Caring for 100% Linen & Luxury Cotton

Linen and luxury cotton are very different. They’re both made from natural fibres, but they need different levels of care. With these tips from Wilton London you can extend the life of your bed linen and nightwear for years to come. Over to you, Sam...

Cotton sheets, as you may have guessed are made from the ‘bolls’ of a cotton plant. These are woven into fine fibres which make them lovely and soft, almost silky. While linen fabric is made from flax fibres – these are woven together less finely which makes linen sheets durable and very breathable.

Taking the time to learn about caring for the different materials that make up your wardrobe and bed linen is useful for a few reasons. Taking steps to look after your items will help care for the natural fibres, and will help extend their life. This means you purchasing less, saving money, and reducing your impact on the environment. So it’s helping you, your clothing, and the planet.

I recommend always double checking the care instruction label before washing, some items may be dry clean only or have specific needs so follow those do’s and don’ts. Let’s get into it, here’s my tips on how to care for linen and luxury cotton bedding.

If you want your linen to be on the softer side, adding fabric conditioner will help take your sheets and nightwear to snuggle level in a few washes. But, it does much more than that, using fabric conditioner also protects the natural fibres so they’ll last well night after night.

The way you dry can be just as important as how you’re washing your items. If you prefer softer linen, a good tip is to hang on a line (preferably outdoors), then when they’re slightly damp, pop in the tumble drier with a drier ball until ready for bedtime. One thing to look out for is over drying, this can have the opposite affect and make your linen hard. If the weather isn’t playing ball, or you don’t have a tumble drier, laying your linen flat on a radiator will work best.

Our number one rule when it comes to stain removal on any fabric is to act fast. Get them in to soak and wash as soon as possible for the best chance of making stains vanish. For stubborn stains, a pre-wash soak in a bucket of warm water with some added laundry detergent or Oxy-bleach will help remove most blemishes. Adding laundry detergent directly onto a stain before putting it in the machine will also help shift any remaining splodges.

Caring for linen is simpler than it might seem, it’s a pretty low maintenance. For example, it’s beauty is in its relaxed, natural look so there’s no need to iron. Linen is known to naturally repel dirt (and historically has natural anti-bacterial properties), so for a topical stain or quick refresh, hand washing is a fab option. Be careful to not ring the fabric out when wet, instead roll it in a towel to remove excess water.

A quick trick to decrease luxury cotton is to simply use a spray bottle of water. Hang your pieces and lightly spritz with the water, the creases will drop out in ten minutes. This means less time using the iron (result), you can even put clothing on immediately and dry on the go.

Investing in a high-quality set of pj’s or bed sheets pays for itself, if you look after them with the tips above, they’ll look great for years to come. In fact, your luxury linen will look better than the day they arrived on your doorstep – you don’t hear that very often!

I hope these tips help,

Sam