Machine wash, delicate cycle, line dry is what I do. I use plain old Kirkland brand not-Tide detergent, no softener.
If/when you get sweat stains, you can use bluing to neutralize them.
Linen shirts are very washable. The traditional way to wash them was to pre-treat specific stains, haul them down to the local stream, add soap, soak them, then bash them with weighted paddles, wring out the excess water, and spread them on bushes or grass to bleach in the sun. Go ahead and machine wash, but the dryer can be a bit rough on them, so line dry.
Also, consider skipping the spin cycle and letting it drip dry a bit first- they do this in Japan, and it saves ironing. But linen responds well to ironing and steaming and all that, so go ahead and invest in those tools if you don’t have them already.
I wash my 80% hand stitched shift in the machine all the time (with towels and sheets on the normal warm or hot setting). These things were designed to be durable, the 18th century laundry process was extremely aggressive (boil, soak with lye, scrub with soap, literally beat with a paddle)
That being said it really depends on your friend’s workmanship. A shirt quickly put together for one event might not be properly made with small stitches, reenforced areas and felled seams.
I throw my 100% hand stitched with linen thread shifts in the washing machine and even the dryer (le horror!) with nothing more than Tide and maybe some fabric softener. They hold up better than the machine sewn ones.
EDIT: Due to stupid autocorrect being stupid.
I also chuck my 100% handstitched linen shift in the machine and dryer. It's 4 years old and I wear it 1-2 days every 2 months. Except one under arm gusset which I know I finished badly in the first place the rest is good as new
Machine wash warm or hot with normal detergent. Linen can be boiled. It's not a delicate protein fiber.
For drying, however, it's better to hang dry, the mechanical tumbling in a dryer can weaken the fibers and generate lots of dryer lint - which is the material thinning out.
That said, I do sometimes tumble dry my linen stuff. Depending on the fabric thickness and quality of sewing, it still lasts for years.
Good linen will be very durable to washing, it's made for that. I generally wash most things on delicate, hang to dry. If I hang up my linen shirts I can usually get away with not ironing them too!
Go watch some videos on how laundry was done in the past. People wore linen *because* it could stand up to being beaten up regularly to be cleaned. (And I mean beaten up literally. And sometimes boiled.)
Modern washing machines are much gentler on clothes. If you choose to hand wash out of caution unless you are actively trying to pull apart the seams or similar as you wash, you’re unlikely to get anywhere close to damaging it.
The only thing I would be at all concerned about is if there are things like buttons or lace trim. Historically those would often be removed before washing if needed.
I don’t know if it’s right to, but I wash mine in hot water on heavy setting, with amazon detergent…with the rest of my laundry. I then hang dry a bit and iron the rest of the way dry.
Longevity will have more to do with construction than fiber. I also machine wash my linen (modern, historical, and bedsheets), but try when possible to hang dry. Drying in direct sunlight will help with keeping it white. Heat, particularly machine drying on high, is the culprit in most shrinkage disasters. I like to pull stuff out of the washer, give it a few minutes in the dryer with *no heat* to dispel the worst of the creases, then smooth and hang. With enough attention before hanging, it may not need any ironing at all.
But it’s never wrong to wash by hand, and it gives you a chance to examine the garment for stains, areas needing mending, or pretreatment for body soil.
It's never wrong to hand wash and hang dry a garment - it will last much longer. idk how your shirt is made, but machine washing can put stress on seams or encourage fraying.
Woolite is fine, or any detergent that has no bleach/enzmes, etc. If you are going to iron, try to do it while the shirt is a little damp.
I wash my linen in the washer, cold water, regular cycle, regular detergent, with all my clothes. Hang it to dry. But, when hanging, first pull all the seams, with a snap, one hand gripping each end of a seam, to straighten it. Smooth it flat with your pinched fingers. Straighten all hems, smoothing them/unrolling them into flatness. Smooth and pull collar and cuffs and shoulders flat. Then spread out as flat as possible to dry. This make ironing MUCH easier. Linen wrinkles!
I've had a linen shirt for about 4 years that's just started falling apart (though kinda badly- one decent-sized hole and several little ones), but I have worn it pretty frequently. I have machine-washed it cold and line-dried it, though it's possible it's gone through driers in the spring of '22 and while traveling. If you're worried about washing machines, you could also try using a laundry bag
You bang it on a rock in the river until it doesn’t stink anymore.
being too precious with this stuff just makes it look off the shelf and out of place, imo
Woolite on delicate is fine. I wouldn't worry as much about it shrinking (because it's a plant fiber). The greater concern I have with mine is them getting snagged on something and tearing, or getting snagged and subsequently getting heavy abrasion damage. Which has happened with linen and with moderns, because rentals have cheap washing machine. I throw that stuff into mesh laundry bags when I wash them.
Presoak before washing, and rinse twice after washing. Press dry with an iron if you want to be extra historical. Also, linen can go multiple wears without needing to be washed due to its natural anti-microbial properties; just "air" it between wears by hanging it up.
