Importance and Uses of LinseedFlax

The word linen for clothes in general came from linum. In past, the flax fibre was the most valuable of the long vegetable fibres to be spun and woven into cloth. The art of weaving flax fibre developed to such an extent that weaving of the linen clothes (flax) was considered to be a sign of aristocracy. In biblical records wearing linen was considered as symbol of purity. Early political leaders in Rome, preferred to dress in white linen (flax cloth) made from Egyptian flax, for contesting public offices. In fact, the 'candidate' used for office seekers has its origin from a latin word 'condidus' which means white linen.

The Egyptian art of weaving linen was gradually introduced in India, before the use of cotton. The use of flax in textile industries declined with the invention of cotton. The improved cotton and jute fibres became available at cheaper rates gradually declined flax textile importance.

Since, fibre content is only 20 percent in start, rest 80 percent material is left over in the extraction process is used for making straw boards, high grade writing paper, and parchment paper. Recently the wood of flax found its use in making pulp for durable type of paper used for currency notes.