Technical Abstract: An enzyme-retting system has been developed in the US for retting flax. The use of chelators to remove calcium, in conjunction with pectinases, worked well to extract flax fibers from the non-fiber stem tissues. When dew-retting is replaced by enzyme-retting, the entire processing of flax requires modification, especially for short staple, cottonized flax fibers. .Harvested flax will be transported directly to processing units for mechanical bending of straws creating cracks in the surface for enzyme penetration. Enzyme-retting, which is the next step, can be carried out by either semi-wet retting or wet retting. Both methods have advantages and drawback, but we have produced yarn and textiles with acceptable properties with both methods.