Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

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Maria
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Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Maria »

Father Mark, you mentioned linseed oil and its use in preparing icon boards. Is it also used in preparing paint that the iconographer uses?

I remember using linseed when I was a child to paint our cedar wood fencing, which we did annually in the late summer or early fall to protect them from the fall-winter-spring weather.

I did a little research and found this information too:

Is Flaxseed Oil the Same as Linseed Oil?

There has been some confusion between these. Flax oil is also called linseed oil which is sold in hardware stores as varnish. Flaxseed and linseed are often used interchangeably but there is an important difference. North Americans use flaxseed to describe flax when used for human consumption and linseed to describe when it has been processed for industrial purposes.

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natu ... xseed-oil/

Then I found this article, which clarified that flax seed or linseed is derived from the flax plant that is allowed to go to seed, and linen comes from processed flax stems. During the apostolic times and even until the 18th and 19th centuries, the flax plant was used for making vestments for the priests, and its oil was used for painting. Today, many of our Orthodox priests wear hot unbreathable garments made of polyester, a plastic derived from crude oil. Would not linen be more apostolic and also cooler?

Linen

Linen is a natural fabric obtained from the fibers of the flax stem. These fibers undergo many processes to be converted finally into linen, which is used to make apparels, tablecloth, and bed sheets. Linen is soft, flexible and full of luster. It is considered to be more superior than cotton and a status symbol as it is very expensive. However, it is only the best quality flax fabric that goes into making apparels while the lower quality of linen is used to make ropes. Before the arrival of wool and cotton, linen fabric was the most important fabric. Even today, it is considered to be a royal fabric used only by rich people. Ancient Egyptians made heavy use of linen fabric, and it is only as late as 19th and 20th centuries that the western world has come to realize the superiority of linen over cotton.

http://www.differencebetween.com/differ ... d-vs-flax/

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Barbara
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

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This idea is novel to me. I have always read about 'linen' but never quite knew what fabric that meant.

Let me ask this : now bamboo is being touted as a natural fiber which is a - ecologists' favorite buzzword - 'renewable resource'. I first saw it used for anything other than chopping boards this year with a new line of sheets made from 100 % bamboo.

Would some day bamboo be suitable for casssocks, vestments, Altar cloths, etc ??

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Maria
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Maria »

Barbara wrote:

This idea is novel to me. I have always read about 'linen' but never quite knew what fabric that meant.

Let me ask this : now bamboo is being touted as a natural fiber which is a - ecologists' favorite buzzword - 'renewable resource'. I first saw it used for anything other than chopping boards this year with a new line of sheets made from 100 % bamboo.

Would some day bamboo be suitable for cassocks, vestments, Altar cloths, etc ??

Bamboo feels much like rayon. It is very expensive in the stores, even more expensive than cotton. I would think that it would be suitable for vestments if it were made into ecclesiastical fabrics suitable for vestments. It would be warmer than cotton, but probably much better than the plastic polyester fabrics currently worn by almost all Orthodox bishops and priests today.

Rayon can be made from crude oil (similar to polyester and acrylic fabrics), but rayon today is also made from corn stalks. Considering that more than 90 percent of corn is GMO, this means that rayon is most likely made from GMO corn.

Rayon is more like a type of fabric as I have heard of Bamboo rayon, which is made of bamboo, so there is corn rayon and polyester rayon, but manufacturers usually will not disclose the raw materials used in the rayon. A rayon can be a blended fabric too, but usually if it is blended, they will specify: 50 percent cotton, 50 percent bamboo rayon. When I visited Hawaii back in 2008, I saw some cotton/bamboo rayon fabric at the fabric store.

Today's cotton is more than 90 percent GMO and heavily sprayed with round-up. I know some chemically sensitive people who can only wear or use non-GMO organic cotton fabric, otherwise they develop hives. And their bedding and towels also must be from organic non-GMO cotton. Yes, it is terribly expensive and the stores that sell clothing made from organic fabrics are very upscale.

Basically, only organic cotton textile manufacturers will specify that their products are organic. Those using GMO cotton will not declare that fact. It would be safe to assume that all cottons sold on the market today are indeed GMO cottons heavily sprayed with round-up. In fact, I have noticed that moths and carpet beetles will not touch most cotton garments today. The only fabrics attacked by moths and beetles are those which were grown and manufactured before 1995.

I have no clue if flax seed and/or bamboo have been modified and patented by Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, etc. Most likely, they are bio-engineering these plants as we speak (type, communicate).

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Barbara
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Barbara »

Well, the advantage of bamboo for clerical vestments is that it adapts to temperature, according to claims made. Supposedly, if the wearer is too hot, the bamboo will serve to cool him. And if the surroundings are too chilly, bamboo warms him. So it boasts a rare flexibility, assuming the claims made are not exaggerated.
I think that would help clergy during services because of the fluctuations in temperature that can take place. Rather than feeling stuffy, which no doubt is a hazard with the polyester fabrics you mentioned, Maria, the wearer might be able to relax better because of the 'breathing' of the bamboo fabric.
It actually sounds ideal to me for wear during services, travel and all duties which must perforce take place in varying temperatures. One gets out of an airconditioned car into 100 degree heat, for example. The bamboo might adapt very well, causing the least discomfort possible.

Further, I don't think bamboo has to be so costly. I suspect the companies producing sheets and such things are marking their prices sky high because of the cachet of bamboo.
There must be wholesale fabric bolts for more affordable purchase by clergy. After all the bamboo would only be bought unfinished rather than manufactured into towels or spatulas. So the cost would be less. Color might be a question to investigate. Is there black bamboo available on the market ?

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Maria
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Maria »

Liturgical bamboo material would probably be much more expensive because the material should have a sheen or luster with a liturgical pattern in it.

Look at the liturgical vestments to see what I mean. The weave is such that cross patterns are visible in the weave itself. The material will be glossy so that it radiates light ... the light of Christ.

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Barbara
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Barbara »

Oh ! I see. I know you have sewn vestments, so you know about this. I never have examined the fabric closely, so I did not think of this side.
But - with time, perhaps some suitable patterns could be developed out of bamboo ??

Or else, for the clergy apparel that doesn't show outwardly, bamboo might be comfortable for poor clergy in
extremes of climate. We want them to feel at ease, not fidgety, after all.

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Maria
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Re: Flax - grown for fine linen and its seeds made into linseed oil

Post by Maria »

Barbara wrote:

Oh ! I see. I know you have sewn vestments, so you know about this. I never have examined the fabric closely, so I did not think of this side.
But - with time, perhaps some suitable patterns could be developed out of bamboo ??

Or else, for the clergy apparel that doesn't show outwardly, bamboo might be comfortable for poor clergy in
extremes of climate. We want them to feel at ease, not fidgety, after all.

Oh yes, bamboo and/or cotton can be used for the "baptismal" robe worn under the vestment.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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