My first try at retting flax

It looks like the weather should be fairly sunny for the next few days, so I think I’ll try water retting some of the flax that I grew last summer. There is way too much mildew around here, so I don’t like the thought of mildew on my fibers from dew retting. I’d much prefer to process the flax with nasty smelling bacteria. 🙂 At least that way it will have a nice blond color, instead of a gray tint that reminds me of mildew.

My main reference book for flax/linen is Linen from flax seed to woven cloth by Linda Heinrich. It reads like an encyclopedia, with lots of interesting and relevant information.

I also found the free e-book A Guide to Spinning Flax: Linen Spun from Flax Fibers that has information on growing, retting, and spinning flax.