With the onset of cold weather, every person opens his closet and takes out warm clothes. This applies to both sweaters and outerwear. Having taken out the desired item, the process of trying it on takes place. But, as everyone knows, a winter item that is hung or put in a closet becomes wrinkled after not being used.
The most common type of outerwear in winter is a down jacket. Usually outerwear is made of polyester. This material has very good water-repellent properties and dirt can be easily removed from it.
But all the same, no matter what properties the material for a down jacket has, it is necessary to wash it. Each item has a tag on the inside with care and washing instructions. After washing, the next question is how to iron the down jacket.
The process of ironing polyester items at home is not particularly difficult, the main thing is to follow safety precautions. Read the recommendations for washing and ironing temperatures.
Today, there are several ways to smooth a down jacket, both natural down and polyester, at home.
Is it possible to iron a down jacket with an iron?
When down winter clothes came into wide use, manufacturers recommended dry cleaning them once a year. Improper washing could lead to irreversible clumping of the filler and the formation of voids. Rolled down and feathers did not dry well and began to rot, and an iron could worsen the situation.
Later, manufacturers corrected the shortcomings of down jackets. The filler was distributed more evenly, it stopped moving to the lower part of the product. Impregnations and new technologies have made it easier to care for things at home. Many “down jackets” are called such, but in fact they are stuffed with artificial material.
Whether it is allowed to iron a particular product depends on the fabric from which it is made. Usually it is polyester or other synthetics, but there are also cotton and leather. The necessary care information is indicated on the label on the inside of the jacket.
Folk smoothing method
This ironing method was used by grandmothers; it is also ideal for those who do not have an iron with temperature control or who are afraid of ruining their favorite item. This age-old method of smoothing things out is very effective, but quite troublesome.
Instead of the bathroom, you can iron the item in the kitchen. After tightly closing the doors and windows, place a large container of water on the stove. The water will boil and the steam will smooth out even the most capricious wrinkles. After this, the item is also moved to a regular room, and before putting it on or putting it in the closet, it is thoroughly dried, without removing it from its hanger.
Polyester is widely used not only for the production of everyday outerwear and underwear, but also for the production of bed linen, furniture upholstery, for sewing bedspreads, curtains, etc. At the same time, it is used both as the main material and can be added as an admixture to other fabrics to improve their properties.
Other advantages of polyester products include the fact that they are resistant to moths, repel water, do not fade in the sun, do not fade and are resistant to regular washing, do not lose their shape for a long time due to the coarse fibers in the structure, are resistant to dirt, and do not wrinkle when worn. Unlike natural fabrics, they allow air to pass through well. Of course, such products are not the best choice for winter or summer, but for the autumn or spring the choice of such things is optimal.
Looking at the label of a winter jacket
To avoid ruining your down jacket, follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Carefully study the label and pictograms that determine the washing and ironing mode of the product:
- crossed out iron - cannot be ironed;
- a cross under the iron crosses out the jets of steam - steaming is prohibited;
- one point inside the iron - iron at minimum temperature;
- two points - average temperature;
- three dots - maximum.
The composition of the fabric is also written on the label. Focus on it when setting the ironing mode. The material used in sewing down jackets - polyester - can withstand a maximum of 110 °C.
A new down jacket always comes with small pieces of fabric and filling. “Tests” are carried out on these samples: how the material behaves under the sole of a hot iron.
Setting the iron mode
The iron temperature for ironing a down jacket is set according to the information on the label. When this data is not available, the “coldest” mode is selected - no higher than 110 °C.
Low temperature is indicated by a single dot icon. With alternative markings on the device scale, suitable modes are “silk”, “synthetic”.
It is better to test the iron on a piece of fabric from a bag with spare accessories, on a lining. It is also often made of polyester (rayon). The sole does not stick, does not leave shiny spots - the mode is chosen correctly. But the front side of the down jacket cannot be ironed with a “naked” iron. It is necessary to place damp gauze or a cotton napkin under the sole.
Ironing
Before ironing your down jacket, you need to make sure that it is free of dirt and stains. Under high temperature influence, they penetrate into the fibers of the fabric, and then it is very difficult to remove them.
It is enough to inspect new clothes, remove price tags, labels, and turn them inside out. A worn item will have to be cleaned with a brush and washed. The jacket must be completely dried - ironing will ruin the damp filling.
Instructions for ironing a down jacket:
- Turn inside out.
- Carefully lay out on the ironing board, straightening out the folds.
- Iron the inside, starting with the sleeves, collar and other small parts. The lining is processed without gauze.
- Turn right side out.
- Iron the outer side through a damp, clean cloth in the same sequence as the underside.
- Shake the ironed jacket and hang it on a hanger. Put the cooled item on or store it in a closet.
It is enough to iron a thin down jacket with padding polyester only from the inside out. The outer side will straighten itself during ironing.
To facilitate the process, the steam function is turned on, provided that steaming is not prohibited by the marking on the label. Another useful life hack is to stuff your sleeves and pockets with paper. Small parts will be easier to iron.
