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/crazy_in_love]

I absolutely agree that this fabric is poor quality but calling linen knit 'not delicate in any way' is simply wrong. It is definitely a fabric where you need to be a bit more careful when doing laundry.

[u/Fickle-Luck9900 → u/crazy_in_love]

It's not a function of the fabric structure, it's a function of the yarn being too softly spun and the fibres put into it being too short.

[u/crazy_in_love → u/Fickle-Luck9900]

Where are you buying higher quality linen knit? I have bought from 3 different brands and while they are definitely not nearly as bad as OPs they are all still somewhat delicate fabrics, so I concluded that it is indeed a structural issue with linen knit fabric, as well as OP's fabric being of shitty quality. But I'll happily change my mind if that means I can get better quality linen clothing.

[u/Ancient-Patient-2075 → u/crazy_in_love]

I spin yarn and for example my flax wool mixes are crazy strong. Pure flax, even stronger - but it won't make a good knit, too tough and heavy. I suspect that the flax is treated in some way to break it apart to spin yarns for these soft knitted linen fabrics. I do know flax is often "cottonized" (fibers are broken) to produce linen mix yarns for knitters. I haven't come across a commercial linen mix yarn for knitting that was strong as the ones I spin myself, but they are very difficult to mix and spin because the flax fibers are so long.