Linen Addiction from Alenska

Alenska is the UK based retail specialist in linen home accessories.

Having recognized that the UK market does not supply the range of exotic linen products found in Russia and Eastern Europe, Alenska has introduced 1st class linen home accessories to the British market via its web site www.alenska.com.

Russia is a well-known supplier of linens in Europe and America. Historically Russians have grown linen flax as the climate is very favorable and no chemicals are required.

Typically our linen is planted on Russian fields that are resting after a harvest of potato or other cultures. When grown, each part of the plant is used for different products – the finest parts are used for Alenska linen fabrics and other parts are manufactured elsewhere for ropes and insulation.

As all our linen products are made with no chemical processing but only mechanically, they are one of the most ecologically friendly fabrics on Earth. It is also highly absorbent and very wearable. Our linen is an ideal fabric for children’s clothes as well as for people who suffer from a range of allergies. It is perfect for bedding and for tablecloths. Linen napkins will be in use forever and tea towels are fantastic for polishing your crystal glass!

Linen is a fabric of strategic importance. No cases of skin diseases were registered in the Russian Royal army because the soldiers were all dressed in linen. Today, linen bedding may be crucial for treating allergies.

The product range of the new website by Alenska has been expanded from luxury bedding and table linens into bath towels, bedspreads, cushions and linen curtains. A range of curtains is with adjustable lengths and iron-on hemming strips that make it easy to shorten curtains at home without sewing.

Now Alenska offers not only high quality duvet covers, pillowcases and linen bedding sheets, but also more affordable linen accessories which can make a good gift ideas for Mother’s day, weddings, birthdays or other special occasions.

Items such as kitchen aprons and linen tea towels will nicely fit into the kitchen of any household all over the world.

All products are exclusively produced and designed for Alenska and we do not sell our products under any other brand. The new site can be viewed at www.alenska.com and there is currently free shipment on all orders over £200. Alenska also runs prize draws and promotions for its members.

Alenska has the ambition of introducing British customers to perfect and ecologically linen products that are so popular in Europe and The States… Choose Alenska to be your supplier of choice for linen and quality home accessories – you’ll become addicted too!

Luxury Bed Linen From Russia

It is really interesting to me that no one in the UK seems to have heard about Russian linen. Everyone knows there is Irish linen but how on earth - with all stories about Siberia and the really bad Russian weather and climate - can there be linen from Russia?

Simple… In Russia, we never had any cotton and through centuries linen became a national treasure.

Linen is the most ancient fabric known to man. For centuries people have been growing flax which is then made into fibre and woven to become linen. Domestication of flax occurred in India and China well before cotton ever did - more than 5,000 years ago.

But despite its venerable age flax remains to be as young as ever and is always in trend.

Flax has been grown in Russia since 2000 B.C. and ancient manuscripts from 1,000 years B.C. contain evidence of linen made by the Slavs. Oriental writers of the time also described Slavs dressed in linen clothing. Prior to the formation of Kievan Russia (pre-Moscow), all Slavic tribes that inhabited the Eastern European plain grew flax. Flax was used to make sailcloth, fishing nets, ropes and linseed oil.

In the 10th-11th centuries A.D. flax was extensively grown for fibre and seed. It was regarded as an important crop both for crafts and commerce. Peasants used it to pay feudal taxes and make payments to the Tsar's treasury. Russian Princes collected tribute in linen.

In the late 19th-early 20th century, Russia emerged as the leading producer and exporter of flax and pure linen fabric among European nations. So popular was linen and its variety of uses that the first standard Government tax imposed in Russia, by Peter the Great, was the standard tax on flax.

Russian linen is a quality product and one of our manufactures was even a supplier of the Russian Royal Court in the 19th century when they were weaving the most beautiful and highest quality damask linen tablecloths and napkins for the Russian Tsars to use and enjoy in their Palaces. So today, with the help of Alenska, you can enjoy the same in your own home!



Our current collection offers easy-care, fine quality luxury bed linen which relieves our customers from long-existing belief that pure linen is demanding to look after. It is expected that linen requires extra care... Our duvet covers, pillowcases and bedding sheets do not require ironing, just tumble dry them with a couple of tennis balls and your bed linen will get a soft and gentle, slightly creasy look...

