How to wash linen so it lasts twenty years

Linen is the most forgiving cloth we work with and the most misunderstood. It gets softer with every wash, as long as you stop treating it like a gym towel.

Cold, gentle and less of everything

Wash at 30 °C on a delicate cycle with half the detergent you think you need. Skip fabric softener entirely: it coats the fibres and stops linen from breathing, which is the whole point of wearing it in August.

Line-dry in the shade, shake it out hard, and let the creases be part of the shirt.

Ironing is optional

If you want a crisp collar, iron while the cloth is still slightly damp, on the reverse side, with steam. If you do not, hang it on a wide hanger overnight and the weight of the cloth will do most of the work.

Store linen folded, not hung, in a drawer with a cedar block. Never in plastic. Linen needs air the way we do.