How To Love Your Linen (even more...)

If you’ve ever hesitated to invest in French linen bedding because you think it’s going to be high maintenance, think again! Linen is naturally simple; raw, real and fuss free, ain’t nobody got time for drama or high maintenance in the bedroom ;) I’ll let you in on a few little secrets on how I look after my linen, it’s pretty damn simple, and if I can do it, anyone can!

Our linen is environmentally friendly, and so too can be the washing and drying process! By choosing linen, you’re making an environmentally conscious decision, so choosing to wash your linen in an equally environmentally friendly product makes sense right?!

I’ve been a long time lover of The Dirt Company products, and I ONLY use Dirt laundry detergent to wash my linen (and now you can get your Dirt laundry detergent and Dirt glass resuable pump dispenser from The Cover Collective!) The Dirt Company Laundry Detergent is created from ingredients that are naturally derived, and 100% biodegradable (a perfect match for French linen!). They have formulated a product using pure and powerful ingredients (that actually work!) and bare minimum packaging, to deliver an innovative, useful, and thoughtful product, that's good for the earth, and will sit damn pretty on your washing machine too (the glass reusable dispenser is as good looking as it is useful!) 

• Wash your linen on its own! Separate your colours (you know the drill). I ALWAYS wash linen with linen (don’t be throwing it in with any lint producing bath towels ).
• Add half a cup of baking soda to your washing machine drum. Good old sodium bicarbonate added to the drum (before you throw your linen in on top) helps remove odours, boosts detergent performance and soften fabrics naturally, it also helps regulate the pH levels in your washer's water, keeping it from being too acidic or too alkaline (so no matter where you live and whatever the water quality, you’ll have a good wash guaranteed!)
• Add the recommended pumps of Dirt laundry detergent to the detergent compartment.
• Add half a cup of white vinegar to your softener compartment (if you like a light scent add a drop of essential oil like lavender to your half cup of white vinegar). White vinegar is the ultimate addition as it brightens, reduces odour and softens your linen without hard chemicals. It also helps prevent lint and pet hair clinging to your linen. If you’ve been washing with another laundry detergent, adding half a cup of vinegar will help remove any soap or detergent residue that makes fabrics look dull (you won’t have this problem with Dirt laundry detergent!)
• Cold machine wash on a gentle cycle.
• Line dry (and ensure your linen is completely dry before putting it away or on your bed.) The Melbourne winter makes line drying near impossible, so tumble drying on a low heat setting is fine).

Ok, so what about if you’ve had an absolute shocker, you've eaten pizza and drank red wine in bed…(I’m not here to judge!) 

For any oily spills, get onto it ASAP, lay out your linen and place a few paper towels underneath to soak up excess liquid, sprinkle baking soda on the stain, add a few drops of white vinegar. Do not rub the stain! Add a scoop of baking soda to the washing machine drum, add the heavy load pump quantity of Dirt laundry detergent and wash, add in half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Red wine (or hey maybe scotch, tea or coffee), make a baking soda paste with 4 tablespoons of baking soda and equal parts water. Mix and apply gently (so you don’t rub the stain into the linen), after the paste has sat and dried for 20-30 minutes, scrape off excess paste and wash in your machine as normal.

If you've got any secret tips for me, I'm all ears! Anything to give my lovely linen its best life ;)