Where does linen come from?

Linen comes from the stems of the flax plant. Humans have used flax to make linen for over 10,000 years. The plant is native to lands from the Mediterranean to India but is also grown in the temperate places of the world, including Europe, Canada, the United States and China.

The flax has to be pulled up by the roots instead of mown. After that, it's gathered into stacks, dried and threshed. Then, it needs to be exposed to some type of moisture to remove the pectins in the plant. This is called retting. The flax is then stripped and combed, spun, woven, bleached or dyed to make linen.