enjoying antique french linens

Many people share my passion for old linens, but not everyone dares use them on a regular basis for fear of damaging them, or that it will be too difficult to take good care of them.

Most of the linens I buy here are between 100 and 150 years old: heavy homespun linen and metis (linen and cotton mix), with hand embroidered monograms and meticulously hem-stitched edges.

Here are a few tips I have picked up along the way, when caring for and using my old french linens here at home.

Tip number one

ENJOY!

 

So now you've bought your first linen sheets, or embroidered pillow shams, or red-striped teacloth, there's little point in hiding them away.  They are to be enjoyed, to be relished in, to give you a little daily thrill!

And hey!  A bed made up with antique sheets will always look good, even if you don't have time to pull the sheets straight as you get out of bed!

 

Tip number two

MIX AND MATCH

Monograms that really match your initials were fine in the days when young girls had their trousseau sewn just for them, and had everything handwoven and embroidered to their taste.  That is no longer the case today, and we use the linens because we love their texture and we admire the beauty of the handwork.

I happily mix different shams with a monogrammed sheet, or different lace finishes.

For my daughter's bed, she loves to mix an antique sheet with an IKEA bed set!

Tip number three

DON'T BE AFRAID

These linens are strong!  They are survivors, although they look so delicate, when they were made over a century ago, they were to be washed by maids kneeling down at village washhouses and pounding the living daylights out them on flat stones!  Providing they have no lace, and that they are in strong fabric with no visible tears or worn patches they can take normal use and maintenance.

Tip number four

MACHINE WASH

I wash all our linen sheets in a machine, the only things I handwash is any small items or clothes in lace, or an ornate embroidered tablecloth.

The only things I hand over to a professional are the antique boutis or quilts, that are simply to heavy for me to handle wet, and tricky to dry.

 Tip number five

DRY OUTSIDE

If you can avoid the tumble dryer and dry outside, this is really worthwhile.  A dryer removes lint from the fabric and it simply doesn't feel as heavy and 'true'.   The sheets will be flatter and smoother to the touch if they have dried in the fresh air,  Chances are they'll be sweeter smelling too.

Before the days of effective whiteners and detergents, the sheets were not hung but laid to dry in meadows, flat on the ground!  The chlorophyll from the grass is said to whiten the colour of the sheet as it dries.

Tip number six

IRON

OK, so this one is actually optional.  Some people hate to iron, and some love it.  Personally I enjoy sleeping in beautifully pressed sheets, or wearing smooth flat linen,  and I love to see a pile of perfectly ironed tea cloths, - to each their own!

Tip number seven

GIFT 

Chances are that if you love linens, then so will your nearest and dearest: sisters, aunts and girlfriends.  A simple teacloth, hand towel or pillow sham makes a very special gift.

Tip number eight

STORE CAREFULLY

 I like to store my linens, and my vintage fabrics,  piled flat in cupboards, to be easily found and sorted when needed.  I always have a stash of lavender sachets to slip beneath a sheet or in a pile of cloths

 

 

 Tip number nine

COLLECT!

The supply of these linens will run out one day, the old houses are being emptied, the contents sold off, but in a few decades from now that will be finished.  Collect and savour these treasures, and who knows, you may find that you pass your passion for beautiful textiles on to a daughter or a niece who will love to use them herself one day.

Tip number ten
STAINS - UGH!

This does happen, you can buy an old sheet that looks wonderful when you gave it a quick once over at a fair, but once home and laid out properly there are a couple of small stains or spots of rust.  Most of the time a good long soak in warm water and a mild dertergent before machine washing will do the trick, but there are a couple of exceptions:

rust spots - you know those tiny orange brown coloured spots that usually occur when the fabric has been in contact with metal.  Here in France there are special 'rust removers', but they rarely live up to their claims.  I have found lemon juice, white vinegar and salt left on the marks, and the fabric laid in the sun for a couple of hours can often work, but even that isn't foolproof.

I always try to avoid using bleach.  It is way too aggressive, and should only ever be used by dabbing with a cotton bud and rinsing quite quickly!

In my experience the most difficult spots to eliminate are grey mould spots, if the fabric has been damp , and a yellow fold line if a sheet has been folded in a cupboard for many years .  If I see either of these marks on a sheet, I generally steer well clear!



And finally:  I am sometimes asked why old French linen sheets have a centre seam.  If you are looking for an old sheet then a centre seam is a good thing!   It is a sure sign of its age because up until the early 1900's linen was only woven in narrow cloth, so you needed two widths to cover a bed!