ruining them. The fact remains that using old linens is a great way to breathe some life and charm into your décor while adding a distinctive piece of character to the space. Although it can be time consuming and somewhat tedious, the extra effort put into maintaining and cleaning your old linens will more than be worth it when you can pass it down to your children in the same shape as you inherited it. The first thing that you need to watch out for is dirt, which can cause much damage to quality linens. Once dirt is allowed to settle in, it literally burrows down into the fibers and causes irreversible damage. A vacuum cleaner can help you safely remove this dirt from the textile. A fiberglass screen placed over the fabric before you vacuum can help protect especially fragile linen. Most importantly, do not store away linen that you know has already become soiled. The linen must be cleaned before you store it in order to prevent insects from damaging it. Insects searching for grease and food can destroy your fine linen in the process. But it is important to recall that you do not want to change the color, strength, or shape of the fabric when cleaning. Using water to help clean fabrics made of cotton is fine as it helps to keep down acid build-up and will ultimately help the fabric become more flexible in the process. Fabrics made out of wool or silk are much more difficult to clean as water tends to weaken these fabrics making it harder to remove dirt. You want to use a mild soap when cleaning fine linen as harsh chemicals will almost certainly cause damage. Plus, in order to avoid learning that the colors bleed the hard way, try dabbing a few drops of water in some obscure place on the linen and allowing it to dry to see if fading occurs. It is advisable to avoid taking your fine linens to the dry cleaner. The fabric can be damaged by the high temperatures involved in the dry cleaning process. Whatever method you use, it is important that the fine linens be carefully cleaned and stored so that your future generations get a chance to treasure and enjoy them as you did.
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Linen cleaning is a delicate job, and no one really is an expert on how to handle it. Most people get their linen cleaned by professionals or just ruin them through misuse and neglect. Others don’t even use it for fear of spoiling them. Therefore, it’s a good idea to learn how to care for your linen.
Elizabeth Voke is the chief editor for F linen, the best place on the internet for information about linen. For questions or comments about this article why not visit: http://www.flalinen.com/articles Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the linen beauty Articles Submissions Service
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