A pressing problem...
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A pressing problem... WB 08-24-2006
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Posted by WB on August 24, 2006, 3:21 pm
Making (24)cafe curtains of cotton or cotton/poly blend fabric I bought
on internet. It came folded up in smallish bundles, 5 yd pieces with
some sharp wrinkles. Fabric looks ordinary, but is heavily printed
stripes on the one side: more heavy printing than cloth showing. Can't
get the wrinkles out in spite of trying the following:

Dry heat: three different irons and heats, including a very heavy
tailors model. Tried pressing and ironing with no success. Pressed on
both front and back sides: no difference.

Steam: one of the above irons is a steamer, pressing and ironing also.
Also tried bottle sprinkle method and and roll in a towel for a time
like mama taught me 60 years ago. No go.

Tried spray starch both dry and with steam. Wrinkles laughed at me.

Went over and over a piece with slight effect and they are now at a
drycleaners to be pressed on their equipment. They called a minute ago
and said they failed also, but will try tomorrow on their "high-end"
equipment which they fire up just for tablecloths, etc.

I didn't try putting the pieces in a tumble dryer on "low" with fabric
softener patch and a dampish bath towel. That would be my last bullet if
the drycleaners fail tomorrow. Pieces would ravel, also.

I'm out of ideas. It seems something that would wrinkle as easily as
being packaged would give up its wrinkles just as easily, but nooooooooooo.

I hate to wash everything first and try ironing because I'd have to
serge the edges first to control ravelling. Or maybe make the curtains
complete with hemmed edges and wrinkles and then wash them?

Any help appreciated and thank you. JPBill



Posted by Juno on August 24, 2006, 4:08 pm
WB wrote:
> Making (24)cafe curtains of cotton or cotton/poly blend fabric I bought
> on internet. It came folded up in smallish bundles, 5 yd pieces with
> some sharp wrinkles. Fabric looks ordinary, but is heavily printed
> stripes on the one side: more heavy printing than cloth showing. Can't
> get the wrinkles out in spite of trying the following:
>
> Dry heat: three different irons and heats, including a very heavy
> tailors model. Tried pressing and ironing with no success. Pressed on
> both front and back sides: no difference.
>
> Steam: one of the above irons is a steamer, pressing and ironing also.
> Also tried bottle sprinkle method and and roll in a towel for a time
> like mama taught me 60 years ago. No go.
>
> Tried spray starch both dry and with steam. Wrinkles laughed at me.
>
> Went over and over a piece with slight effect and they are now at a
> drycleaners to be pressed on their equipment. They called a minute ago
> and said they failed also, but will try tomorrow on their "high-end"
> equipment which they fire up just for tablecloths, etc.
>
> I didn't try putting the pieces in a tumble dryer on "low" with fabric
> softener patch and a dampish bath towel. That would be my last bullet if
> the drycleaners fail tomorrow. Pieces would ravel, also.
>
> I'm out of ideas. It seems something that would wrinkle as easily as
> being packaged would give up its wrinkles just as easily, but nooooooooooo.
>
> I hate to wash everything first and try ironing because I'd have to
> serge the edges first to control ravelling. Or maybe make the curtains
> complete with hemmed edges and wrinkles and then wash them?
>
> Any help appreciated and thank you. JPBill
>
>
Bill, I suggest you try a press cloth dipped in white vinegar, wring out
very tight, and a hot iron. I have had success doing this on industrial
strength wrinkles.
At this point you have nothing to lose. If all else fails, I suggest you
see if you can send it back.
Juno

Posted by JLL on August 31, 2006, 7:18 pm
Bill,

I second the suggestion on the pressing cloth dampened with white
vinegar, this was a common household hint back in the olden days.

Judie in Penfield NY


Posted by W.Boyce on August 31, 2006, 11:02 pm
JLL wrote:
> Bill,
>
> I second the suggestion on the pressing cloth dampened with white
> vinegar, this was a common household hint back in the olden days.
>
> Judie in Penfield NY
>
Thanks to you and Juno. I used a 25% solution of white vinegar in water
and it worked well and my curtains didn't smell like a pickle. I don't
know the mechanism of why it worked, but I suspect the unwashed material
was sized pretty heavily and the vinegar neutralized it and allowed the
wrinkles to relax. I previously thought the material was a little stiff
because of being heavily printed. The cleaner did half of the batch and
could only succeed by washing the material and then re-starching and
pressing with his heavy equipment. JPBill

Posted by Juno on September 11, 2006, 10:03 pm
W.Boyce wrote:

>>
> Thanks to you and Juno. I used a 25% solution of white vinegar in water
> and it worked well and my curtains didn't smell like a pickle. I don't
> know the mechanism of why it worked, but I suspect the unwashed material
> was sized pretty heavily and the vinegar neutralized it and allowed the
> wrinkles to relax. I previously thought the material was a little stiff
> because of being heavily printed. The cleaner did half of the batch and
> could only succeed by washing the material and then re-starching and
> pressing with his heavy equipment. JPBill
Sorry to take so long to get back to you, been away again. I'm glad the
vinegar helped. It's also great when you let down hems and want to press
out the original hemline.
Juno

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