Linen Bedding for the UK Climate: Why Irish Linen Works All Year
Why does linen suit the UK climate?
Linen suits the UK climate because it breathes, draws moisture away from the skin and dries quickly, so it feels cool on a warm night and not clammy on a damp one. Our changeable weather rarely stays put for long, and a linen sheet copes with all of it. You simply change the layers on top as the seasons turn.
- Linen is woven from flax, one of the oldest textile fibres in the world.
- Linen is breathable and absorbs moisture, which helps keep you comfortable on warm, humid nights.
- Linen sheets work all year as the base layer of the bed; in colder months you add layers on top.
- Our Irish linen sheets are made in Northern Ireland.
- Our Irish linen sheets arrive 5 to 10 percent larger than their finished size to allow for shrinkage.
- Linen sheets should not be tumble dried.
- Linen softens with every wash, so good linen sheets get better with use.
- The Woods family has been associated with fine linen since 1733.
What makes Irish linen different?
For generations, the north of Ireland was one of the great linen producing regions of the world. Flax was grown, spun, woven and finished there, and the name Irish linen still stands for that tradition. Very little of the industry survives today.
"Alas, so much of that has gone, and there are only a handful of linen companies that are left. But it's so important, I think, to us, and actually to all of us living in the UK, to support the Irish linen industry, because it has been very much part of the UK economy over many years."
William Woods
Part of what made Irish linen distinctive was the way it was finished. Before modern bleaching, the cloth was whitened by sunlight and rain, out in the open.
"...instead of bleaching the flax, which is brown in colour, they were stretched out on fields called bleach greens. You even had someone watching over these fields at night, just in case anybody stole them."
William Woods
Is linen only for summer?
"Irish linen at the moment, these lovely cool linen sheets are perfect for these hot nights. More expensive than cotton, unfortunately. Not all cotton, but most cotton. But they are beautiful."
William Woods
Linen is at its best on a hot night, which is why so many people think of it as a summer fabric. But a linen sheet does not need to go back in the cupboard in September. It stays on the bed as the base layer all year round, and what changes with the seasons is what you put on top of it.
How should you layer linen as the nights get colder?
"It's difficult to imagine that back in the day, probably in the 1970s, everybody had blankets and sheets. They didn't have duvets and we were one of the first people to have duvets."
William Woods
Layering is still the most flexible way to dress a bed through a British autumn and winter. Keep your linen sheets as the base. As the evenings cool, add a blanket or a bedspread first. When the nights turn properly cold, add a duvet over them. For the very coldest nights of the year, you may prefer to swap to flannelette cotton bed linen, which is the warmest choice of all.
Which Irish linen sheets do we sell?
We sell two qualities of Irish linen bedding, and you can see both in our linen sheets and pillowcases collection. The Premier Irish Linen Hemstitch Sheets and the Two Row Cord Irish Linen Sheets are both made in Northern Ireland. Both arrive 5 to 10 percent larger than their finished size to allow for shrinkage, so they fit well once washed. As with all linen, avoid tumble drying them.
How do you look after linen sheets?
Follow the care instructions on the product page, and avoid the tumble dryer. Dry linen on a line or over an airer where you can. If you like a crisp finish, iron it while it is still slightly damp; if you prefer a relaxed look, simply smooth it out and let it dry.
Linen also changes with use, growing softer with every wash. Our guide to when linen bedding gets soft follows a set of linen sheets from the first night to year five.
If you would like to hear about new bed linen, the Heritage Partnership is our mailing list, and you would be very welcome to join it.
