By Sander Tamm
Last updated: Feb 1, 2025
Pictured: Shirt made from 100% organic linen (Eileen Fisher)
What is linen fabric?
Linen fabric is a natural plant-based textile made from fibers obtained from the woody stem of the flax plant. Known for its durability and breathability, linen has been used for centuries in clothing and home textiles. Its inherent sustainability comes from the flax plant's low water needs and minimal reliance on synthetic inputs, further enhanced in the rare-to-find organic linen.
Linen is the oldest fiber known to have been used by humans. The oldest evidence of its use, dating back 34,000 years, was found in a cave in the Republic of Georgia. In 2023, approximately 400 thousand tonnes of linen fiber was produced worldwide. To put that number into perspective, consider that 24.4 million tonnes (61x more) of cotton was made in the same period.
What is linen fabric made of?
Linen is made from the fibers of the flax plant. These fibers are extracted from the plant’s woody stem through retting, which separates the bast fibers from the woody core. After retting, these fibers are dried, cleaned, combed, spun into yarn, and woven into linen fabric.
Retting is a key process with two methods, each having distinct impacts on sustainability:
- Dew retting uses natural moisture and bacteria to break down the stem of the flax plant. It supports soil health by incorporating practices like rotating crops to maintain nutrient balance and adding natural fertilizers to enrich the soil. It also reduces water pollution and chemical runoff risks.
- Water retting involves soaking the stem of the flax plant in water to speed up the fiber separation. While quicker, it requires large amounts of water and poses environmental risks, such as water contamination and chemical runoff into nearby ecosystems.
What are the properties of linen fabric?
Linen fabric is known for its durability, breathability, moisture-wicking, and hypoallergenic properties. Its flax-derived fibers are stronger than cotton, giving linen better tensile strength and longevity. The natural structure of flax fibers resists pilling and enhances the fabric’s stiffness, contributing to its crisp texture and ability to hold its shape. Longer flax fibers are typically used for finer, high-quality textiles, while shorter fibers are utilized in durable, heavy-duty products like canvas and towels.
Linen’s breathability and moisture-wicking properties make it ideal for regulating body temperature, keeping the wearer cool in warm climates, and providing warmth in cooler conditions. It efficiently absorbs and evaporates moisture, ensuring comfort across various climates. However, linen’s crisp texture also makes it prone to wrinkling, and it may shrink if not washed or dried properly, requiring careful handling.
Sustainability certification and standards for linen
The key standards to search in linen fabrics, covering traceability, quality, and responsible production are:
- European Flax
- Masters of Linen
- REEL Linen Code
European Flax
European Flax certifies flax fibers grown and processed in France, Belgium, and The Netherlands. These three countries combined produce about 75% of the world’s flax fibers. The standard ensures full traceability and sets various environmental criteria, including no irrigation or GMO seeds and reduced usage of fertilizer and pesticides. It only allows dew-retting and mechanical fiber production, and the standard also enforces compliance with the International Labour Office (ILO) social and ethical rules.
Masters of Linen
Masters of Linen certifies linen fabrics and yarns made in Europe by certified companies, using 100% European Flax-certified fibers as raw material. It ensures full traceability throughout the supply chain and incorporates the environmental and social benefits of European Flax, including natural dew retting and adherence to ILO standards.
REEL Linen Code
The REEL Linen Code is a new standard that promotes sustainable linen production through a framework for farming and processing practices. Its criteria include nutrient and water management, crop protection, biodiversity, air quality, and social standards like fair labor conditions. Linen produced under this code is traceable from farm to yarn, supporting supply chain transparency.
Is linen sustainable?
Linen is generally more sustainable than most fabrics, but its social and environmental sustainability profile depends on the production process used. It scores a “C” from the Made-By Benchmark, which evaluates fibers for key environmental impacts.
Let’s start with its advantages. Flax, the plant used to make linen, needs little water, grows well in poor soils, and rarely requires synthetic fertilizers. Dew-retting, a traditional fiber extraction method using natural bacteria and soil moisture, boosts linen’s sustainability by preventing water pollution. Voluntary certifications like European Flax mandate dew-retting and enforce social and environmental criteria, especially in Western Europe, the leading flax-producing region.
However, not all linen is equally sustainable. Certification standards focus mainly on Western Europe, leaving at least 25% of global flax production, often in less-regulated regions, unaccounted for. Additionally, water-retting, still practiced in some areas, poses significant environmental risks, including poor water use efficiency and chemical discharge, which can harm aquatic ecosystems and reduce water quality.
Thus, look towards certified linen products, such as those with the European Flax label, to ensure higher social and environmental sustainability standards.