How to iron a down jacket after purchase

Jackets made of polyester with natural down are very popular as they are practical and light weight. Such clothes warm and retain heat well, so you will not freeze in the cold winter. However, after transportation or washing, the down jacket may become wrinkled and the filling may become crumpled.

To return clothes to a presentable appearance and get rid of wrinkles, you can iron the item or treat it with steam. In the first case, you need to be very careful not to damage the material and filler. In this article we will look at how to iron a down jacket at home after purchasing and after washing.

Rules for caring for a down jacket

It is not recommended to wash a down jacket more than once a year;
The product should be washed in a washing machine at a temperature of 30-35 degrees and a minimum number of revolutions with an additional or double rinse;
Before washing, unfasten the removable elements and be sure to remove the fur. Wash your down jacket separately from other items. Do not wash several down jackets at once!;
For washing, use special liquid detergents and shampoos that are made for this type of clothing;
When washing, put three or four small balls, like tennis balls, in the drum, or take sneakers or sneakers and wrap each one in a pillowcase and tie it. The balls will prevent feathers and fluff from getting lost and will increase the washing speed;
After washing and rinsing in the machine, it is recommended to rinse the down jacket by hand two to four more times; Small stains can be removed with a soap solution and a soft sponge. After treatment, wipe the surface with a dry cloth and leave to dry;
Only a dry down jacket should be ironed and stored;
Do not use polyethylene or plastic covers for storage! Store clothes in a closet without covers or use fabric bags;
For ironing, select the minimum temperature setting of the iron to 110 degrees. Instead of ironing, you can steam the product;
You can dry a polyester down jacket naturally and using a hairdryer. Leather products can only be dried naturally!;
After drying, first hang the product over the bathtub to drain off excess water. Use your hands to remember the sleeves and bottom of the garment, straighten the material and filling. In summer and dry weather, the product can be dried in the fresh air. In another case, the item is dried at room temperature.

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.

How to iron a down jacket

Ironing is believed to help straighten a wrinkled down jacket and restore its former attractive appearance. To avoid damaging the product, be sure to follow the recommendations for this procedure. Before ironing a down jacket after washing or a recently purchased product, study the label on the clothing. As a rule, these clothes are made of polyester.

It is recommended to wash such fabric in a washing machine at a temperature of no more than 35 degrees and iron it on the lowest heating setting of the iron. For how to properly wash a jacket filled with down and feathers, see the article “How to fluff up a down jacket after washing.”

Following the recommendations, select the minimum heating temperature of the iron to 110 degrees. Then the product must be carefully laid out on an ironing board and the material and every detail ironed through a thin layer of gauze or fabric. Do not iron clothes directly without using a cloth or gauze underneath, otherwise shiny iron marks will remain on the material.

After washing, the jacket is ironed on both the front and back sides. Ironing begins from the wrong side, then moves to the front side. Sometimes, after ironing, it is no longer necessary to iron the inner side of the front side, since the material is smoothed out well. It is important to iron a down jacket that is completely dry!

In addition, you can use an iron with a steam function or a steam generator. This will help smooth out wrinkles and bruises more thoroughly. By the way, a steamer and a steam generator are suitable for smoothing many materials that are not recommended or prohibited from ironing. They are perfect for coats and wedding dresses, ruffled skirts and leather goods, tulle. Read here how to properly care for tulle.

How to use a steamer correctly

Steaming a down jacket or jacket will be much safer and more correct if you use a specialized unit for it - a steamer. Using it for these purposes is not difficult, the main thing is to follow a few rules:

Before starting work, make sure that the insulation is evenly distributed throughout the entire product. There should be no lumps, bald spots, tangles. Straighten everything with your hands so that the item is completely filled with filler.
Hang the selected item on hangers so that you can reach any side of the item with a jet of steam without direct contact with it.
First, steam a small area of the jacket fabric.
Carefully observe the reaction of the material when exposed to steam. Try to find the optimal position of the regulator, as well as the appropriate temperature.
Once all the indicators are selected, you can proceed directly to steaming.
Direct the steam jet from a distance of at least 15 cm. This will help avoid the appearance of defects on the fabric.
Treat the entire surface of the product, if necessary, go through particularly difficult areas several times.

Steam treatment

Hang the down jacket vertically on hangers. Pass steam over the surface of the clothing on each side at a distance of 15-20 centimeters from the product. First treat the back, then the sleeves and shoulders, moving from top to bottom. Then wipe the product with a dry cloth. Vertical steam will additionally fluff up the wrinkled filling of the down jacket if it is heavily wrinkled.

Steam treatment is suitable for new items, clothes that have been hanging in the closet for a long time or lying folded. It will smooth out wrinkles, restore a presentable appearance and refresh the product, without crushing the down and feather filling. In addition, the steam generator will help get rid of mold and mildew in the bathroom and other rooms if the apartment has high humidity.

