Linen Bedding

Cowberry Linen bedding consists of 100% natural linen – a fabric made from the flax plant. It’s one of the oldest materials that has been used to make clothing, bedding, home furnishings, and even canvas for oil paintings in ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

Although flax is widely produced across the world, Cowberry’s linen is woven from the finest flax cultivated in northern France and Belgium which provides optimal growing conditions from their northern coastal climates. It is then crafted by the best artisans in our family-run mill in Portugal

Our Alpaca bed socks are made from Peruvian Alpaca wool and crafted in the UK.

Up to this date, linen still lives up to its legacy, and with the increasing eco-friendly demands, the 100% natural material is one of the most commonly preferred clothing and bedding fabrics.

One of linen’s best qualities is its incredible strength and durability, making it ideal for your bedding. In fact, linen is known to be stronger than cotton, hemp, and wool. Investing in linen means you’re investing in longevity. Because the harvesting and production process of linen requires much more care, it’s considered a more luxurious choice of bedding.

The structure and shape of linen bedding that comes from the flax fibres creates its unique and appealing appearance. Its beautiful relaxed, lived-in look can add a textured element to your bedroom interior design. This will be one of the dominant 2022 home design trends, alongside biophilic design, which welcomes the natural world into the home. Linen is a 100% natural material in earthy tones, varying from ecru to ivory, grey, and tan.

It is also very lightweight, breathable, absorbent, and moisture-wicking, making it a truly nurturing fabric for your bedding.

Linen is one of the most sustainable fabrics known to humanity. It’s 100% natural and is made from the flax plant. During the production of linen, nothing is wasted.

The flax plant uses natural rainfall to grow.“Across its lifecycle, a linen shirt uses 6.4 litres of water,” says the European Confederation of Linen and Hemp.

Not only that but linen is recyclable and biodegradable, adding to the material’s eco-friendly life cycle.

All of Cowberry’s products are OEKO-TEX®certified for sustainable production. It acknowledges that no harmful substances or chemicals are used throughout the manufacturing process.

Linen has a host of advantages, which people both in the past and in the present have understood and embraced. These include:

- Highly breathable and lightweight
- Anti-static, naturally hypoallergenic, and anti-bacterial
- Absorbency rate of 20% and moisture-wicking
- Seasonless and temperature-regulating, meaning it keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter
- Stonewashed for cloud-like softness
- 100% natural material, sustainable, biodegradable, and recyclable
- Incredibly strong and durable
- Natural structure and shape that creates its appealing appearance
- Dust-repellent and moth-resistant
- Colourfast, meaning it won’t fade with time and washing cycle

Linen has long been known to have health benefits, because it’s super breathable, anti-septic, and has hypoallergenic properties. This makes it good for the skin and promotes better quality sleep.

Given its anti-bacterial qualities, linen has been a popular choice for bandages over the centuries. It absorbs moisture without holding onto bacteria, thus protecting your skin. The way the cellulose fibres are woven makes the fabric resistant to fungi, bacteria, viruses, and allergen

Linen bedding is ideal for people with chemical sensitivities or allergies because it’s hypoallergenic. OEKO-TEX®certified linen is particularly beneficial because the certification guarantees that the material is free from banned and regulated substances and is also safe for babies to sleep in. All of Cowberry’s products are OEKO-TEX® certified.

Linen has temperature-regulating properties and is a natural insulator, similar to silk. That’s because the fibres are highly permeable and have a hollow core. As a result, the body is kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It comes as no surprise that linen is often the preferred material for garments in hot and humid climates.

Linen and cotton are both made from natural fibres. Cotton is made from the cotton plant, while linen is made from the flax plant. The cellulose fibres in linen yarn are longer and wrapped tighter than those in cotton yarn, which makes them 30% stronger and more durable.

Linen is a lot more sustainable than cotton. Linen relies on only rainwater to produce crops whereas cotton is a notoriously thirsty and requires a lot of irrigation.

It also has natural water-wicking abilities and can literally hold up to 20% of its weight in water. This is great news for hot sleepers – no more uncomfortable sweaty nights and waking up in damp sheets!

Linen is also thermoregulating, meaning that it adapts and regulates to your body temperature keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Cowberry linen is stonewashed or garment washed as it is often referred to, which means it has been pre-washed prior to manufacturing. As home fabrics often shrink after their first wash, pre-washed bedding is much more likely to retain its size and shape. This process also accelerates the softness and suppleness of linen so you can enjoy sleeping on a bed of clouds from the very first night.

Linen is low maintenance luxury bedding and super easy to care for. But like all natural materials it’s important to look after it to ensure it lasts for years.

One of linen’s best properties is that the fabric improves its quality and softness with every wash. As with all natural fibres, natural shedding can occur which in turn leads to your bedding only getting softer with time. We generally recommend washing your linen bedding once a week, as you would do with any other type of bedding material.

Wash separately on a gentle 40°C cycle using a mild detergent. As linen naturally softens the more its washed fabric softener isn’t required and helps with the longevity of your bedding (and environment).

If you wish to hand-wash your linen bedding, use the above instructions in terms of water temperature and detergent type. Avoid twisting, wringing, or rubbing hard against the material.

Avoid using bleaching agents, such as chlorine or peroxide, as they can damage and discolour your linen bedding.

Luckily, linen is anti-static and naturally dust-repellent, meaning that it stays clean longer. It is also colourfast, so its colour won’t fade with time and washing cycles. Its naturally moth-resistant properties also contribute to its durability.

You can tumble-dry or air-dry your linen bedding after washing it. However, most people opt for the latter.

For those who love super soft linen, gentle tumble dry on a low to medium heat for approximately 20-30 mins remembering to remove immediately from dryer whilst still damp and hang dry. Over drying and on a high heat can damage and weaken the fibres.

At Cowberry, we love the natural texture of linen, and we “embrace the wrinkle” for a relaxed, lived-in look. However, if you want your bedding to look crisp, prepare to iron it after washing and drying it and use medium heat to iron it while still slightly damp.