Organic Linen Fiber

Linen fabrics are made with flax fibers. You can find flax fiber’s excellent properties in the hemp fiber info section.While growing flax is far more sustainable and causes less pollution than conventional cotton, herbicides have been commonly used in conventional cultivation as flax is not very competitive with weeds. Organic practices choose methods of developing better and stronger seeds, manual weeding and rotating crops to minimize weeds and potential disease.

 

What can create pollution in flax processing is the water retting. Retting is an enzymatic process of rotting away the inner stalk of flax, thus separating the fiber from the stalk. The traditional way of water retting is done in manmade water pools, or in rivers or ponds. During this natural degumming process, butyric acid, methane and hydrogen sulfide are created with a strong rotten smell. If the water is released into nature without treatment, it causes water pollution. In Western Europe, the water retting has been banned and only dew retting – a natural moisture and sunlight rotation degumming process – is used.

Our organic flax is grown in Inner Mongolia near Russia and is fully certified. At our factory, we’ve created an artificial dew retting environment to facilitate the degumming process to develop naturally. The whole practice is labor intensive but as a result, no waste water is accumulated or released into nature.