Pant crease won't stay - may be off topic!
terry
Sorry to trouble you, but I have several pairs of cotton pants that I
bought at Costco quite a while ago. The have received lots of washings
but now the won't hold a pant crease. I have tried hanging them to dry
with wires in the legs (for those that remember them) and I have tried
spraying them with water amd ironing them. I am a guy who doesn't have
lots of ironing experience. I can't afford to send them to the cleaners
for pressing. Spray starch is expensive and leaves starch flakes on my
dark pants. I am not being anal but I work in an office where casual
clothes are okay but the pants really need to have a crease. To better
understand your reply, please assume I know nothing and am doing
everything wrong. Thanks in advance. Any and all help would be much
appreciated.
Kris Adams
If you dampen a cloth with a mixture of 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water and use that
as a pressing cloth (put it on top of the pants before putting the iron down)
that should press the crease in and keep it sharper for a while.
HTH,
Kris
Beth Pierce
understand about the flakes on your iron. That is because the chemical in
the spray starch. I don't use spray starch, but rather make my own spray
starch from a bottle of liquid starch and water. Use a solution of 8 to 1,
8 parts water to one part starch. The directions are on the side of the
bottle. No flakes and the pants are nicely starched.
Linda Appleton
Threadfuse inside the crease then press, making the crease permanent.
Linda
"terry" <Dri...@bc.Sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3A28E991...@bc.Sympatico.ca...
Kay Lancaster
>bought at Costco quite a while ago. The have received lots of washings
>but now the won't hold a pant crease.
Help me here... you're pressing them, but losing the crease during the
day, or you're not pressing them, and the crease has "washed out"?
Is this all cotton or a cotton blend?
>for pressing. Spray starch is expensive and leaves starch flakes on my
>dark pants.
So make your own laundry starch, put in in during the last rinse, and
then dry to damp and iron. A tablespoon or so of cornstarch, made
into a slurry and cooked, then poured into the last rinse isn't exactly
expensive, but you'll need to experiment with the amount of starch you
want. By adding it to wet fabric, rather than spraying it on, the
starch has time to soak into the fabric rather than sit on the surface,
decreasing the flaking and sticking problems.
Cotton blends tend to hold creases better during wear than all-cotton.
Tightly twisted cotton yarns tend to hold a crease better than all-cotton
yarns. Pulling up your pants at the knee slightly before you sit down
also helps preserve the crease (can't remember the last time I saw a guy
do this, but it may be faulty observation -- but watch guys sit down in
1940's or 50's movies -- that little pinch and lift at the knee while
sitting was pretty universal then.
In general, I can get a fair crease to hold through several washings
of all-cotton pants if I use a tailor's clapper to set the crease on them --
this is typically something done with wool pants, not cotton -- but i
also works pretty well on cottons. Here's how to do it:
Press the pants well with an iron, making sure you've got your creases
lined up well. Spread the leg of the pants along the length of the ironing
board. Using *lots* of steam, or a spray bottle to premoisten along the
crease, or a wet press cloth, press the creases in (up and down, not back
and forth) with heat and steam. Pick up your tailor's clapper (a block
of smooth-sanded hardwood), and whap along the crease... the idea is to
pound the steam back out through the fabric, into your ironing board
which should be covered with plain cotton fabric and have a wool or
hydrophobic pad, not one of those teflon-coated, water won't soak in
covers and a cotton pad. The idea is to force the steam back out of
the fabric with the clapper, cooling and drying the fabric immediately.
You just need to whap, not try to pound the pants and ironing board down
through the floor. Now let the leg of the pants cool on the board down
to almost room temperature undisturbed. Then press the other leg similarly.
The idea is heat + steam, followed by immediate cooling and drying.
Caveats: Do not force a sharp crease into linen -- you'll wind up breaking
the fibers, and the pants will eventually split on the crease. Synthetic
pants rarely take a home-creasing well, but a little synthetic in the
fabric (<40% or so) combined with cotton usually gives a good crease.
Cotton padding on the ironing board or a teflon coated pad will keep
the pants fabric too wet (from the steam) to get dry and cool enough
fast enough that you get a crease that holds well.
Alternatively, there's an electric gadget usually called a "pants valet" --
you put your pants into it, properly shaped for a crease, close the
press and hit the switch. The next morning, you open the press and take
out a perfectly creased, dry, cool pair of pants. I think I've seen
'em in catalogs of places like Allbrands for around $150-200.
Tailor's clappers are about $20 US, but you don't need to get so fancy.
