Тұрмыстық мата заттарының тарихы мен түрлері

Fabric household goods intended for daily use

Linens are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths, and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church.

The earliest known household linens were made from thin yarn spun from flax fibres to make linen cloth. Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Phoenicia all cultivated flax crops. The earliest surviving fragments of linen cloth have been found in Egyptian tombs and date to 4000 BCE. Flax fibres have been found in cloth fragments in Europe that date to the Neolithic prehistoric age. Cotton is another popular fibre for making cloth used for household linens. Its use in cloth making also dates back to prehistoric times, in Indian subcontinent, China, Peru and Egypt. The Indian subcontinent was especially well known for high quality cotton cloth as early as 1500 BCE. Cotton gradually replaced linen for most uses in clothing, but remained preferred for bedsheets and tablecloths. Other European countries manufactured and traded their own types of household linens as well, and mass manufacturing techniques and trade competition gradually made affordable household linens common. Today, the term "linen" is still used for bedsheets, tablecloths and similar household textiles, even though most are made of cotton, synthetic fabrics, or blends. Especially in American English, they may be called "white goods", otherwise a term for kitchen major appliances.

Cleaning household linens is done as appropriate to the type of cloth. Household linens are most likely to have stains from organic sources such as food, blood, and soil. If the linens are made of natural fibres such as linen or cotton, the cloth will need to be rinsed as soon as possible in cold water to prevent the stain from becoming permanent. Stains from red wine, or red or purple berries and fruit are an exception and must be washed in boiling water, yet despite this, these stains may be impossible to remove. Otherwise, regular washing of household linens should be done in hot water for hygienic reasons, to destroy bacteria left on the linens from frequent use. Linen and cotton that are white may also become yellow over time, but this is eliminated by bleaching, either with liquid bleach, or by the traditional method of hanging the linens in the sun to let the sunlight bleach out the discoloration.

Industrial laundries were developed in the Middle Ages, when large convents and monasteries used their own facilities. Hospitals and boarding schools followed this example. Today, there are several types of industrial laundries. Hospitals often use laundry chutes to collect used linens. These are transported to an industrial laundry, where they are sorted into three categories: regularly soiled, infected, or staff uniforms. They are laundered as appropriate, usually at high temperatures, to ensure that viruses, bacteria, and soil are cleaned and that the linens are hygienic before being returned to the hospital. The owner of an antique linen must determine if conserving, repairing, or mending are appropriate. Types of antique linens may be identified by the place where they were made. Some well known locations for making heirloom quality household linens include Ireland, for its Irish linen and lace, and Madeira, known for a type of linen called Madeira cloth. The type of embellishment on the linens may make them collectable, especially embroidery, including Victorian era redwork and bluework, which use only red or blue thread. Lace embellishments on linens also make them collectable, such as Battenberg lace.

January "White sales" have been a custom in the United States since the late 19th century. White sales are held by department stores to sell household linens, bedding and towels, at a price discount. The sales are called "White sales" since the sales started during an era when these items were only available in white.