How to care for linen shirts

Linen is the oldest woven fabric still in daily use, and it rewards a little attention. A shirt washed properly will outlast three that were not. This guide covers washing, drying, pressing and the small repairs that keep a collar honest for another decade.

Washing without shrinking it

Cold water, a gentle cycle and a mild detergent. Hot water is what shrinks linen, not the agitation, and the first wash is where most of the shrinkage happens. Wash a new shirt on its own the first time: linen sheds a surprising amount of lint and it will find every dark garment in the drum.

Detergent and water hardness

Hard water leaves mineral deposits in the weave and turns white linen grey over a year or two. Half the recommended dose of detergent plus a cup of white vinegar in the rinse keeps it bright. Never use chlorine bleach on linen; it weakens the fibre and yellows it in sunlight.

Drying and why the tumble dryer is the enemy

Hang it damp and let gravity do the pressing. A tumble dryer bakes creases into the fibre that no iron will take out, and the heat is what makes an old linen shirt feel like paper. On a still day a shirt on a wooden hanger is dry in two hours and needs almost no ironing at all.

Pressing

Iron linen while it is still slightly damp, on the reverse, with the iron at its linen setting. If it has dried out, mist it and roll it in a towel for ten minutes rather than pressing a dry shirt harder. Press the collar and cuffs first, the yoke second and the body last, so nothing you have already done gets crushed.

Storing it between seasons

Fold, do not hang, for anything longer than a month: a wire hanger will put a permanent shoulder in a linen shirt. Store it clean, because moths are drawn to the traces of skin and food in a worn garment rather than to the cloth itself. Cedar works; plastic does not, because linen needs to breathe.

Small repairs worth doing

A frayed collar can be turned by any tailor for the price of two coffees, and a linen shirt is worth turning twice. Replace a lost button with one from the spare sewn inside the tail rather than with the nearest match, and keep the tail button for the next loss.