If you do not have a steam generator or an iron with a vertical steam function, you can use the traditional steam treatment method. To do this, fill the bathtub with boiling water and hang your outerwear on a hanger above the water. Leave the product hanging for several hours. As a result, the material will be smoothed out, creases and folds will go away.

If the filling of the jacket is very squashed after steam treatment, beat the product and knead the lumps with your hands. This smoothing is the safest for a down jacket and allows you to preserve the quality of the material and filler.

Steaming

If you have a steam generator in your household, then ironing will not create problems for you. To do this, we need to hang the jacket on hangers, in a place that will give access to the jacket from different sides. According to the recommendations on the product, set the temperature setting on the steam generator. You need to start ironing from top to bottom, from the back. The collar and cuffs are processed last. Steam must be directed from a distance of at least 15 cm.

This device can also be used to remove small stains, unpleasant odors and stubborn dirt from polyester, as well as give the jacket a nice look.

How to smooth a leather down jacket

Lately, leather down jackets have become popular. They look more solid and aesthetically pleasing, while also retaining heat well. The products are practical, resistant to wear and stains. Instead of polyester, tanned leather is used here. Caring for leather down jackets is slightly different from caring for traditional types of this type of outerwear.

Steam is also used to smooth out wrinkles on a leather down jacket. To do this, fill the bathtub with boiling water, hang clothes over the water and leave for several hours. Leather products cannot be ironed from the outside! If necessary, the product can be ironed from the inside through a layer of gauze or fabric at a minimum temperature.

If your leather down jacket gets wet, wipe the surface with a soft, dry cloth and then leave to dry at room temperature. Do not dry clothes in direct sunlight or on a radiator. Don't blow dry! Hang items on hangers with wide shoulders and store the down jacket in the closet.

Use fabric covers for storage. Under no circumstances take plastic or polyethylene bags, bags and covers! In such products there is no air exchange, which is necessary for leather and fur products. When stored this way, clothes become very wrinkled and deteriorate over time. For more information on how to care for down jackets and leather jackets, read the link.

Reading the label

Before any cleaning procedures, first of all, you need to read the information on the clothing label.

She will tell you how to handle the item, taking into account the characteristics of the filler and the material from which the product is made.

If the manufacturer is reputable enough, then a high-quality down jacket will come with a small booklet with detailed information about the item and its care, as well as samples of filling and fabric.

If according to the instructions the down jacket cannot be ironed, then the only option is to steam it.

Warn ironing

Polyester, as a material, is wrinkle resistant. It is enough to follow simple rules for caring for things made from it so as not to worry about ironing:

Wash in warm water, temperature no more than 40 degrees.
Can be washed by hand or on a delicate cycle in a machine.
To avoid stains on things, it should be thoroughly wrung out.
After spinning, place it on hangers and smooth the jacket with your hands. When dry, each break will have to be removed by ironing.

It is important to take into account one more feature of things made of polyester - many manufacturers give the fabric a wrinkled effect on purpose, which allows the consumer to completely forget about the need to iron the item. It retains its appearance unchanged, both before and after washing.

When washing a polyester jacket, select the delicate cycle.

Special fabric

Modern manufacturers often sew windbreakers from membrane fabric.

It should be understood that the membrane is a polymer film with microscopic pores. The thickness of this film does not exceed a tenth, or even a hundredth of a millimeter. But the main feature is in the pores, which have the ability to allow moisture to pass through only on one side, and on the other, to retain it almost completely. Thanks to this property, human skin breathes and sweat is removed outside.

The membrane does not exist as an independent material; it is “welded” to polyester or any synthetic fabric. The higher its technical characteristics, the stronger and lighter the membrane fabric is.

The structure of the fabric is destroyed under the influence of high temperatures. That is why it is strictly forbidden to iron it, as well as dry it using heating devices or near an open fire. Therefore, before ironing a membrane windbreaker, you need to look at the label.

Material properties

Polyester is a component of many fabrics and gives them many advantages. The advantages of synthetic material include low cost, resistance to deformation during washing and color fastness. In addition, products made from polyester are not prone to abrasion, do not fade or shrink, are easily washed from dirt and dry fairly quickly.

The disadvantages of the material include poor ventilation and low hygroscopicity

, which is due to the coarse structure of the fibers of synthetic fabrics. Polyester is actively used for sewing bedding, curtains, bedspreads, windbreakers, dresses, blouses and outerwear.

Despite the low creaseability of the material, you still have to iron things made of polyester. Synthetic fabrics in general are very demanding on temperature conditions, and polyester is no exception. This causes certain difficulties when ironing and forces you to be more careful when choosing the temperature. However, in some cases, the ironing procedure can be avoided altogether. We are talking about proper washing and subsequent drying of products, the proper execution of which will allow you to avoid using the iron.

To wash a polyester product according to all the rules, you must not use water at a temperature above 40 degrees, do not add bleaches, and soak only light-colored items.

Instead of powder, it is preferable to use liquid products.

