Everyday sandwich bread that lasts.

Perhaps an airtight bag rather than linen would help? I find I can keep bread fresh 2-dynasty's longer if I store it cut side against the counter in a bag.

as soon as they are cooled they are sliced, wrapped in plastic about 8 slices per pack, loaded into a cleaned used bread plastic sack and frozen.   Same day fresh all the time that way.  You pull an 8 slice pack ( or what every you use n a day) out of the freezer every day.   Sourdough bread keeps about 3 time longer than store bread but the kids may not like it.  We have fresh bread every day that way. 

I don't know what your basic formula is, but (from Baking Technology - Volume 1 - Breadmaking Technology; Wulf Doerry, American Institute of Baking) adding 0.5% monoglycerides of high melting point saturated fatty acids, (particularly stearic acid or the diacetyl tartaric acid esters of monoglycerides [DATEM]) will help to delay staling.  You will get some anti-staling effects from added fat (2% liquid vegetable oil and 1% solid shortening) as well. It is not recommended to use a liquid vegetable oil without the addition of some hard fat as the hard fat is essential for lubricating the gluten structure for good extensibility of the dough and for good gas retention during the early stages of baking.

It's an emulsifier, it's expensive and it's one of those "preservatives" [E472(e)] the OP is apparently seeking to avoid.

DABrownman's ideas to divide the bread into daily portions and freeze is the best advice regarding storage; and using sourdough is a good means to extend the shelf life of bread.   Developing a balanced recipe with a small amount of fat and reasonable water content and perfecting your process are other means to achieve maximum shelf life for your bread.

Best wishes

Andy

It would be good to see your recipe so that I had a better idea of what we are talking about.  Staleness on day 2 seems to be very quick.  Are you in very hot and dry conditions weather wise?  If so, I would recommend that you put your bread in the linen and then put the linen into another container that is not airtight.  You can even put it in a plastic bag and then leave the plastic bag unsealed.

As for the bread itself, sourdough would help a lot,  so would using a preferment such as poolish.  If you are using a straight yeasted recipe, you could cut out 75% of the yeast to achive a long slow fermentation as this too would help achieve a longer shelf life.

I would definitely avoid any unnatural preservative.

Jeff

I Agree with all the above suggestions, save for the preservatives, however, i found that butter and egg yolk help extend the softness of your bread. That, in addition to all the suggestions above.

I bake my sourdough 100% whole grain sandwich bread with 4 oz of Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil per 2.5 lb loaf.  Lately I have been adding a water roux which has made it even softer, and the bread stays soft for the 5 days it takes us to eat the loaf.  I don't know how much of the effect of the water roux is due to the dough just being wetter overall, as opposed to being due to the addition of pre-gelated flour.  I used to get a similar effect by adding polysaccharide gel from the bottom of my water kefir, which culture I no longer maintain thus the water roux experiment. 

The water roux is a lot easier to make than it sounds.  For one loaf, I just sprinkle 1 oz of barley flour into 5 oz of cold water in a non-stick omelet skillet.  After the flour sinks into the water, I stir the slurry to complete smoothness with a silicone spatula.  I place the skillet over the lowest flame on a burner and keep stirring it with the spatula until it is the thickness of hot cereal, being careful not to let it boil.  I let it cool overnight in a closed container on the counter-top, and use it in the morning.

I store the unsliced bread wrapped in waxed paper, inside a metal breadbox which is not airtight.  The breadbox is just to keep mammals away from the loaf.  The waxed paper keeps in the moisture and is cheap enough to be discarded after one use, preventing mold from getting established as it used to when I was washing and re-using plastic bags.