Scheuer Linens Tip of the Month

Caring for Table Linens After the Holidays

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are all times we use our formal table linens. No matter how careful you or your guests may be, spills and stains and will occur

Linen is the most durable of all the natural-fiber fabrics and using tablecloths, mats, and napkins made from 100% linen offers advantages over other fabrics in the cleaning process. One, you can use hot water in the washer. Two, you can stretch linen while it is wet to recover a few inches lost to shrinkage.

No matter when a stain occurs, remember to blot and not rub the stain. If you don’t have time for stain removal during your party, just blot it gently with water, not club soda, and let it dry. The sooner you treat the stain or take it to your dry cleaner, the easier it will be remove the stain.

We recommend Linen Wash to safely and effectively remove difficult stains. Lipstick, red wine, grease, etc. all disappear without any damage to the fabric. If you have particularly tough stains, just call us toll free at 1-800-762-3950 and we will tell the best way of handling it. Can’t get the candle wax out of your tablecloth? Just give us a call.

Here’s an old trick for ironing linen. Linen should always be ironed damp. Iron the wrong side first, then the right side, to increase luster. If you take damp linen and put in the refrigerator overnight and then iron it the next day, you will swear starch was used. This is really a great technique for ironing linen napkins.

The safest way to store fine linen tablecloths is to hang or roll onto a cylinder after pressing. Store in acid free tissue paper or wrap in an old sheet or pillowcase. Avoid contact with regular tissue, cardboard, or unsealed wood and especially don’t store linen in a cedar chest since it will turn linen brown.