Your blue piece might be damask. Looks like cotton damask from here. some is made with silk..

I iron damask with no problems. What’s the reasoning not to? If I didn’t iron it it would never be used because of the wrinkles.

Linen bedsheets can be ironed or not. Depends on what you like. Linen that dries on a clothes line in a breeze doesn’t always need ironing. Use them, enjoy them.

(I think of mamapinky every time I visit the Laundry Room. An old thread was resurrected recently, just in time for my next project of washing down. And Larsi came to mind, as well.)

What beautiful linens! Missing MamaP as well, personally I usually follow guidance that she provided on soaking in a tub/bucket with Sodium Percarbonate (Oxiclean) before laundering to test the fabric.

Thanks for the encouragement to use them. I think they were boxed up long enough. :)

I’ve always ironed linen damask. But you need to iron it damp.

Isn’t the blue and white piece jacquard?

I iron all linen, and like colleenoz, I iron it when it is damp. If there is embroidery, I iron it face down on a towel.

Lucky you! So pretty and what a lux experience this will be.

No advise to give you. Just that Mama Pinky likely has read this thread and certainly has thoughts on your items; if she could just get back to her place at the Laundry Room.

What a sweet thought, SeaSea. She was best, welcomed me to the Laundry Room with open arms...such a generous soul. Glad to see her legacy live on.

I recently bought a linen sheet set, have not even used it yet though. I already had some linen pillow cases, bought on clearance sale. Has a nice feel to it, quite different than cotton. Have a linen shirt that I really like too.

Ashton's Dreamlux. Britain. Made linen sheets, pillowcases. They also made cotton I think, but those look like linen pillowcases, not a blend.

Beautiful linens!! Use them, enjoy them!! My grandparents owned a hardware store; they also sold home goods. I have many pieces from their store and personal collection. I cherish and use them often. I iron the linens and they still look great. They all add beautiful color and personality to our home!

@linda campbell Thank you for sharing that very helpful information! The blue and green ribbons are on intact sheet sets. They both feel like linen to me, but I'm no expert. The blue have the little Pontins Wash Tub tag in a corner of the sheets. I assume that means they are safe for the then newly introduced wash tub?

I washed some linen tea towels that were also in the hope chest in cold water on delicate, and they feel like burlap now. After reading mamapinky and her boil wash, I think I'll try them again on hot.

@kculberswhat happy memories! Thanks for the pics! Do you actually use the dishtowels as everyday, or save them for drying or other light use?

I have enjoyed looking at the posts in this thread. I have a number of things that once belonged to my grandparents; my grandmother always fancied herself much more upper crust than she actually was. She bought things that may not always have been expensive but looked it. I have a number of bath and hand towels I got from them that are from the 1960's, and still look new. My partner thinks I am a hoarder-I can't always explain to his satisfaction that just seeing these things in the cabinet floods me full of memories, but they will be with me forever. It has been a joy reading the above posts.

Love flax linen. I use my dish towels all the time and I do not expect to ever have to replace my sheets. I even have linen bath towels which are more absorbent than a lot of my regular cotton towels. I wash mine in cold water.

Gardener123. Yes, I do use the dish towels for drying items that I dont put in the dishwasher. I wish people would post pictures of their family linens and heirlooms!!

Linen absorbs water better than any other fiber, The linen that was used for dishtowels was not the fine grade that was used for say table or bedlinens. iron it and it won' "feel like burlap".

At olne time, when I dried dishes, I had nothing but printed linen tea towels in the drawer. Most have now worn out.

Linen does not to be washed in cold water on delicate unless it is 200 years old and showing a lot of wear.

For archival linens, the big enemy is chemicals. I attended a seminart on preservibg antique textiles and for really precious old things the advice was to not gaitate at all, but to slak in a bath tun.....and drain and refill withw ater. And "jounce" the item up and down rather than agitate. rinse with distilled water and test with litmus to be sure the rinse is PH neutral. Keep adding distilled water, and jouncing and draining until it is neutral. Then support the piece ( wet fabric is weak) and spread to try on towels with a fan on.

Keep in mind that any damage you do when handling antique fabrics may take years to show....treat your heirlooms gently.

But that said, I have a drawer full of linen damask cloths and napkins I bought at auction, and they go into the washer and dryer.....but not the great grand parent's christening gown.

cyn427.....why do you wash them in cold water? Heat won't hurt linen....but it will hurt polyester, and wool and silk.

I have used Tide powder for whites for any yellowing. Pre-soak helps.

I wanted to post a closeup of a linen pillowcase with a cotton sheet on top of it for comparison. You can see how coarse the weave is. Unfortunately I don't think Houzz lets users zoom in on posted photos because they limit the resolution, but if you could zoom in on this you'd see the dramatic difference in thread size of the linen compared to the cotton. This is a very good quality linen, a thick fabric. 100% linen.

Actually, linen is stronger when wet, unlike wool.

However the weight of the water on an antique item can cause tears.

Linen isn't "coarse" as a matter of fact....it can be fine as silk. The fact that your pillow cases are rough has nothing to do with the fiber but rather the spin and weave. That coarse pillow case makes my face sore from looking at it....can' imagine sleeping on it. Got some lovely lined embroidered pillow cases for a wedding gift....scratchy....definitly for looks.

FWIW, I have some vintage heavy/'coarse' linen placemats that are actually very soft to the touch - seems like there's a bit of a nap to them. I do wash and dry them in hot water/clothesdryer.

I think they're even heavier than the fabric shown in that photo.

And for white linens/cottons that aren't too delicate, I like to hang in the sun after washing, which bleaches the fabric naturally

I only paid $3 each for those standard pillow shams. But regular retail is supposed to be more like $60. The thread count is supposed to be 115 per inch but that doesn't seem right, I think it looks lower than that. Coarser. But they are soft and smooth nonetheless. Here is a link to what they are.

https://www.bloomingdales.com/shop/product/ralph-lauren-rl-linen-contrast-sham-standard?ID=4713243&CategoryID=3865

I bought a complete sheet set too from this place, the most inexpensive, about $250

Brooklinen