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Linen tea towels have been a staple for the European kitchen since the 18^th century.  Emerging from the posh ladies of England it was used to simply handle and keep one’s tea pot warm for guests. A Tea Towel has continued today but now added as a means of expression.   Today Tea towels are both functional and an opportunity to express oneself.  Although at their beginning they have always indirectly conveyed a sense of status.  Today’s Tea towel will often literally carry a direct message.   It has become the kitchen’s canvas, tasked with conveying a multitude of messages.  With the current shift to arts in the kitchen it is important to maintain its fundamental purpose in a very functional place.   By name a tea towel is married to its function within that kitchen.   Tasked with entertaining and the following cleanup, the tea towel is the workhorse of meal preparation. 

It is precisely because of all these demands on this simple cloth that it originated from linen and performs best as linen.   Linen by nature functions superbly as a textile.  It has so many inherent properties that make it best suited for the large majority of textile uses.  It’s tensile strength, resistance to bacteria growth, water absorption rate and many other qualities that allow it to perform fantastically as a textile.

Water Absorption

Water absorption is a primary job of a linen Tea towel.  In comparison, linen dries by absorption whereas cotton dries more by surface attraction; that is the reason why cotton towels are generally made in a terry-looped weave, in order to afford a larger drying surface.  Since a cotton towel needs terry loops this forces a compromise.  The majority of today’s tea towels hold a graphic, cotton towels must choose between water absorption rate or graphic quality.  Linen doesn’t need to compromise in either area to accomplish both these functions.  A linen tea towel can have a smooth uninterrupted surface for artwork while not skipping out on wet cleanups.

Mildew Resistant

With all the exposure to water it is imperative that a tea towel has the ability to ward off bacterial growth.  Linen can accomplish this in two ways.  When we talked about water absorption rate earlier in this article and how this plays a role in wet cleanups, it also contributes to its ability to release that water back into the atmosphere.  This allows a linen tea towel to dry at a much faster rate.  Since bacteria are moisture thriving entities the faster a textile can dry will greatly reduce the ability for bacteria to grow in that textile.  This is not a linen tea towel’s only defense against nasty microbials.  Linen naturally resists bacterial growth because of its natural composition.   When the plant naturally breaks down the center strands remain.  Modern flax linen fiber processing still uses this method to separate the flax fiber. These are the same fibers bacteria has a difficult time breaking down.   Unlike cotton and other textile fibers, Linen is naturally antibacterial.

Tensile Strength

Water and bacteria speed up the breakdown of a natural woven textile.  Along with its ability for fast drying and bacterial resistance, the linen in a linen tea towel has a longer staple compared to cotton. Flax fibers are from 12-24 inches in length whereas cotton fibers are 1-2 inches in length.  This translates into a much stronger thread since yarns are made from spinning the fibrous material together to produce and even thread.  If the thread is weak the fabric will be weak if the thread is strong so will the cloth.  A linen tea towel will outlast and age better than a cotton towel due to the higher tensile strength of its yarns.

In today’s home textile market, there is a flood of “Tea Towel” options.  Some options wear the name “tea towel” a little falsely but we hope we have given insight to the origin and intent of the tea towel.  Whether the towel leans more towards a beautiful artwork or towards heavy cleanup, a Linen Tea Towel should cover both demands with grace.