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Don’t worry, this is totally normal.

| By Bed Threads | Linen

This Is Why Linen Sometimes Sheds At First

Don’t worry, this is totally normal.

We know it’s hard – you’ve been waiting for that parcel to arrive and all you want to do is dive into a freshly made bed, but washing your sheets before you use them for the first time is one of the most important things you can do with your new linen.

However, what happens if you take them out of the machine, dry them and you notice a bit of shedding? By which we mean small fibres of the fabric balling up on your sheets or coming off like lint into the surrounding space.

Below, we delve into why your linen sometimes sheds at first, and what you should do if it starts to.

Why does linen shed?

The first step is not to panic. It’s totally normal and is part of the life cycle of the linen fibre. It means your linen is just getting softer and softer, and therefore cosier and cosier to sleep in.

Linen is a fibre that softens and gets smoother over time, and it does so by shedding excess and unnecessary fibres. These fibres exist in linen for a variety of reasons, but primarily because of the dye colours used to give your Bed Threads linen the gorgeous, sumptuous shades you know and love.

How to stop your linen from shedding

The key is to remember that shedding is totally fine and completely normal, and usually will come to a natural conclusion after a few wash cycles.

If you want to speed up the process, simply put the sheets through a few extra cold washes when you first get them, which will help ensure the fabric ditches the excess fibres as fast as possible and settles down into that dreamy, soft-to-the-touch material.

After these first few washes, you should notice a clear difference in your sheets. If they’re still shedding – and this can happen – again, don’t worry. Be patient. After your sheets have been through a couple of wash cycles, the shedding usually comes to an end.

How to stop your linen sheets from shedding

If you’re still finding your sheets are shedding, there are a couple of things you can do.

1. Try to avoid tumble drying

The first thing is to make sure you try to avoid tumble drying your sheets and air dry them instead. Tumble drying is abrasive on the delicate linen fibres, and will ensure that shedding continues. If you want to tumble dry, try drying your sheets on a lower heat setting and for a short period of time, completing the drying process by hanging up your linen on the line.

But really, the best thing to do is air dry from start to finish. This is the gentlest, most life-prolonging thing for your linen sheets. Washing them on a cold machine wash and then hanging them out to dry will ensure your sheets stay fresh and relatively shed-free over time.

2. Stop cramming your washing machine with items

If you can, try to keep your machine loaded at a comfortable level with just linen – no other towels or clothes with rough fibres that might aggravate your linen.

3. Avoid softeners and other cleaning products

Wash in your machine in cold or lukewarm water – no hot water, no bleaches or other cleaning products that might impact the fibres of the linen. All of these things have the potential to damage the linen fibres and to both ruin the soft feeling of your sheets and make them more likely to shed.

Following these tips will ensure you can keep shedding to a relative minimum, but just remember – shedding is a totally normal part of washing and drying linen. Think of it this way: it’s linen’s way of purging any unnecessary fibres and ensuring that what’s left behind is only the most comfortable to sleep in. Shedding is linen’s way of making life cosier for you, and so even though it might look odd at first, it’s there to make sure your sheets last as long as they can. A pretty good trade, we think.

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