Which Is Better: Linen Shirts Or Cotton Shirts?

Cotton and linen both are natural fibers produced from different plants.

Fabric Properties of Linen

Linen fabric softens as it is more and more used. Conventionally in Europe it was not unusual for families to inherit Linen sheets from their parents. Vintage linen is royal, soft and luxurious and possesses a fabric handle that is generally very difficult to replicate with any industrialized process.

Fabric properties of Cotton

The Cotton fiber was discovered much later than linen, however it has grown in usage, this is on account of both the fiber’s excellent fabric feel on skin, and through the ease of high volume cultivation of cotton.

1. Cotton fabrics are durable and chemically stable. This means that they can handle the chemicals in human sweat, soaps, detergents etcetera quite well.

2. Cotton has an impressive water absorbance capacity. In hot weather cotton fabric can absorb 27% of water without feeling humid.

3. Cotton fabrics are breathable and hypoallergenic. Most importantly, its low thermal conductivity makes it an ideal fabric across seasons.

4. Cotton fabrics have very low resistance characteristics, so they almost never stretch, even though they do shrink in hot temperatures when wet.

Both fabrics come in many modifications, hence we cannot exactly note down the differences between linen shirts and cotton shirts, as it depends on the exact fiber used.

Let’s talk about some rules.

Cotton is undoubtedly a finer fabric and typically feels smoother when it is compared to linen shirts. Oppositely, while cotton only gets thinner with every wash and gradually loses its silky feeling, linen shirts get silkier the more you wash them. Usually, cotton also feels softer on the skin. One common feature is that both the fabrics wrinkle naturally, but cotton can be treated with chemicals for a “wrinkle free” effect. According to the studies, there is no way of doing this with linen except for a spray that keeps it same all-day long. But then again, men of great sense of style don’t really care about a couple of wrinkles as there are many other advantages which outwit this one. Another advantage of natural linen material is that it is mothproof, whereas cotton is not.

To conclude, the last thing really determines whether you would choose Linen or Cotton fabric for a shirt. You would go with Cotton if you were looking for fineness of fabric and softness. On the other hand, you’d pick Linen if you were looking for fabric luster and the once that lasts forever.

Linen shirts are generally worn in a casual environment while cotton shirts are typically used for business and smart casual occasions.