Although you can purchase a pair of linen pants or a shirt, one place where linen is very popular is when it is used for bedroom sheets.
If you are in the market for linen bed sheets, you probably already know how expensive these sheets are.
Compared to other types of sheets, it can cost hundreds of dollars more to go with the linen.
Overall, linen is very expensive, but many find that the price is well worth it.
There are multiple reasons behind this high price, and that is partly why it’s hard for the price of the linen to drop.
When there is more than one reason for the higher pricing, it’s hard to see any progress.
However, if you are curious why the linen is so expensive, it could have something to do with these ten things.
Why Is Linen So Expensive? (Top 10 Reasons)
1. Premium Name
Linen has a very premium reputation.
The product is known for being very high-end and expensive, and therefore, the pricing continues to stay high.
As a premium product, linen is only manufactured by the top brands that care about quality, longevity, and premium feel.
The linen products are typically found in high-end stores, and they are only made by companies that specialize in this type of product.
In general, things made out of cotton are relatively fairly priced.
Cotton is no longer considered to be a premium product, as it is simply the norm.
There is lots of access to cotton regardless of where in the world you are, and therefore, it is not nearly as rare or premium.
If you want something that is known for value, linen won’t be it.
2. Moisture Absorbing
Whether you are purchasing linen to wear or to use for bed sheets, the moisture-absorbing properties of linen will be favorable.
When it comes to a sheet, the ability to absorb moisture is a great thing to have.
When sheets absorb moisture, it will be much more comfortable for the person who is sleeping in them.
It is natural to sweat throughout the night, but it gets uncomfortable to have to lie in a wet bed for the night.
Instead of doing that to yourself, simply get a set of moisture-absorbing sheets.
You won’t have to worry as much about being uncomfortable as the sheets will do the work for you.
Of course, this type of technology is always more expensive.
If you were purchasing a shirt or hat that is moisture absorbing, you would expect it to be expensive.
The same goes for a set of sheets that are going to make sleeping more comfortable.
The alternative to this is to be much more uncomfortable during a night’s sleep.
3. Harder to Find
Linen sheets are harder to find than regular cotton sheets.
This is because they are made from a much more extensive process, and they are not made with the same plants that cotton is made of.
Since you may have a harder time finding these sheets, you will likely also pay more money for them.
This is the typical situation of supply and demand that you often see in business.
The rarer and better quality a product is, the more it is going to cost you.
People are demanding linen products a bit faster than they can be produced, and this ends up making them much more expensive to own.
In certain parts of the world, it is going to be easier to find linen sheets than others.
If some places don’t have the market for the sheets, you can expect the pricing to be even higher.
Overall, the concept of supply and demand is going to play into this situation.
4. Difficult to Harvest
Linen comes from a flax plant.
The flax plant is a bit more difficult to harvest than a cotton plant.
This will increase the pricing people are paying for the products made from flax.
Essentially, each part of the harvesting process when it comes to the flax plant will add cost to the overall process.
This is a much more difficult plant to pick, and it requires quite a lot of labor to keep it in good condition and producing linen.
Those who want to get involved in the harvesting of linen and starting a linen business are going to have a long road ahead of them.
The process takes a large initial investment and then years of difficult work to make sure that everything is going to eventually produce a profit.
This makes many people leery to start up something like this, and therefore, the pricing continues to go up.
The fewer resources there are for the production of linen, the more expensive it is going to be.
These companies don’t compete against each other for pricing because there are not that many that produce the linen.
Overall, the difficulty in harvesting the flax to produce the linen certainly plays a part in the high pricing that we pay for it.
5. Labor
When a product is difficult to harvest and difficult to turn into a finished product, that means there will be a lot of labor involved.
A lot of labor is needed for the product being picked in the fields, brought in and developed into linen, and then shipped to manufacturers who need the linen.
Once the linen is in the hands of the different manufacturers, they are going to need to do their own work to turn the linen into a finished product.
If you are purchasing a shirt, it will have needed to be sewn and developed into its own style and pattern.
The linen will also have to be dyed to get the perfect color.
When it comes to sheets, there is going to be the process of cutting and sewing the sheets into the proper sizes and fits.
Essentially, from before the plant is even put in the ground to the time it is worn by you to work, or slept in at night, the process requires quite a bit of labor.
The more a product needs to be touched, the more difficult it is going to be to keep the price down.
6. Time to Produce
Linen takes a long time to produce.
You will notice that it is not just the time it takes to pull the fibers from the flax, but it also has to do with the time it takes to produce it into sheets of linen.
The linen fibers are very fragile.
This makes it difficult to speed up the process of producing linen.
