How to wash it

The short version

• 40 °C for cotton and linen, cold for silk and wool.
• Mild detergent, and about half of what the packet says.
• No fabric softener, ever. It coats the fibre, stops linen softening and kills the absorbency of cotton.
• Tumble dry low, take it out slightly damp.

Why no softener

Linen and cotton get softer because the fibres relax and break in with washing. Softener leaves a waxy film that does the opposite: it feels soft for a week, then the cloth stiffens and stops breathing. If your bedding has gone grey and hard, softener is usually the reason.

Linen specifically

Wash it with other linen, not with towels — the lint sticks. Do not wring it. It is meant to look creased; if you want it flat, iron while damp.

Silk

Cold, by hand or in a mesh bag on a delicate cycle, with a pH-neutral detergent. Never tumble dry. Dry flat, out of the sun.

Wool

Mostly, air it. Wool cleans itself between uses better than any other fibre. Wash only when it needs it, cold, and dry flat.