Using a steamer
Steaming is a smart alternative to ironing. If the manufacturer allows the down jacket to be exposed to steam, then it will be easy to put the item in order after the store, washing, or summer storage.
The steam generator gently processes clothes without touching the surface of the fabric. It is more convenient to iron a down jacket by putting it on a mannequin or on a hanger, stuffing the sleeves with clean paper. The device is kept at a distance of 15-20 cm from the jacket.
Sequencing:
- Steam the back.
- Steam shoulders and sleeves, moving from top to bottom.
- Move to the front, starting from the collar.
Vertical processing smoothes the outer material of the down jacket and fluffs up the filling. The steam refreshes things, eliminates unpleasant odors, and destroys mold spores and bacteria inside the jacket.
Without a steamer, the same thing can be done with an iron equipped with this function.
How to steam a coat at home?
Demi-season and winter coats add elegance and smartness to the image of men and women. Such items are sewn from natural or mixed fabrics, have a lining and often a layer of insulation between the lining and the outer fabric.
To carry out a quick and safe steaming procedure, you must have a modern steamer at home. The best examples of the most famous foreign companies are presented in the catalog of the online store of ironing equipment “Skladok Net”. Compact and versatile home steamers are inexpensive. At the same time, they perform work on steaming and ironing clothes, disinfecting laundry, eliminating unpleasant odors, and cleaning various surfaces in the house.
How to smooth out a wrinkled leather down jacket
Leather coats and jackets with down filling also wrinkle. But they cannot be ironed in the traditional way. Genuine leather is a comfortable and practical material, but it does not tolerate washing or ironing and is easily deformed.
To remove folds and creases from a leather jacket, you must:
- Remove dirt.
- Set the iron to delicate setting.
- Use clean cotton fabric with a smooth texture or thick white paper as a spacer between the skin and the hot sole. Moisten a cloth with water and squeeze vigorously.
- Iron those places where there are creases, lightly touching the iron, without pressing.
- Hang the jacket on hangers to cool and dry.
A suede down jacket is ironed like leather, but on the wrong side. Suede material is not ironed from the face, so as not to crush the pile and leave shiny spots.
Steam bath
This method of ironing a leatherette jacket can be used when there is no iron with a vertical steam function in the house. Hang the product on a hanger above the bathtub. Pour boiling water into a basin and place it under your jacket. Water vapor, rising upward, will act on the artificial leather, as a result of which the unevenness will be smoothed out. The liquid in the basin, of course, cools quickly, so the procedure will need to be performed several times. But you can do it differently.
At night, fill the bathroom with very hot water and leave a hanger with a jacket over it. Close the doors to the room itself until the morning. Such a “sauna” will certainly help make the leatherette product smooth and beautiful.
Caring for your down jacket after washing
Ironing a down jacket is not prohibited, but it is not advisable. Despite all the care, it is not possible to avoid the harmful effects of high temperature on fabric and padding. It is better to let the jacket hang and straighten naturally.
After washing in the permitted mode, the down jacket is dried away from heating appliances. It is laid out on a horizontal surface, carefully straightened. The dry jacket is shaken to break up any matted clumps and distribute the fluff evenly.
Preparation for storing washed outerwear:
- Hang on hangers.
- Fasten all zippers, buttons, and Velcro.
- Straighten sleeves, small details.
- Place the fabric cover on top and fasten it.
- Hang in a closet without contact with adjacent items.
If it is not possible to store the jacket vertically, roll it up, first straightening it and avoiding strong curling. Just folding a down jacket and putting it on a shelf is wrong: there will be folds that will have to be ironed out for a long time and carefully.
Alternative methods without technical means
There are situations in which it is necessary to give outerwear a presentable appearance not only after washing.
You can effectively iron a down jacket after purchasing it without resorting to using classic ironing with a hot iron or a household steam generator. Moreover, the symbols on the labels do not always allow fabric to be processed in similar ways. Synthetic materials and, in particular, polyester deserve special attention.
First of all, it is necessary to focus on the fact that ironing without the use of modern technical means does not eliminate the requirements for washing and drying jackets. The condition of not only the fabric, but also the filler of the down jacket directly depends on the results of these two processes.
It should be remembered that when machine washing, special balls or tennis balls are indispensable, which prevent the stuffing from falling off and forming lumps.
If all the previous steps are completed correctly, then in most cases you can simply smooth out the down jacket with your bare hands. To do this you need:
- Carefully lay out the jacket on a flat horizontal surface.
- If necessary, distribute the filler evenly, breaking up any lumps.
- Using clean palms, smooth out any wrinkles.
If after the steps taken there are still minor wrinkles, then steam will help get rid of them. The product is placed over a bathtub filled with hot water, or best of all, boiling water. The warm and moist air rising will effectively straighten out all the unevenness of the fabric and also fluff up the stuffing.
All of the above methods of caring for outerwear are recommended by specialists and experienced housewives.
Each of them is simple and affordable. However, the owner of the item must make the choice in favor of a specific option independently, taking into account the characteristics of the material and personal preferences.
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