Find a block of maple that fits your hand... something about the size
of a blackboard eraser is great. Sand all surfaces *very* smooth. Do
not apply any sealer or finish -- you just want bare, sanded wood.
Kay Lancaster k...@fern.com
Linda K Erwin
mixture in your steam iron and it will help get the wrinkles out and set
creases. You should also dampen the area for crease with this mixture.
2. Go to the fabric and get adhesive thread. After you have put the crease
in the pants. Put this thread in the very middle of the crease and press.
This should make the crease stay.
3. Instead of spray starch, use liquid starch, let them dry, then dampen
with plain water (I use a spray bottle of water) and press.
4. Buy the very heaviest iron you can find. The weight will help get the
wrinkles out and creases into the garment.
"terry" <Dri...@bc.Sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3A28E991...@bc.Sympatico.ca...
> Hi,
>
> Sorry to trouble you, but I have several pairs of cotton pants that I
> bought at Costco quite a while ago. The have received lots of washings
> but now the won't hold a pant crease. I have tried hanging them to dry
> with wires in the legs (for those that remember them) and I have tried
> spraying them with water amd ironing them. I am a guy who doesn't have
> lots of ironing experience. I can't afford to send them to the cleaners
> for pressing. Spray starch is expensive and leaves starch flakes on my
sewingb...@webtv.net
the cheapest you find is around $2.00 a pair to clean and press them, if
you have this done professionally once a year, the crease will stay in
the pants much better when you wash them, and press them yourself the
rest of the year.
I do this with DH's pants. The dry cleaner has a press which exerts
a lot more pressure than I can achieve with my nice Rowenta iron, and it
sets the crease for a long time.
Cea
--------
Pant crease won't stay - may be off topic!
<Dri...@bc.Sympatico.ca (terry).
Ronnie Wexler
in pants to make it sharp (and probably avoid getting the fabric shiny).
Whatever was in the newspaper made the pants look pretty good. Press the
crease in first, then cover with newspaper and iron again.
I don't know if contemporary newspaper has the same effect, but it's worth
a try. Also do not use water, and have the iron set at 'cotton', so it's
hot enough ... just be careful of overheating the paper, otherwise you may
wind up with shorts!
Ronnie
In article <3A2AEF46...@quik.com>, drag...@quik.com wrote:
> Instead of spray starch, my Mom always used spray sizing (used to be
> available as Magic brand spray sizing in the US) you might try that if you
> don't want to deal w/ making & using liquid starch.
>
> Win
>
> terry wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Sorry to trouble you, but I have several pairs of cotton pants that I
> > bought at Costco quite a while ago. The have received lots of washings
> > but now the won't hold a pant crease. I have tried hanging them to dry
> > with wires in the legs (for those that remember them) and I have tried
> > spraying them with water amd ironing them. I am a guy who doesn't have
> > lots of ironing experience. I can't afford to send them to the cleaners
> > for pressing. Spray starch is expensive and leaves starch flakes on my
> > dark pants. I am not being anal but I work in an office where casual
> > clothes are okay but the pants really need to have a crease. To better
> > understand your reply, please assume I know nothing and am doing
> > everything wrong. Thanks in advance. Any and all help would be much
> > appreciated.
--
dragonMama
Bjam10
>in pants to make it sharp (and probably avoid getting the fabric shiny).
>
>Whatever was in the newspaper made the pants look pretty good. Press the
>crease in first, then cover with newspaper and iron again.
>
>I don't know if contemporary newspaper has the same effect, but it's worth
>a try.
I'm close to certain that the ink will stain the pants.
BJ
Ronnie Wexler
to figure NO one would add to their laundry or dry cleaning load!
Ronnie
In article <20001204105450...@ng-fc1.aol.com>, bja...@aol.com
(Bjam10) wrote:
--
sewingb...@webtv.net
Printers nowadays use inks which lack the lead that was part of the
formula in 'the olden days". The lead was used to set the ink, so that
it did not 'crock', or rub off. Every time I read my morning paper now,
I get ink all over my hands, the front of my shirt, robe, or whatever I
am wearing.
What they were doing was preventing the pants from developing a
shine, and that could be done with a press cloth, and an iron which
generates plenty of steam.
Still, it won't set in the kind of lasting crease you will get from a
dry-cleaner's equipment.
Cea
------
Re: Pant crease won't stay - may be off topic!
<Ronnie Wexler)>
to figure NO one would add to their laundry or dry cleaning load!
Ronnie