The Linen Doctor

Customers who purchase organic cotton products often ask about environmentally friendly cleaning, both at home at the local dry cleaners. We recommend Holiday Cleaners, 1820 Polk St., San Francisco since they are one of five GreatEarth® San Francisco dry cleaners listed on the GreenEarth Cleaning website, www.greenearthcleaning.com.

A GreenEarth® Cleaning may be the friendliest dry cleaning process ever. No hazardous chemicals are used, so there’s nothing to dirty the air, contaminate the soil, or pollute the water. And unlike perchloroethylene, which is used by most dry cleaners and can be very hard on fabric, The GreenEarth process cleans with pure liquid silicone, which can be safely disposed of.

Pure liquid silicone is, in essence, liquefied sand. This is the same safe, natural sand the earth has been creating for over six billion years. It is chemically inert, meaning it won’t interact with fabric. It just carries the detergent to your clothes and then carries away the dirt and oil. Whites won’t yellow and colors won’t fade, no matter how often they are cleaned.

For home cleaning of fabrics, we recommend and sell Le Blanc’s® Linen Wash products, which includes: Linen Wash®, DownWash®, Towel Wash, Silk & Lingerie Wash, and Laundry Wash. All of these products are known for removing extremely difficult stains from luxury fabrics without the use of harmful chemicals. They contain no bleach, no caustics, and no phosphates; all are biodegradable and sulphate-free. LinenWash’s neutral pH balance makes it safe to use on linens, cotton, synthetics, and blends. Almost all of our vendors recommend LinenWash® products.

Le Blanc® does not recommend using the same soap for everything. Each of their formulas is different and is made specifically for laundering certain fibers. There are even special formulas that are fragrance-free and allergen-free and some that are made especially for men and children. We have used and tested LinenWash® for years and highly recommend it. The cost is about $1 per load.

“Dear Linen Doctor, what do I do about all those Thanksgiving Day stains on my good tablecloth?”

Dinner was wonderful and the guests were charming, but your linen tablecloth has all the evidence of a Thanksgiving dinner. There are spots from gravy, wine, cranberry sauce, coffee, and candle wax. Where do you start? Do you treat all of these stains the same?

If you are lucky enough to have a reliable laundry nearby, you can always take your tablecloth and napkins to them.  Ask the laundry to use dry cleaning fluids to remove specific stains and then to wash and iron the cloth.

But what if you want to clean the tablecloth and napkins yourself? There is no better cleaning agent than Linen Wash, a specialty cleanser formulated to safely and effectively remove difficult stains on fine linens. You can use Linen Wash to treat spots or simply as a soap for machine washing. Remember that linen can be washed in hot water whereas warm water is best for cotton fabrics.  

Here are some suggestions for removing some of those Thanksgiving Day stains:

Gravy
Saturate the stain with a prewash spray. Wait several minutes for the product to penetrate. For tough stains, rub with a heavy-duty liquid detergent. Launder.

Wine, Cranberry Sauce
Soak or sponge fresh stains as soon as possible. Launder with detergent in the hottest water safe for the fabric. Do not use soap (bar, flake, or detergents containing natural soap), since soap could make the stain permanent or at least more difficult to remove. Soak tough stains for 30 minutes in one quart of warm water and one teaspoon of enzyme presoak product, such as Spray ‘n Wash or Zout.

Coffee, Tea
Same as suggestions for gravy.  Remember that hot water will set coffee and tea stains.

Candle Wax
Harden wax by rubbing with ice or put in your refrigerator for a few hours (really!). Remove surface wax by carefully scraping with the dull edge of a butter knife. Sandwich the wax stain between two pieces of brown paper (like a shopping bag) and press with a warm iron. Continue as long as the wax remains. The wax will be absorbed by the paper and you will probably have a grease spot left.  Then treat as a gravy stain (see above).

The longer a stain remains on a tablecloth or napkin, the harder it is to remove, so attending to it as soon as possible makes a huge difference. Avoid aggressive rubbing since it may cause irreparable damage to the surface color and fabric. Sponging rather than rubbing, followed by thorough flushing is best for your linens. Once your linens come back home or after you’ve cleaned them, store them in a cool, dry, dark area until the next use.

For more tips and suggestions on how to remove stains, visit Fabriclink.com.

All cotton will shrink to some extent, but quality sheet manufacturers anticipate this by cutting their items larger to allow for shrinkage.

When buying fitted sheets, look for extra-deep 15 to 17 inch pockets, which allows for the deep, pillow-top mattresses that are popular in the United States, and also ensures that the elastic will not be overstretched, leading to stress on the seams and fabric.

When it’s time to wash your sheets do so in warm water, dry them on a low setting, and remove them from the dryer promptly while they are still slightly damp, then hang or fold to smooth.

Dear Linen Doctor, “I want to invest in some new sheets, but wonder how long can I expect them to last?

I think you’ll find that an investment in fine linens will pay dividends night after night after night!

With proper care, your fine bed linens can last for many years. In order to assure the long life of your bed linens, it is best to alternate the use of each set on a weekly basis. Three sets of sheets for each bed is a good guideline to follow - one on the bed, one in the wash, one in the closet.

In between each use, launder and store your linens in a well-ventilated space. For best results when laundering, use a non-chlorine bleach and gentle liquid detergent. Wash on a gentle cycle with warm water. Line dry or tumble dry until slightly damp. Over-drying or drying on too hot a setting is the single biggest factor in reducing the life of your sheets.

“Dear Linen Doctor, we received two sets of beautiful fine linen sheets as a wedding gift. How should I store them to keep them like new?”

Always clean your linens before storing them. Store items in a cool, dry, and preferably dark place after wrapping them in muslin or an old cotton pillow case. For wool items, consider using a cedar chest or moth balls. However, cottons and linens should not be stored in cedar, which will yellow them. 

I recommend Linen Wash to our customers to safely remove difficult stains from any of your fine linens.