Rose Wright, age 16, of Gulfport, Miss., for her question:
HOW IS LINEN MADE?
Linen is any fabric or yarn that is made from the fibers of the flax plant. To make linen, the plant's fibers are first spun into yarn and then the yarn is woven into cloth.
Flax grows in countries that have temperate climates. The fibers have been used to make textiles for many centuries. There is evidence that the Swiss lake dwellers used flax to make ropes and fishnets more than 10,000 years ago. Linen cloth has also been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt.
Linen indicated social standing in ancient times. The higher the standing, the better the grade of linen. It even continued in death. A king's body was wrapped in hundreds of yards of the finest linen, while that of his slave in only a few yards of coarse linen.
The Bible also mentions linen many times.
Use of linen spread from the Mediterranean area to European countries, where linen became second only to wool in importance. During the late medieval times, the spinning wheel was introduced. It gradually replaced the spindle and distaff used by the ancients for twisting and winding the flax fibers by hand.
In the North American colonies by the 16th Century, as well as in Europe, a spinning wheel for flax and wool stood at almost every fireside. Many of the American colonists raised small fields of flax and herds of sheep for their own personal weaving use.
In the late 16th Century in England, James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwzight invented spinning and weaving machinery. Factories were built for the new processes and this development helped introduce what came to be known as the Industrial Revolution.
Invention of the cotton gin in 1792 reduced the linen trade by making cotton cloth both more plentiful and less expensive than linen. But by 1819 power driven machinery for processing flax fibers was in use.
Principal producers of flax yarn are Russia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Romania, France, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Belgium. Although Ireland is the leading exporter of linen fabrics, much of the fiber that is used there comes from Russia.
The United States produces some linen. Great quantities of flaxseed, however, are produced in the U.S. to make linseed oil.
Most linen fabrics are woven plain, without pattern, and are used to make towels, handkerchiefs, dress linen oz suitings. Damask, which is linen woven with patterns that may be quite elaborate, is used for fine tablecloths and napkins.
Flax fiber is stronger than cotton. Linen can be washed in hotter water and it does not tend to support the growth of bacteria.
Linen is listless, absorbent and fast drying.