Women’s Linen Dresses
Women’s Linen Dresses
Clothes made from synthetic fabric, may be very convenient when it comes to doing the laundry, yet, it most certainly doesn’t have the great qualities of natural fabrics. Women’s Linen dresses will not only be more cool and absorbent in summer, it will provide you with a natural warmth in winter as well.
In case you don’t know what linen is made of, I have found an articles to explain exactly what it is made of and what the qualities are. I have found an article to provide you with the comparison between cotton and linen. Both natural, yet there are a few differences.
You may want to consider wearing natural fibers like linen or cotton, rather than synthetic garments.
Linen Fiber:
Linen is a cellulose fibers derived from the stem of the flax plant or a fabric made from these fibers. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous that cotton; they yield cool, absorbent fabrics that wrinkle easily. Fabrics with linen-like texture and coolness but with good wrinkle resistance can be produced from manufactured fibers and blends.
Properties/Characteristics of Linen Fiber:
Linen is comfortable, good strength, twice as strong as cotton, hand-washable or dry-cleanable, crisp hand tailors, well absorbent dyes and prints, well light weight to heavy weight, no static or pilling problems, fair abrasion resistant etc. Basically there are two types of properties of linen fibers. One is physical properties and another is chemical properties.
Linen is comfortable, good strength, twice as strong as cotton, hand-washable or dry-cleanable, crisp hand tailors, well absorbent dyes and prints, well light weight to heavy weight, no static or pilling problems, fair abrasion resistant etc. Basically there are two types of properties of linen fibers. One is physical properties and another is chemical properties.
Physical Properties of Linen:
Physical properties of linen fibers are given below:
- Tensile Strength: Linen is a strong fiber. It has a tenacity of 5.5 to 6.5 gm/den. The strength is greater than cotton fiber.
- Elongation at break: Linen does not stress easily. It has an elongation at break of 2.7 to 3.5 %.
- Color: The color of linen fiber is yellowish to grey.
- Length: 18 to 30 inch in length.
- Lusture: It is brighter than cotton fiber and it is slightly silky.
- Elastic Recovery: Linen fiber has not enough elastic recovery properties like cotton fiber.
- Specific Gravity: Specific gravity of linen fiber is 1.50.
- Moisture Regain (MR %): Standard moisture regain is 10 to 12%.
- Resiliency: Very poor.
- Effect of Heat: Linen has an excellent resistance to degradation by heat. It is less affected than cotton fiber by the heat.
- Effect of Sun Light: Linen fiber is not affected by the sun light as others fiber. It has enough ability to protect sun light.
Chemical Properties of Linen:
Linen is a natural cellulosic fiber and it has some chemical properties. Chemical properties of the linen fiber are given below:
- Effect of Acids: Linen fiber is damaged by highly densified acids but low dense acids does not affect if it is wash instantly after application of acids.
- Effects of Alkalis: Linen has an excellent resistance to alkalis. It does not affected by the strong alkalis.
- Effects of Bleaching Agents: Cool chlorine and hypo-chlorine bleaching agent does not affect the linen fiber properties.
- Effect of Organic Solvent: Linen fiber has high resistance to normal cleaning solvents.
- Effect of Micro Organism: Linen fiber is attacked by fungi and bacteria. Mildews will feed on linen fabric, rotting and weakling the materials. Mildews and bacteria will flourish on linen under hot and humid condition. They can be protected by impregnation with certain types of chemicals. Copper Nepthenate is one of the chemical.
- Effects of Insects: Linen fiber does not attacked by moth-grubs or beetles.
- Dyes: It is not suitable to dye. But it can be dye by direct and vat dyes.
Read more: HERE
Linen Vs. Cotton?
Cotton and Linen are both natural fibers and are both produced form their respective plants. However this is where differences begin:The Linen Plant:
Technically linen is a vegetable! Linen fibers are spun from the cellulose fibers that grow inside of the stalks of the flax plant. This plant was supposedly first cultivated 8000 years back. The flax plant grows in subtropical to temperate climates with some of the best flax coming from France and Belgium.
The Cotton Plant:
The Cotton plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants. The cotton fiber is almost pure cellulose. Some of the best Cotton from around the world is produced in Egypt, US, India etc.Fabric Properties of Linen
Linen fabrics soften as they are used. Traditionally in Europe it was not uncommon for families to inherit Linen sheets from their parents. Vintage linen is soft and luxurious and possesses a fabric handle that is generally very difficult to replicate with any mechanized process.Fabric properties of Cotton
The Cotton fiber was discovered much later than linen, however it has grown in usage well past Linen, this is on account of both the fiber’s excellent fabric feel on skin, and through the ease of high volume cultivation of cotton.
