The cooling properties of linen – why summer is the natural season for linen fabrics?

LINEN VS. HEAT

Do you know the cooling properties of linen? And do you know this feeling when your body literally cries out for a pleasant, cool breeze during long walks along the city streets or while working on the balcony? A strange feeling of skin tightness and a moist coating on the skin are the fault of the sun and disturbed, natural reactions of our body. Why? When the skin cannot breathe freely and the protective processes remain impaired, our body dehydrates, which makes us feel irritable and weak.

From the point of view of biology, dehydration is extremely dangerous – it causes not only electrolyte disturbances, but also contributes to abnormal glycemia. Allergy sufferers or people suffering from atopic dermatitis must struggle with skin reactions and unpleasant dryness. This is when it is necessary to regularly moisturize with lotions or body butters and hydrate the body from the inside.

Ultimately, the cause of all these unpleasant experiences is not only the sun, but also artificial materials such as polyester. No wonder then that more and more social campaigns call for a prudent analysis of the composition of the clothes bought, pointing to the most valuable and safest materials. At the top of this list is, of course, indispensable linen.

BUT DOES LINEN COOL?

Simply put, yes. However, we will expand this answer a bit, because the cooling properties of linen are due to several important factors that are worth talking about

The cooling properties of linen are mainly due to its draining and permeable properties. The first ones are called hygroscopicity, thanks to which the material absorbs excess water, carrying it outside. As a result – water does not accumulate on the first layer of the skin, we have a feeling of freshness and pleasant coolness, therefore providing ourselves with such valuable comfort. As an interesting fact, we will add that linen and wool have the highest level of hygroscopicity, so they can also be used in winter.

The permeability properties depend on the density. The higher the thread count of the fabric, the worse the permeability – and thus the so-called crimp. To put it simply – it is the ratio of the difference between the weave, the number of warp and weft threads, the thickness of the threads and the manufacturing technique to the apparent length of the wavy thread in the fabric. In this respect, linen shows high permeability, thanks to which it not only allows free air circulation under the fabric layer, but also minimizes the risk of electrostatic charges accumulation. Thus, linen bedding will never become electrified, and a linen tablecloth will not “electrocute us” when we walked on the carpet earlier.

Ultimately, linen will not replace air conditioning, but instead will give us another, extremely valuable property: it will protect the skin from the sun, overheating and inappropriate adaptation processes. These are the features that we will appreciate during holidays, hiking, hot nights and hot days, when we want to protect the interior with linen sheer curtains and curtains. We often write about the cooling properties of linen on our Instagram.