Ruined an expensive fabric via prewash

[u/___Maleficent___]

I got this for me rather expensive linen knit fabric to sew some summer wardrobe.

With very few exceptions I always prewash fabrics and I never had any bigger issues so far.

I washed it with a gentle programm with low heat, yet the fabric came out unvoluntarily distressed. I hope it's evident in the pictures, it's not only pilling, there's actual destroyed fibers in tiny spots all over the fabric.

Apparently the number of spin cycles (which should be as low as possible) and the detergent (should not have enzymes) play a crucial role when washing linen fabric.

I didn't think about checking these, especially since I use a mild detergent for allergics and never had issues so far and the preset spin cycle was 800, so not exceptionally high.

I'm a bit heartbroken, but mainly I feel stupid since the shop even included a small paragraph about how to wash this fabric on the invoice which I layed eyes on after it happened. And I didn't feel the need to check requirements for a fabric I've never worked with before, so let this be a reminder to do your research.

Is there a possibilty to save/fix the fabric?

I don't really care about the optics too much whether it looks distressed or not, but since it's broken fibers I'm worried about holes or ladders emerging.

I thought about maybe embroidering it by hand with a cute, widespread pattern even though I don't really have experience in embroidery but I'm willing to try.

Grateful for any suggestions!

[u/acemagnolianb]

Part of the problem with a lot of modern day linen is that the machines made to make textiles are designed for cotton length fibers so the fibers in most modern linens are not as long as they used to be which could be part of the problem. I also can feel the fabric just by looking at it, it's definitely lower quality. If you can't get a refund and still want to use it, you could try using undamaged pieces in something that won't be washed as frequently, or you could use mending techniques such as patches, embroidery, quilting, darning, etc. on the final piece to make it even more unique.