Cons: However, with higher production costs, linen bed sheets are naturally more expensive than cotton. And while linen fabrics get softer with every wash, the roughness of flax fibers will never achieve the silky smoothness of cotton. It is also prone to more shrinkage in the first few washes, but only by a small margin - while cotton shrinks on an average of 1-3%, linen shrinks around 3-5%. This can be avoided by separating linen sheets from the rest of the items in the first few washes, washing on a cool cycle, and avoiding harsh detergents and bleaches.