If the process is done too quickly, the linen threads are going to tear, and this damages them.
Instead, this just prolongs the process and makes it take longer to get the final product in the hands of the customer.
The longer it takes from the growth of a product to the time it gets to a consumer, the more money you will have to pay for it.
If manufacturers can figure out ways to speed up the production process of linen, we may see a slight decrease in price.
However, in order for this to happen, it would also have to include requiring less labor to make the linen, and this is not something that is easy to simply make happen.
7. Soil Conditions for Growing Flax
Cotton can grow almost anywhere in the world.
Flax is much more particular.
You can only grow flax in certain areas in western Europe.
The soil conditions necessary for growing flax are very specific, and they have to be continually monitored.
As you may have guessed, this means more labor and more expense.
Soil conditions can take a great deal of time to master, and this makes it difficult for those who are trying to get into the linen-making industry.
The time and effort involved in getting things right will pay off in the end, but you have to be able to afford all of the startup steps.
Soil conditions also sometimes take soil experts and samples.
This is another part of the process that ends up costing quite a bit of money.
When a linen farmer decides to sell their linen, they must make sure that all of these expenses along the way are included in the total expense that is charged for the linen.
For the average person to understand what has gone into producing a set of linen sheets for their home, it is a bit hard to wrap our heads around.
8. Longevity—Gets Better over Time
Most products that you purchase will start to deteriorate over time.
The more you use them, the better the chance that you are going to need to replace them.
This is partly what is so interesting about linen products because they actually get better over time.
Let’s take, for example, a set of linen sheets for your bed.
When you first purchase them, they are going to be soft, but they may not be as soft as you expected they would be.
You may even wonder what all of the hype was about to get these linen sheets in the first place.
Be patient with your linen sheets.
Over time, they are going to soften even more.
The fibers in the material will loosen up, and they will become much easier for you to sleep in over time.
When it does come time to replace your linen sheets, you are likely going to be sad to see them go.
Having a set of perfectly worked-in sheets that are of very high quality takes some time, yet it is well worth the process.
People who have these types of sheets on their beds are rarely going to want to go back to cotton in the future.
Another thing that is worth mentioning is that, if the linen sheets are properly taken care of, they will last for quite some time.
These factors certainly increase the initial asking price for the sheets.
9. Better for Environment
Linen sheets are better for the environment than cotton sheets.
Although this may sound like another one of those sales tactics or marketing schemes to get you to save the world, it is entirely true.
As we mentioned, linen sheets come from the flax plant.
What we haven’t yet explained is that when the linen is extracted from the flax plant, almost the entire plant is used.
This is a situation of very little waste, and therefore, it is a good thing for the environment.
When flax is grown, it needs very little water to thrive, and therefore, it does not need as much irrigation.
When it is processed, it takes very little for a machine to do the work that it needs to do.
Therefore, the overall benefit of this product to the environment is going to outweigh the negative.
We also mentioned that these sheets are going to last for quite some time, and the longevity makes them better as well because there will be a little less overall waste in the world.
We don’t need more sets of sheets in the landfills.
10. Resistant to Insects
Last but certainly not least, linen does a great job of keeping itself clean.
The fabric is naturally resistant to insects and bacteria.
This is a great thing to have in a shirt, but it is really important when it comes to sheets.
Most sheets do not have this natural resistance, and therefore people have to worry and think about things like bacteria and bed bugs.
These issues end up causing concern, and it may give you an overall uneasy feeling when you are sleeping in your bed.
Knowing that the linen sheets make your bed much less appealing to critters certainly helps to bring some peace of mind when you are sleeping.
Partially because of the linen’s resistance to bacteria, fungus, and bugs, it is also an excellent choice for those who have allergies.
If you have allergies, chances are you need to be very careful about the types of fabrics you wear and use in your home.
Linen is an excellent choice because it helps keep you breathing better as it is hypoallergenic.
Overall, you can see that there are many more positives to linen than there are negatives.
The only true negative that you will come across is that this fabric wrinkles very easily.
These wrinkles can simply be ironed out before you put the fabric on, and it’s certainly worth having just a few wrinkles to experience the benefits of linen.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now feel as though you understand why linen is so expensive.
The pricing has quite a bit to do with the growing process, the harvesting process, and the fact that the fabric has some great natural benefits.
In addition, linen is thought of as a premium product, and this certainly adds to the overall cost that we pay.
Try purchasing linen when you see it on sale.
It doesn’t go on sale often, and it is best to take advantage of these situations.
The good news is that, when you purchase a product made of linen, you know that you are getting something that is higher in quality and built to last.
This should be considered when you are determining if these higher prices are worth it.
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