1. Design is important. French designs are the most beautiful in damasks, Scotch and Irish are good, and German patterns perhaps the least attractive. Weave often affects the wearing quality of linen as well as the appearance. The satin stripes and long threads on surface are apt to wear off quickly and they are sometimes introduced to cover defects beneath. They cannot stand heavy ironing as the closer, more even, weaves.
2. Linen is sometimes adulterated with cotton; if bought as union goods one may expect it. If bought for pure linen, ravel the material and untwist warp and woof threads. Do the threads appear long and lustrous? The round threads are best. If cotton has been used, the ends will fly apart and fuzz, if linen they will appear more parallel and pointed at the ends when separated. The cheaper “all linens” are sometimes made from the tow or short refuse. If the fiber is short, it will not last as well as the long. Moistening with the finger was an old-fashioned test. A better one is to use a drop of olive oil. This test must be made at home. Water spreads more rapidly on linen than on cotton. The oil makes the linen fibers more translucent than cotton.
3. Cost is a guide. Linen is expensive. Is the price that which should insure a good article? If cheap, beware.
4. Feel the cloth. Is it cold and does it feel rather heavy when crushed in the hand? Many buyers in department stores judge by weight. In purchasing table linen less than 41⁄2 oz. to the square yard is not worth buying. Above that it improves. Reliable firms will tell the weight. Custom house inspectors judge by the picks or throws of woof to the inch.
5. Notice the finish. Is it full of starch and sizing which can be picked off? If so, in washing that will all disappear, leaving a loosely woven instead of a smooth satiny surface. Calendering and beetling make the material smooth and lustrous and reduce the thickness. Do not be deceived. It is better to buy a soft linen than one stiff with starch which will crack.
6. In buying table linen the goods received in December and January are apt to be the bleach of the previous summer. Remember that poor bleaching affects the wearing quality. One can sometimes tell by tearing a sample.
For quality, beauty, and variety of patterns, Scotch, French, and Irish linens are the best. German damask is excellent. The unbleached will wear much longer, is less expensive, and is bought by many housewives and bleached as used.
Damask by the yard for tablecloths is slightly cheaper. Tablecloths from 21⁄2 to 3 yards are good size for a medium family of five or six. One dollar a yard is a fair price for everyday linen. The cloth should about equal 1 dozen napkins in cost, and a cloth will usually wear as long as 11⁄2 to 2 dozen napkins. Napkins come in three sizes, 5⁄8, 17-22 inches; 3⁄4, 23-27 inches; 7⁄8, 29-31 inches.
7. For family towels, huckaback is the most serviceable, although damask is used a great deal (see Fig. 78). Linen towels vary in price from three dollars a dozen up, according to size and quality. Dish towels of linen crash are very serviceable.