Nowadays linen flax is one of the main materials used in the manufacture of UK banknotes and improves their useful life. And yes, we can joke about linen having the same value as money…

Here are a few more interesting facts about flax fibre:

• The famous Turin Shroud (that bears the image of Jesus Christ and was used to wrap his body) is spun from flax fibres. There is also evidence that the towel bearing Christ's image which was not painted by human hands - was also made of linen.
• Prior to the invention of paper, manuscripts were written on linen. One of the most renowned manuscripts - “Linen Book” by ancient Etruscans - was written on linen in the 7th century B.C.
• In ancient Greece linen clothes were the privilege of high priests.
• The famous army leader Alexander the Great wore an armour made of… linen to protect him in battle. It was said to be impenetrable to the enemy’s sword.
• In ancient Russia, linen clothes were worn on festive occasions. The first ever flag in Russia approved by Peter the Great was made of linen.

Russian Eco-Linen

There is no other fabric apart from pure linen which just gets finer and finer through many years of use and multiple washes. It is a king of modern fabrics. But apart from that linen is a very green product.

Linen is grown by using traditional methods of rotation. It is planted at some particular field for one year, and then it is not brought back to the same place for at least 6 years. In between those fields will be used for wheat, corn, potatoes or clover. Using this technology, Russian farmers were allowing the soil to have some rest, and by that they were reducing amount of used chemicals.

Linen requires 5 times less pesticides and fertilizers than cotton and 13 times less then potato (can you imagine what we eat?!!). It is ecologically friendly product. Apart from that linen lasts up to 12 times longer than cotton. Linen is thermo-regulating (insulating in wintertime, cool and breathable in summertime), non-allergenic and anti-bacterial and thus especially recommended for sensitive skin. The careful transformation and finishing processes are resulting in products which induce a feeling of pleasure and well being.

Eastern European linen is proceeding from the savoir-faire of generations. It inherited a unique elegance while adapting itself to evolving fashions and lifestyles. More than ever, it gives shape to designer innovations and fulfils consumer requirements. Whether as pure linen or in blends, it always combines quality with loyalty and creativity…

The use of linen dates back to ancient times: it was the first known textile fiber in the world, the earliest traces of its use dating back to 8000 BC. Linen has also been discovered in Egyptian tombs, wrapped around pharaohs' bodies: in 6000 BC, the noble virtues and solidity of this fiber were already well-known. The Phoenicians, renowned merchants and illustrious navigators, used to buy linen in Egypt in order to export it to Ireland and England. Flax thus was the first textile plant to be grown in Europe.

During the Roman era, the growing and applications of this fiber developed throughout the Empire and the Romans were the first to start using it at home.

During the Middle Ages, linen gained ground in northern and central Europe. It was used in clothing and equipment for kings and artisans, monks and soldiers. It was worn as a sign of status during the Renaissance: from delicate batiste, drugged, fine linen and lace ruffs through to work wear and humble caps for peasant women.

The ultimate family business, flax was grown and retted by the men folk, harvested by the women and children, spun by the women, woven by the men, made up into clothing and embroidered by young girls...

The savoir-faire was exported during the wars of religion. Huguenot weavers were forced into exile in Ireland and the Netherlands, and initiated local workers into the art of weaving linen.

The industrial revolution in the 19th century increased production capacity and linen was exported throughout the world. Trade routes were established, for example, canvas woven in Brittany was exported to Brazil, via Cadiz.

Colonial settlers adopted linen for its thermoregulatory properties. Light, absorbent clothing and household linen were very popular, and linen was often used for civil servants' uniforms. Linen was still the benchmark quality-wise and also for status. 19th-century wedding contracts mention it in descriptions of trousseaux.

Linen has always co-existed happily alongside the other natural fibers, even giving rise to interesting combinations: linen/cotton, linen/silk, linen/wool, linen/hemp... However, artificial and synthetic fibers posed a threat to European linen after World War II.

Jettisoning home economics, women's lib wholeheartedly embraced these new easy-care fabrics, imbued with modern flair, albeit often to the detriment of comfort and elegance.

This challenge acted as a spur to Eastern European linen and, today, thanks to ongoing research into innovations, the Eastern European linen industry has developed easy care fabrics, an amazing array of products for fashion and furnishings (weight, colors, handle and style) and often takes pride of place in international collections.

Read more about linen fabric and linen products on our website Alenska-Luxury Bedding and Table Linens. Alenska is the UK supplier of quality home accessories - linen window curtains, cushions, curtain fabrics, duvet sets and pillowcases, bedding sheets, bedspreads and luxury bath towels.