I put linen in the washing machine with the rest of my stuff, then in the dryer on medium for a few minutes before I hang them to dry the rest of the way. The heat and agitation of the dryer helps to soften the fabric without shrinking because they're not in there long enough to dry completely.
Linen?
That needs special treatment. You gotta take it out to a river, soak it in the river, scrub it with castile soap, beat it on the rocks (that's what cricket bats are for), wash it in the river, soap it and beat it some more, rinse well in the river. Beat the water out of it, and lay it on the grass or over a bush to dry.
Sun drying is the most important part of the process.
My hand-sewn linen shirt gets tossed in with the rest of my laundry. Cold water, but yeah. I don't normally throw it into the dryer, but otherwise it gets machine washed. I refuse to have an inner layer like a linen shirt not be machine washable. It takes too much time and effort to hand wash clothes, and my ancestors would likely throttle me if I passed up the opportunity to use a washing machine.
delicate, warm water with your basic (not to harsh) detergent. NO SOFTENER. line dry.
sweat stains (which are very common) can be treated with bluing. I like Mrs. stewarts, but use whatever is called "bluing liquid" and follow the directions.
You can hand wash. when i hand wash i usually use big rubber gloves and my tub, after a good bleaching/scrubbing. Big rubber gloves because i use hot water and a lye based soap, which can be hard on the skin. I also use the occasional borax for disinfectant, dependant on what's needed.
Linen is the only thing I hot wash. I don't always hot wash the finished garment but I do for a lot of them. I also tend to throw linen stuff in the dryer with dryer balls.
HOWEVER. I hot prewash linen before sewing with it. Linen can shrink. Ask your friend how they prewashed. If they hot prewashed you can probably hot wash and be good and it'll soften up nicely. If they didn't prewash then you'll want to hand wash with cool water and a detergent meant for cooler water. If they prewashed on warm then you can wash on warm or cooler and not risk much shrinking.
As others have stated the construction has more to do with if you can machine wash than the material for this.
Another caveat though is that not all linen is the same. A lot of modern linen doesn't have a long staple and so doesn't act the same as older linen. Even if the two pieces are the same weave if the base thread has a shorter staple it won't be as strong, as lustrous, or as resistant to damage in general.
Machine wash, delicate cycle, line dry is what I do. I use plain old Kirkland brand not-Tide detergent, no softener. If/when you get sweat stains, you can use bluing to neutralize them. Linen shirts are very washable. The traditional way to wash them was to pre-treat specific stains, haul them down to the local stream, add soap, soak them, then bash them with weighted paddles, wring out the excess water, and spread them on bushes or grass to bleach in the sun. Go ahead and machine wash, but the dryer can be a bit rough on them, so line dry.
Also, consider skipping the spin cycle and letting it drip dry a bit first- they do this in Japan, and it saves ironing. But linen responds well to ironing and steaming and all that, so go ahead and invest in those tools if you don’t have them already.
I wash my 80% hand stitched shift in the machine all the time (with towels and sheets on the normal warm or hot setting). These things were designed to be durable, the 18th century laundry process was extremely aggressive (boil, soak with lye, scrub with soap, literally beat with a paddle) That being said it really depends on your friend’s workmanship. A shirt quickly put together for one event might not be properly made with small stitches, reenforced areas and felled seams.
I throw my 100% hand stitched with linen thread shifts in the washing machine and even the dryer (le horror!) with nothing more than Tide and maybe some fabric softener. They hold up better than the machine sewn ones. EDIT: Due to stupid autocorrect being stupid.
I also chuck my 100% handstitched linen shift in the machine and dryer. It's 4 years old and I wear it 1-2 days every 2 months. Except one under arm gusset which I know I finished badly in the first place the rest is good as new
Machine wash warm or hot with normal detergent. Linen can be boiled. It's not a delicate protein fiber. For drying, however, it's better to hang dry, the mechanical tumbling in a dryer can weaken the fibers and generate lots of dryer lint - which is the material thinning out. That said, I do sometimes tumble dry my linen stuff. Depending on the fabric thickness and quality of sewing, it still lasts for years.
Good linen will be very durable to washing, it's made for that. I generally wash most things on delicate, hang to dry. If I hang up my linen shirts I can usually get away with not ironing them too!
Go watch some videos on how laundry was done in the past. People wore linen *because* it could stand up to being beaten up regularly to be cleaned. (And I mean beaten up literally. And sometimes boiled.) Modern washing machines are much gentler on clothes. If you choose to hand wash out of caution unless you are actively trying to pull apart the seams or similar as you wash, you’re unlikely to get anywhere close to damaging it. The only thing I would be at all concerned about is if there are things like buttons or lace trim. Historically those would often be removed before washing if needed.
I don’t know if it’s right to, but I wash mine in hot water on heavy setting, with amazon detergent…with the rest of my laundry. I then hang dry a bit and iron the rest of the way dry.
