Linens

Not to be confused with the fabric linen

Linens are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church.

History

The earliest known household linens were made from thin yarn spun from flax fibres to make linen cloth. Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Phoenicia all cultivated flax crops. The earliest surviving fragments of linen cloth have been found in Egyptian tombs and date to 4000 B.C.E.. Flax fibres have been found in cloth fragments in Europe that date to the Neolithic prehistoric age.

Cotton is another popular fibre for making cloth used for household linens. Its use in cloth-making also dates back to prehistoric times, in Indian subcontinent, China, Peru and Egypt. Indian subcontinent was especially well known for high quality cotton cloth as early as 1500 B.C.E..

Linen was an especially popular cloth during the Middle Ages in Europe, and the tradition of calling household fabric goods "linens" dates from this period. According to Medieval tradition, which survived up until the modern era, a bride would often be given a gift of linens made by the women in her family as a wedding present, to help her set up her new married home. In France this was called a trousseau, and was often presented to the bride in a wooden hope chest.