Flax (linen) plant

The flax plant - source for line and flax tow yarns

Lambacher Hitiag Leinen AG decided to shut the operation down in January 2005. We regret this decision. Nevertheless we leave these pages as they contain a lot of highly valuable information.

 

Flax history	The plant	Harvesting flax
The Flax fibers	Scutching	Long fiber spinning
Tow spinning	Winding	Finished Products

The plant

Two features make flax a particularly environmentally friendly plant: its cultivation protects the environments and produces no waste. The best areas for growing flax as a textile plant are in Western Europe.

Linum Usitatissimum

Flax with the botanical name of Linum Usitatissimum is a dicotyledonous plant from the Linacea family.

 

An "ecological" plant Of all textile plants flax is the most environmentally friendly.   Production of textile linen in Western Europe Flax has been grown as a textile plant in Western Europe since classical antiquity and has always been regarded as the best in the world. Here the plant finds especially favorable growing conditions. The climate is moderate and moist and sandy marl soils are well suited for cultivation. The areas producing the highest yield are mainly in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in Germany, Austria and Finland; around 75,000 hectares are cultivated.

Additional information on flax line and flax tow may be found here