I have been told by numerous people that drying linen in the dryer will break down the fabric. So for our voluminous RevWar linens (everything that isn't wool is linen), we wash them in the washer on either warm or cold (depending upon whether it's white or colored) and then ALWAYS hang it dry. When I first make a garment, I prewash the linen fabric on warm (any color) and dry it ONCE on hot, but after that, it gets hung-dried.

Yes, this does make the linen stiff (for my lord's shirts, they resemble sails). But after you put it on and wear it for a few minutes, they soften right up. And this has allowed my lord's shirts to survive for *ten* years - with many wearings per year, and a lot of hard usage.

(It's scary when you start counting the age of your *clothing* in decades.)