Linen, as a fabric is one of the labor oriented fabrics to manufacture. The flax plant, the essence of this material requires a climate that has adequate daylight, cool and short nights, and weather that is both damp and warm. Temperate countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands is well suited for this. The largest flax-growing country however, is Soviet Russia. It produces approximately 90 percent, of the total flax crop of the world. However, linen fabric that comes of it is mostly the course variant. For the fine quality it is Belgium that rules the roost. Of the exporting countries Belgium would come next and Courtrai flax, as it is called, is without comparison the highest quality fiber produced anywhere. It is used for making handkerchiefs, damask table linen, and in fact for everything requiring the finest texture. Linen continues to be a labor intensive material and therefore a lot of the hard work is now done in labor intensive countries like China. China is the world’s largest linen textile producer, controlling over 70% of the global market. Niche linen manufacturers like the Linen Club get their supply of material from France, Belgium and Netherlands. Dundee, In Scotland is also a well known area for the processing of this fabric. Russia continues to be a stronghold for linen manufacturers. Despite the economic crisis, the Russian linen industry is maintaining its high position on the market. Linen Manufacturers offer linen in variants from the course to the super fine. In fact China now even has an industry for faux linen. So do your homework well when picking up linen. A good way to check for the finesse of the fabric is to look for a blub free finish. Though often manufacturers will try to push the blub as signature linen fabric, fact is, a well treated and spun flax will not leave the fabric with blubs. Blubs only indicate coarseness of work and such fabric will be weak and not very conducive for clothing which shall get washed more often than say a table napkin would. Linen club, China textile Industry and the Vologda region of Russia are some good places to look for manufacturers of quality Linen. Author's Bio: Ackley Cooper Shaw has penned down different write-ups on Linen.In this article he briefly describes the many things concerning linen fabric .
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