1. Сotton fabrics are durable and chemically stable. This means that they can handle the chemicals in human sweat, soaps, detergents etc quite well.
2. Cotton has an impressive water absorbance capacity. In humid atmosphere cotton fabric can absorb 27% of water without feeling damp.
3. Cotton fabrics are breathable and hypoallergenic. Most importantly its low thermal conductivity makes it an ideal fabric across seasons.
4. Cotton fabrics have very low elasticity characteristics, so they almost never stretch, even though they do shrink in hot temperatures when wet.
Linen Vs. Cotton
– Linen has almost twice the strength of cotton.
– Linen has a crisp handle compared to cotton that has a much softer handle.
– Both fabrics are breathable, hypo allergenic and have a good hand feel.
– Linen has a higher moisture absorbency than cotton and this is one of the keys to the longevity of Linen fabrics.
– Both Linen and Cotton are plant based fibers, produced from cellulose. They are both structurally sound fibers and which ensures that cotton and linen products both retain their shapes.
– Linen is significantly more environment friendly, as it needs less water and far lesser levels of chemicals to thrive.
– Cotton is intrinsically a fine fiber, and that allows it to be able to be woven into a higher thread count fabric. Linen is a much thicker fiber and gets spun and woven into technically a lower thread count fiber. Linen’s intrinsic properties however make it a superior, and durable fabric.
The last point really determines whether you would choose Linen or Cotton fabric for a shirt. You would go with Cotton if you were looking for fineness of fabric and softness. You will on the other hand pick Linen if you were looking for Fabric luster and longevity of the garment.
Cotton and Linen are both natural fibers and are both produced form their respective plants. However this is where differences begin:The Linen Plant:
Technically linen is a vegetable! Linen fibers are spun from the cellulose fibers that grow inside of the stalks of the flax plant. This plant was supposedly first cultivated 8000 years back. The flax plant grows in subtropical to temperate climates with some of the best flax coming from France and Belgium.
The Cotton Plant:
The Cotton plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants. The cotton fiber is almost pure cellulose. Some of the best Cotton from around the world is produced in Egypt, US, India etc.Fabric Properties of Linen
Linen fabrics soften as they are used. Traditionally in Europe it was not uncommon for families to inherit Linen sheets from their parents. Vintage linen is soft and luxurious and possesses a fabric handle that is generally very difficult to replicate with any mechanized process.Fabric properties of Cotton
The Cotton fiber was discovered much later than linen, however it has grown in usage well past Linen, this is on account of both the fiber’s excellent fabric feel on skin, and through the ease of high volume cultivation of cotton.
1. Сotton fabrics are durable and chemically stable. This means that they can handle the chemicals in human sweat, soaps, detergents etc quite well.
2. Cotton has an impressive water absorbance capacity. In humid atmosphere cotton fabric can absorb 27% of water without feeling damp.
3. Cotton fabrics are breathable and hypoallergenic. Most importantly its low thermal conductivity makes it an ideal fabric across seasons.
4. Cotton fabrics have very low elasticity characteristics, so they almost never stretch, even though they do shrink in hot temperatures when wet.
Linen Vs. Cotton
– Linen has almost twice the strength of cotton.
– Linen has a crisp handle compared to cotton that has a much softer handle.
– Both fabrics are breathable, hypo allergenic and have a good hand feel.
– Linen has a higher moisture absorbency than cotton and this is one of the keys to the longevity of Linen fabrics.
– Both Linen and Cotton are plant based fibers, produced from cellulose. They are both structurally sound fibers and which ensures that cotton and linen products both retain their shapes.
– Linen is significantly more environment friendly, as it needs less water and far lesser levels of chemicals to thrive.
– Cotton is intrinsically a fine fiber, and that allows it to be able to be woven into a higher thread count fabric. Linen is a much thicker fiber and gets spun and woven into technically a lower thread count fiber. Linen’s intrinsic properties however make it a superior, and durable fabric.
The last point really determines whether you would choose Linen or Cotton fabric for a shirt. You would go with Cotton if you were looking for fineness of fabric and softness. You will on the other hand pick Linen if you were looking for Fabric luster and longevity of the garment.
Read more Here
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