Behind The Design | The Softest Linen Bedding

The story behind our new bedding material, launching 18th April.

Our design team open up the about the design process that lead to our linen bedding, which, and we’re not exaggerating here, is softer than whipped clouds.

Why linen?

Back in 2017, when we started our 12 month journey to launching Bedfolk, we were planning to start with linen bedding. It’s a personal favourite – deliciously laid-back, effortlessly stylish and super durable. However, it was really tricky to get right, and we weren’t willing to settle for the kind of stiff, rough linen typically found on the high street.

We decided to launch with our curated cotton collection (which we spent 12 months perfecting), working on linen in the background until we developed the kind of irresistibly soft and airy sheets we wanted to offer our customers. I’m so excited that we’ve got there – our linen feels like someone whipped up the clouds and spun them into bedding! It’s the kind of soft you look forward to coming home to all day, and we’re really excited to see what people think.

Softer than whipped clouds...

What’s special about Bedfolk’s linen?

Like our cotton (and everything we have in development), our linen is made from only the finest calibre materials, by the best makers in the world. In this case, that means Belgian and French flax, woven in the same world-class Portuguese mill that our cotton bedding is crafted in. This is the kind of luxury heritage-grade linen that our team of Portuguese makers pass between generations, which we’re able to offer at the best possible price by cutting out all unnecessary supply-chains and selling only online.

The other thing that makes our linen (and cotton) special is that it’s Oeko-Tex certified, which means it has been manufactured to the strictest environmental and social standards. No more cuddling up with harmful chemicals or synthetics, you can sleep easy in our 100% natural sheets for many years to come.

2 years in the making...

What did the design process involve?

We spent over 2 years working with our team in Portugal to get the weight and hand-feel exactly right. Not too heavy, not too lightweight – this is the ideal linen weight for year-round use. We also finish it in a special way that gives the colour a very laid-back, lived-in feel, and relaxes the fibres to make it ultra-soft (the kind of soft that typically takes many, many washes to achieve). But don’t let it’s meringue-peaked softness fool you – it’s also long-lasting and durable, and will get softer and softer as you sleep in it.

Tell us about the launch colour palette…

We’re starting with 3 of our core colours: Snow (gentle white), Rose (barely pink) and Ink (mellow dark blue-grey). You can either buy our linen as a Bedding Bundle (duvet cover, pillowcase pair, optional fitted / flat sheet) or you can build your own, with the colours being designed for mix-and-match layering.

We offer all of our products as individual items as well as bundles, as everyone sleeps differently, and we want our customers to be able to build their own dream bed. For example, at the moment I’m sleeping on a crisp and cool Snow Classic Cotton Sheet, layered with a Rose Linen Duvet, Ink Linen Squares, and then one pair of Relaxed Pillowcases and one pair of Luxe Pillowcases. It’s a dream bed-nest!

Colours designed for layering

What are the benefits of linen bedding?

Linen bedding has that “oh I woke up like this” scrunch factor typical of Europeans. It’s effortlessly stylish, and equal parts hard-wearing and airy. It washes like a dream, is best un-ironed, and gets softer with every wash. What’s not to love!

It’s also perfect as a year-round bedding material – it's moisture wicking so keeps you cool in summer, but also works as a natural insulator to keep you warm and cosy in winter. As a natural fibre, it’s also bacterial resistant, meaning it doesn’t irritate your skin. We’ve also found it to be pretty ‘bedhead-resistant’ too, an unexpected added bonus that’s saved us time in the mornings.

Finally, it can last for decades if treated well – and at the end of its life it’s fully biodegradable, so it’s a really sustainable choice. It fits perfectly with our ethos of buying once, buying well.