Bed, bath and table linens are essential elements of the home. With proper care, our fine linens will last for many years, instilling them with real heirloom quality. They are meant for everyday use, and to be enjoyed by all.


Tips Before You Begin
Home laundering is recommended for all our linens, except were dry cleaning is indicated. We strongly recommend that you a) pre-wash all linens before use, and b) wash linens separately from anything else, particularly items that contain polyester. Polyester "pills", and will shed its pilling on natural fibers, diminishing the smoothness and softness of the fabric. In addition, garments with buttons or zippers can damage more delicate linens in the wash. Select a gentle laundry detergent. Products with bluing agents or whiteners are not recommended on coloured linens, as they may progressively fade the colours. Consider a longstanding French tradition to ensure longevity of bedding: rotate your sheets, with a set in the closet, a set in the bed and a set in the wash. This ensures that no one set receives more wear than another.

Word of caution: certain hair and skin products that contain oxidizing agents (e.g., lotions used for acne) may cause discoloration of sheets, particularly blue linens. If you use such personal products, cover your pillow with a white pillowcase or towel.


Shrinkage
Shrinkage will occur with all linens made of natural fibers, the amount of shrinkage ranging from 4 to 10 percent, depending on the fibers used. The sizing of our products allows for expected shrinkage. Linens washed in hot water or dried at hot temperatures will shrink excessively. Pre-shrunk items, such as jacquard -woven table linens or honeycomb towels, normally shrink 3 percent or less. Generally, very large pieces of fabric or very high thread count linens are not pre-shrunk.


Washing Bedding
Linens should be separated into light or dark colours. Avoid overloading the machine to prevent breaking long fibers like those in Egyptian cotton. Whether cotton, pure linen or a linen/cotton blend, bedding should be washed in warm water, using a gentle laundering agent, with a final cold rinse. If pre-soaking is necessary, it should be in cold water.

Allow your washing machine to fill up and begin agitating before you add the detergent or bleach. Unless your linens are extremely soiled, use half the commercial detergent recommended; this will reduce the damage to the fibers and clean your linens just as well.

Remove washed bedding promptly from the machine; this will help reduce the wrinkling. Shaking damp linens out before drying (at low heat) will also reduce wrinkles and quicken the drying time.


How To Dry
Line drying linens is ideal, leaving linens nearly wrinkle-free and smelling fresh, but using your dryer with the proper settings will bring out satisfactory results, leaving linens relatively wrinkle- free and soft.

Do not over dry your linens using a setting that is too hot. Set your dryer on permanent press, which has a cool down cycle at the end that helps reduce wrinkles. Most dryers have an air cycle that simply air-tumbles its contents without any heat. This is a good method for drying linens.

Remove your linens promptly to reduce wrinkling. Smooth them out, finger pressing details like flanges on pillow shams, boarders on flat sheets, edges of tablecloths or napkins. Then fold carefully.


How To Iron
Washing and drying your linens properly will eliminate many wrinkles. But fine linens made of natural fibers do wrinkle, particularly when new. As they become older and softer, you will notice that they wrinkle less.

For both bedding and table linens, using a good steam iron will make ironing easier. Avoid using spray starch, which has a tendency to adhere to the surface of the iron, and may also attract silverfish to the stored linens. If you wish to iron your linens, the following guidelines are recommended.

Bedding
Iron your bed linens while they are still damp. If the piece is embroidered, ironing on the reverse side will prevent damage to the embroidery. Refer to the sew in labels with the universal symbols for the appropriate setting for your iron.

Table Linens
Table linens should be ironed while damp. Interestingly, ironing jacquard woven table linens will enhance the pattern by increasing the three-dimensional appearance inherent in the jacquard woven technique.


Care of Bath Linens
Terry towels: washing terry towels before use begins the 'breaking in' process, making them softer and more absorbent. Several washings are required for 100% cotton towels to achieve their maximum absorbency, softness and fluff. If a loop of terry gets snagged, DO NOT pull on it. Each loop is individually knotted and simply requires trimming with scissors.

Honeycomb towels: lightweight, waffle-weave towels are loosely woven for absorbency, dry very quickly and have been pre-shrunk.

Launder towels in warm water with a gentle detergent. Do not use bleach. Wash only with other towels and do not mix colours. It's normal to have excess fibre shed in the first several washes; this will not detract from the life of the towel.

While fabric softeners can improve the feel of your wash, it is particularly important with towels that fabric softeners NOT be used since it decreases the absorbency of the towel over time. The softener builds up on the surface of the fibre and will not be completely removed during the regular rinse cycle.

Take care not to overload the tumble dryer; over-drying can cause the band on the towel to shrink.

Word of caution: certain hair and skin products that contain oxidizing agents (e.g. lotions used for acne) may cause discoloration. If you use such personal products, test for colourfastness in an inconspicuous spot.


Storing Linens
If you plan on storing your linens, iron them before you store them.

Store linens flat; if the shelves are wooden, line them with tissue paper; some woods such as cedar contain oils that can damage linens.

Make sure that linens are not exposed to direct sunlight or moonlight to avoid colour fading.

Do not leave table linens on your table were they might be exposed to direct sunlight over an extended period of time.

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