I’m slowly switching out my wardrobe for natural-fiber clothing for eco reasons, comfortability reasons, and durability/quality/investment reasons. Right now I’m sticking with wools, silks, and linen but I’m using eBay/thrifting to source my pieces so my available selections are limited.

As far as linen clothing, a lot of the pieces I see are usually around half linen, half rayon. I know rayon isn’t durable but with it mixed with linen has anybody seen a marked difference in durability between linen and a linen/rayon blend? Theoretically the blend would be weaker but what is y’all’s real-world experience with the two options? Im looking for another pair of linen shorts, should I just hold out until I can find a 100% linen pair or do you think the linen blend should be fine?

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fridayimatwork t1_jdwws2x wrote on March 27, 2023 at 8:03 PM

I’ve had some linen rayon pants for 3 years that don’t show any wear I can see. The rayon helps with drape imo

5spd4wd t1_jdwylom wrote on March 27, 2023 at 8:14 PM

Exactly.

5spd4wd t1_jdwzjlx wrote on March 27, 2023 at 8:20 PM

A 100% linen garment creases incredibly fast within just a few minutes of wearing. A linen blend overcomes that.

Rayon is a semi-synthetic material and has been manufactured in the U.S. since 1911.

People collect the 100% rayon Hawaiian shirts made in the 1940s and 1950s. They're very expensive now.

Muncie4 t1_jdy9pv3 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 1:48 AM

You are starting with the assumption that linen is strong. Is your assumption based on data and facts or random musings from teh interwebs? https://textilelearner.net/linen-fiber-shows-poor-performance-abrasion/

psimian t1_je209bn wrote on March 28, 2023 at 8:52 PM

If you can find linen/silk blend garments they are awesome and 100% natural. I once found such a shirt in a thrift store and it lasted me for years. But there's a reason I only ever owned that one shirt, and as you might guess the reason is the price. A decent quality linen/silk shirt can easily cost several hundred dollars. At a guess, I'd estimate that the same quality shirt in linen/rayon would be less than 1/3 the cost.

If cost is not an obstacle, linen/silk is fantastic. If you're not independently wealthy, stick with linen/rayon. Pure linen is hard to find for reason--it's not as good as the blends.