How to press linen?

[arloiginla]

So I bought this sexy white suit at Le Chateau today, man it is one awesome costume but its 100% linen. Of course the pants look like I slept in them after sitting down anywhere. I need to know: how do you press linen? Apparently it's different than normal and you need high heat or something? Also would I be able to wash this or does it need to be dry-cleaned? I keep hearing conflicting reports on that one. Any help would be appreciated.

[firebug]

Linen you wear shouldn't be pressed (any type of suit should never be ironed). The wrinkles and rumples are part of the fabrics 'charm'.

Best bet is to use a clothing steamer which will get rid of the creases. Otherwise you can use an iron for the pants on the high steam setting.

Best regards,

~bug

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by firebug

Linen you wear shouldn't be pressed (any type of suit should never be ironed). The wrinkles and rumples are part of the fabrics 'charm'.

Best bet is to use a clothing steamer which will get rid of the creases. Otherwise you can use an iron for the pants on the high steam setting.

Best regards,

~bug

Agreed, except if you want to get that Colombian drug dealer pressed look with your linen, the only thing I've found is high heat and lot's of spray starch. Even then, it will look wrinkly within an hour of starting to wear it.

[CGYTransplant]

Prev.poster is right, sort of- linen is naturally wrinkly. Not necessarily "I balled this up and threw it into the bottom of my closet for 8 months" wrinkly, just "Hey, I'm laid back in a catalogue model kind of way" wrinkly. Lived in wrinkly.

No matter what you do, linen will wrinkle again as you wear it (my pants go on at 7, they're getting wrinkly again by 8:15-ish). Ironing will give you a stiffer look, while steaming will give you a softer look- it will get the wrinkles out without making it look stiff.

To iron linen, you need really high heat- our iron has a setting specifically for linen.

I would iron the pants, because that's what I do with mine- I like them stiffer initially because walking and getting up and down from my desk all day relaxes them really quickly. If I only steam them, I can veer into hobo-pants territory by the time I get into bed. The Jacket I would try to steam, simply because I tend to take it off when I get to the office, so it stays linen-wrinkly instead of hobo-wrinkly for the whole day. And, ironing suit jackets is a P.I.T.A.

If you really can't stomach it, you can always take the suit to a drycleaners to be pressed or steamed, your choice.

And, if you like a sharp crease in your pants, it will be difficult to maintain in linen. I just finally gave up and ironed the remaining crease-ness out altogether.

[redforever]

A somewhat rumpled look comes along with linen. But I think the person who started this thread now has a linen suit that is beyond the rumpled look, particularily the slacks.

Use the linen setting on your iron. BUT, to get a really nice press, do this. Get a cotton teatowel, not terry cloth teatowel, cotton. Wet and wring out until almost dry, as much water as you can get out.

Now place that damp teatowel over the slacks and iron on top the teatowel. You will never run the danger of burning your linen clothing this way. If the heat gets too hot, the teatowel will scorch, not your clothing. You can spray the actual suit with a bit of starch before you iron if you wish, but it will not really help to keep the wrinkles out of linen for too long. Terry cloth will not harm your suit but it can leave fuzz on it and I highly doubt you want fuzz along with the wrinkles((

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT wash linen. It shrinks horribly.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by redforever

A somewhat rumpled look comes along with linen. But I think the person who started this thread now has a linen suit that is beyond the rumpled look, particularily the slacks.

Use the linen setting on your iron. BUT, to get a really nice press, do this. Get a cotton teatowel, not terry cloth teatowel, cotton. Wet and wring out until almost dry, as much water as you can get out.

Now place that damp teatowel over the slacks and iron on top the teatowel. You will never run the danger of burning your linen clothing this way. If the heat gets too hot, the teatowel will scorch, not your clothing. You can spray the actual suit with a bit of starch before you iron if you wish, but it will not really help to keep the wrinkles out of linen for too long. Terry cloth will not harm your suit but it can leave fuzz on it and I highly doubt you want fuzz along with the wrinkles((

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT wash linen. It shrinks horribly.

Hmmm I've never heard that. I wonder if I even have cotton teatowels, I will have to check.

Does linen have a risk of burning easily? Or is it just the high heat that causes that? Sorry but I really am new to this, I've never had linen clothing before and actually only started doing my own laundry a few years ago

[redforever]

Originally Posted by arloiginla

Hmmm I've never heard that. I wonder if I even have cotton teatowels, I will have to check.

Does linen have a risk of burning easily? Or is it just the high heat that causes that? Sorry but I really am new to this, I've never had linen clothing before and actually only started doing my own laundry a few years ago

Linen does not have any more risk of burning easily anymore than a 100% cotton shirt. BUT, the LINEN setting on your iron does. It is just about the hottest setting on most irons.

The fabric of a cotton tea towel looks the same as the fabric in any cotton dress shirt. A terry cloth tea towel wont hurt, but it is the same fabric as a bath towel, hence my warning about fuzz. If your linen suit is a dark color, that fuzz will show up easily.

If you do not have a cotton tea towel, do you have some old cotton shirt that is clean? Just cut a rectangular piece from that and use it. Just make sure it is clean, otherwise, you will press the dirt into your linen suit.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by redforever

Linen does not have any more risk of burning easily anymore than a 100% cotton shirt. BUT, the LINEN setting on your iron does. It is just about the hottest setting on most irons.

The fabric of a cotton tea towel looks the same as the fabric in any cotton dress shirt. A terry cloth tea towel wont hurt, but it is the same fabric as a bath towel, hence my warning about fuzz. If your linen suit is a dark color, that fuzz will show up easily.

If you do not have a cotton tea towel, do you have some old cotton shirt that is clean? Just cut a rectangular piece from that and use it. Just make sure it is clean, otherwise, you will press the dirt into your linen suit.

Great, thanks much appreciated