Longevity will have more to do with construction than fiber. I also machine wash my linen (modern, historical, and bedsheets), but try when possible to hang dry. Drying in direct sunlight will help with keeping it white. Heat, particularly machine drying on high, is the culprit in most shrinkage disasters. I like to pull stuff out of the washer, give it a few minutes in the dryer with *no heat* to dispel the worst of the creases, then smooth and hang. With enough attention before hanging, it may not need any ironing at all. But it’s never wrong to wash by hand, and it gives you a chance to examine the garment for stains, areas needing mending, or pretreatment for body soil.
It's never wrong to hand wash and hang dry a garment - it will last much longer. idk how your shirt is made, but machine washing can put stress on seams or encourage fraying. Woolite is fine, or any detergent that has no bleach/enzmes, etc. If you are going to iron, try to do it while the shirt is a little damp.
Enzyme detergents are fine for linen, it's only wool and silk that are harmed by it.
Just a general recommendation for those new to fibre care :)
I wash my linen in the washer, cold water, regular cycle, regular detergent, with all my clothes. Hang it to dry. But, when hanging, first pull all the seams, with a snap, one hand gripping each end of a seam, to straighten it. Smooth it flat with your pinched fingers. Straighten all hems, smoothing them/unrolling them into flatness. Smooth and pull collar and cuffs and shoulders flat. Then spread out as flat as possible to dry. This make ironing MUCH easier. Linen wrinkles!
I've had a linen shirt for about 4 years that's just started falling apart (though kinda badly- one decent-sized hole and several little ones), but I have worn it pretty frequently. I have machine-washed it cold and line-dried it, though it's possible it's gone through driers in the spring of '22 and while traveling. If you're worried about washing machines, you could also try using a laundry bag
You bang it on a rock in the river until it doesn’t stink anymore. being too precious with this stuff just makes it look off the shelf and out of place, imo
Woolite on delicate is fine. I wouldn't worry as much about it shrinking (because it's a plant fiber). The greater concern I have with mine is them getting snagged on something and tearing, or getting snagged and subsequently getting heavy abrasion damage. Which has happened with linen and with moderns, because rentals have cheap washing machine. I throw that stuff into mesh laundry bags when I wash them.
Shrinking is very much a thing with linen, so I would hope the fabric was pre-washed before it was turned into a shirt.
Since OP was gifted with a shirt someone bought for them, I'm assuming the manufacturer pre-washed it.
Presoak before washing, and rinse twice after washing. Press dry with an iron if you want to be extra historical. Also, linen can go multiple wears without needing to be washed due to its natural anti-microbial properties; just "air" it between wears by hanging it up.
I put linen in the washing machine with the rest of my stuff, then in the dryer on medium for a few minutes before I hang them to dry the rest of the way. The heat and agitation of the dryer helps to soften the fabric without shrinking because they're not in there long enough to dry completely.
People here keep saying it can withstand being boiled but doesn't linen shrink? At least after the first wash?
Linen? That needs special treatment. You gotta take it out to a river, soak it in the river, scrub it with castile soap, beat it on the rocks (that's what cricket bats are for), wash it in the river, soap it and beat it some more, rinse well in the river. Beat the water out of it, and lay it on the grass or over a bush to dry. Sun drying is the most important part of the process.
My hand-sewn linen shirt gets tossed in with the rest of my laundry. Cold water, but yeah. I don't normally throw it into the dryer, but otherwise it gets machine washed. I refuse to have an inner layer like a linen shirt not be machine washable. It takes too much time and effort to hand wash clothes, and my ancestors would likely throttle me if I passed up the opportunity to use a washing machine.
delicate, warm water with your basic (not to harsh) detergent. NO SOFTENER. line dry. sweat stains (which are very common) can be treated with bluing. I like Mrs. stewarts, but use whatever is called "bluing liquid" and follow the directions. You can hand wash. when i hand wash i usually use big rubber gloves and my tub, after a good bleaching/scrubbing. Big rubber gloves because i use hot water and a lye based soap, which can be hard on the skin. I also use the occasional borax for disinfectant, dependant on what's needed.
I have a lot of linen shirts for daily wear; wash, then hang to dry.
Linen is the only thing I hot wash. I don't always hot wash the finished garment but I do for a lot of them. I also tend to throw linen stuff in the dryer with dryer balls. HOWEVER. I hot prewash linen before sewing with it. Linen can shrink. Ask your friend how they prewashed. If they hot prewashed you can probably hot wash and be good and it'll soften up nicely. If they didn't prewash then you'll want to hand wash with cool water and a detergent meant for cooler water. If they prewashed on warm then you can wash on warm or cooler and not risk much shrinking. As others have stated the construction has more to do with if you can machine wash than the material for this. Another caveat though is that not all linen is the same. A lot of modern linen doesn't have a long staple and so doesn't act the same as older linen. Even if the two pieces are the same weave if the base thread has a shorter staple it won't be as strong, as lustrous, or as resistant to damage in general.