I came upon a terrific buy on lovely handkerchief-weight linen. It's wonderful for receiving blankets because it is, of course, so very durable. OTOH, before washing it has a very 'crisp' finish. Stitching fine linen is a real treat but I need to make it soft and sweet for the preemie babies I stitch for. I'm wondering if there's some magic formula such as hot water and vinegar that would tame it. Any thoughts? Polly
Linen is crisp because of natural waxes in the fiber, plus whatever they may have finished the fabric with. Removing the waxes entirely reduces it's durability by a lot, but you can remove just enough to soften it a bit. Wash it in hot water a couple of times, if you have any synthropol you might only need to wash it once. I discovered that a hot wash with synthrapol on fresh batiks eliminates the need to boil them, so I am assuming that it would work well for softening linen. A thin linen softens more easily than a heavy one regardless, so a couple of regular hot washes should set you up any road.
NightMist
The answer given about washing it twice sounds is good advice. Those kinds of fabrics get softer with time and repeated washings. Good luck with your project!
F.Hollye
See this YouTube tutorial on how to do Machine Applique!!!
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I have in my posession a chemise made from linen with a laundry mark of
1886. It's a bit ragged under the arms, but washing in those days consisted of boiling the things to death in a solution of washing soda, and then scrubbing them on a rough board with a bristle brush. It's almost as soft as silk.My mother has a linen table cloth that is almost as venerable and shows no sigh of wear despite her giving it a boil wash in her front loader every time she used it for 20 years... She ironed it hot while still slightly damp to restore crispness, and it never needed starching.
I don't think you need to worry about durability.
Boil wash it a couple of times, and tumble dry on hot. Then iron it while still slightly damp. This will restore the crispness for sewing accuracy, as well as shrinking it... Once made, you could wash and tumble dry again, smoothing flat while hot out of the dryer. This should leave it much softer.
If only modern linen were made the same way as your antiques! or as my antiques for that matter. I have an embroidered linen tablecloth that my great-grandmother made sometime before she married, that would make it about 100 years old. Unfortunately modern linen has fallen prey to that two faced monster called mass production. Modern techniques all along the line, from retting to weaving, combine to give a decidedly inferior product as compared to the linen of old. I'll skip the details, about which I can go on ad infinitum. A bit of research should turn them up easily enough though.
Like I said, a couple of hot washes should do it. Boiling would have to be done by hand, but if the stuff is still too stiff that would be the way.
NightMist
I have found linen that is as fine and soft as some of the old stuff, but jeez, you pay a ransome for it: arm, leg, good eye, and three generations of off-spring! ;)
I have some Irish linen tea towels. They are soft and limp and aborbant. They are, by the time they get like this, ragged at the corners. Such a shame...
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