TIPS:

Washing: Use a gentle wash cycle or hand wash and use a scant amount of gentle soap. Cold or warm water only. Soft water is important as hard water forms a soap scum that makes linen stiff and dull. Launder stains when fresh. If hand washing, rinse very thoroughly to prevent large brown spots on linen, which are caused by oxidation of the cellulose by residual soap.

Drying: Line drying is preferred as sunshine helps whiten, kill bacteria and give a fresh scent. Never wring linen as it crushes the fibers. Gentle, low-heat machine drying is generally acceptable. Bring linen in (or take out of the dryer) while it is still slightly damp as it may become brittle if allowed to completely dry before rolling and refrigerating. (Nowadays, I skip the liquid starch step employed by my mother and grandmother.)

Ironing: Cold linen presses beautifully with spray starch and a hot iron. Iron until smooth but not completely dry then hang item until bone dry. When ironing embroidered linen, keep the embroidery stitches rounded by pressing item on the wrong side atop a soft towel. Use a press cloth to safeguard delicate lace and cutwork and to avoid pressmarks over seams and hems. Set up the ironing board next to a table and allow the table to catch the tablecloth rather than letting it pile up under the ironing board. Minimize creasing ironed tablecloths by rolling them around a tube or hanging them.