Sleepless in Seattle No More
Our homes are our havens, and 2020 helped make that mood really set in. Now there’s a company in Seattle that brings sustainable Scandinavian comfort to the bed – meet The Modern Dane.
The founder Jacob Andsager founded the flax laundry company in 2019. Flax laundry comes from Belgium, France and the Netherlands and grows easily with the helping hand of Mother Nature. The long fibers produce buttery soft products that last for decades.
“We had the feeling that there is no better place to really bring the Scandinavian values of great design, quality, durability and respect for the raw material together – and to bring a bit of nature into people’s homes – than with organic linen bedding.” so Andsager said. He wanted to share his Danish roots with people in the northwest and beyond and does so through his company. He personally packs and ships every order himself. “It’s such an intimate product, and what you sleep and the rest of it gives you really resonate throughout the day.”
We talked to Andsager about his business and what makes his velvety, natural European bed linen so special.
Jacob Andsager.
What do you love most about your products?
What we love most about our products is that they are really good for both our customers and our planet. We have set ourselves the goal of making bed linen of the highest quality with an environmentally friendly textile that won’t break down and land in a landfill in a few years, but that can easily outlast the next 10 sheets that you would otherwise have bought.
Why should people invest in quality bedding?
You want to know what you or your loved ones are getting into at night. So much bedding these days is full of chemicals that are used in the growing and processing of the textile, and many of them are absorbed through the skin. When you buy organic and OEKO-TEX-certified bed linen, you can rest assured that your bed linen is free from harmful chemicals.
What is the difference between your products and other bedding products?
We only use high quality organic flax linen that is grown in the local area of Belgium, France and the Netherlands – also known as the “flax belt”. In this area, flax requires practically no artificial inputs such as pesticides and nitrates and does not require any irrigation other than that provided by nature through rain. It is also a natural carbon sink that absorbs 330,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually in Europe alone.
Why was it the right time to start this new business?
The modern Dane was actually introduced in August 2019, before anyone heard of COVID-19. We had only just gained momentum when the pandemic hit and, like all of us, had to adjust quickly to a new reality. 2019 seemed like a ripe time for The Modern Dane to launch as we had an abundance of cheap, disposable items all too dependent on and the impact they are having on our planet. It is high time we reconsider our relationship with the products we rely on and the footprint we leave for future generations.