Flax, this wonderful material

Flax is a wonderful material. Here's why we made it the star of our collections!

What is flax?

Flax textile is made from the fiber of flax, a herbaceous plant of the Linaceae family.

How old is flax?

Flax is an ancestral material, known since antiquity. It is nonetheless strikingly modern, both for its ecological virtues and for its chic look.

Where is flax grown?

Most flax production (80% of world production) is carried out in France, Belgium and the Netherlands (between Caen and Amsterdam more precisely).

What are the stages in the production of flax and your flax table linen?

From seed to fibre : From the end of February to the end of March, flax seeds are sown. The plant takes 100 days to reach a height of about 1m over which 80 to 100 leaves are distributed. Flowering occurs in June. The flax is then uprooted in July and then placed on the ground. From July to September, "retting" takes place, which is the first natural phase in the transformation of the plant into fibre. The alternation of rain and sun will allow the flax to ret.

From fiber to thread : the next step is scutching, which consists of mechanically extracting and ridding the flax fibers of the wood present in the stem. Scutching contains several successive stages: ginning, stretching, crushing and threshing.

Next comes the spinning stage. This includes combing, where the fiber is parallelized, graded and drawn into soft, lustrous slivers ready to be spun. The actual spinning consists of applying a twist. Techniques vary depending on the type of yarn to be produced. For clothing and household linen, this generally involves “wet” spinning with immersion in water heated to 60°C. A soaking that facilitates the sliding of the fibers and makes it possible to produce fine yarns.

Thread to canvas : Once the thread is obtained, it can be woven to obtain the linen fabric. The last stage is that of ennoblement, which includes a series of treatments intended to modify the appearance of the linen fabrics. Four categories are distinguished: bleaching, dyeing, printing and finishes.

What are two of the main characteristics of flax?

Thermoregulator : flax gives a feeling of freshness in summer and retains heat in winter. It is therefore an ideal material for all seasons.

Resistant: flax is the most resistant textile fiber. The pure flax fabric does not pill, does not deform and the more it is washed, the more it softens. Flax is therefore durable and resists very well over time.

Why is flax an ecological material? Flax is a very ecological natural fibre, in particular because it grows locally, does not require the use of chemicals and hardly needs to be irrigated. In addition, the entire plant is exploitable.

Does flax wrinkle? Yes, like all natural materials (cotton for example), but that's what makes it so chic. If the creasing at the exit of the machine remains too important for you, we recommend that you shake your laundry and let it dry naturally if possible. You can also tumble dry it on low heat until damp, then finish air drying.