This will eliminate the possibility of an unsightly plaque that may turn yellow during ironing. When machine washing large items, such as a jacket, coat or down jacket, it is recommended to place them in the drum one at a time. Otherwise, the products will fill the entire working volume of the machine, will not stretch and will become very wrinkled.

All outer clothing should be turned inside out and placed in protective bags. If the jacket is heavily soiled on the sleeves and collar, it is recommended to remove the stains with a brush before placing them in the drum.

After the clothes are washed, they are removed from the machine, blotted with a dry towel, shaken and hung on hangers. Polyester skirts should be hung up to dry, while jackets and coats should be hung closed. It is recommended to dry the products away from heating devices, periodically straightening folds and creases with your hands.

If it becomes obvious that some places will not be able to straighten out, then you should not wait for complete drying. In this case, you need to smooth out the wrinkled area with wet hands and put it under the iron.

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.

Which handheld steamer is suitable for winter clothes?

Expensive stationary units with a hose and a bunch of attachments will steam anything. The steam pressure is high there! Any model is suitable for winter clothing. However, we are not talking about them, but about compact hand-held steamers.

Of the handheld steamers for a winter jacket, those with a power of 1500 watts or more and a steam output of at least 50 ml/min are suitable. Steamers with such characteristics will easily rid your winter clothes of last year's wrinkles. Check out the TOP 7 best hand steamers.

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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Warn ironing

Polyester, as a material, is wrinkle resistant. It is enough to follow simple rules for caring for things made from it so as not to worry about ironing:

Wash in warm water, temperature no more than 40 degrees.
Can be washed by hand or on a delicate cycle in a machine.
To avoid stains on things, it should be thoroughly wrung out.
After spinning, place it on hangers and smooth the jacket with your hands. When dry, each break will have to be removed by ironing.

When washing a polyester jacket, select the delicate cycle.

What rules should you follow to iron out polyester items?

Any polyester items can be ironed using a steamer. The steam acts on the fabric, and all the curves begin to even out. There is no need to hide the item in the wardrobe until it is completely dry.
Cotton fabric will help you iron polyester items. It should be damp. Then they put it on the item and begin to iron it. But during the time you iron, the item should be damp.
You can also simply iron things with an iron. But there is a very high risk that you may simply burn the fabric. Therefore, it is better not to do this if you do not want to damage your item.

How to iron a jacket?

An important factor is what other fabrics are included. The quality of smoothing the item depends on this. You can read this on the label. If you don't know what temperature to choose, sometimes a small piece of fabric goes with your clothes.

So take this piece and determine what temperature is most suitable. If the jacket has not been washed, first wet it in cold water. Then wring out the jacket.
Turn it inside out and select the “Silk” mode.
The jacket should be ironed not from the outside, but from the middle.
To be on the safe side, take a towel and place it between your jacket and the iron.
But if you iron and there is still no result, then you can start ironing from the outside. But in this case, take a slightly damp gauze and place it so as not to make any marks on the fabric.
After ironing the jacket, hang it on a hanger and let it dry at room temperature.

Sometimes people wonder if it is possible to iron a jacket without using an iron. It's still possible. People will find a way out of any situation. Therefore, you can also follow these instructions:

Take your jacket and hang it on your hanger.
It should hang as if on a display window, and all zippers and buttons should be fastened.
Wet it and try to smooth it with wet hands.
Then fill the bathroom with hot water so that steam starts flowing.
Hang your jacket so that the steam is directed towards it. Under the influence of steam, the jacket should straighten.
After this, dry it at room temperature.

How to iron polyester curtains?

Now you can choose curtains to suit every taste. The stores offer a very large selection. They offer curtains in different colors and different fabrics. Sometimes it is very difficult to make a choice. No matter what curtains you choose, you will still have to take care of them. That is, such a phenomenon as washing cannot be avoided. It’s clear that taking care of such large items is much more difficult than taking care of ordinary clothes. Before you start washing, check what material they are made of. Each material requires its own special approach. If you find that the curtains are made of polyester combined with viscose, then you can iron them at a temperature of + 150 degrees. But if you want to avoid possible problems, then you can hang the curtains wet, they will dry and be even.

If you are afraid to conduct different experiments, then it is best to turn to specialists. Take your jacket to the dry cleaner. They will do wonders to your items, remove all the creases and make your items look like they are new. That is, if you want to get a guarantee that everything will be in order with your things, then dry cleaning is the best choice.

Ironing temperature

always set depending on the type of fabric. It is better to start with minimum temperatures, increasing as necessary to the maximum value.

Many manufacturers anticipate housewives’ doubts in choosing the ironing temperature and instead of degrees write hint phrases on the iron relay: “cotton”, “linen”, etc. And if you put the iron in steam mode, fewer wrinkles will remain on the fabric.

Be sure to run the iron a couple of times over any fabric - in case there are stains and water marks on the sole of the iron, which can accidentally be transferred to your item of clothing.

First of all, pay attention to the labels of the clothes - they contain all the information about caring for the product: how to wash, how to dry and, finally, at what temperature to iron:

The label is lost - no problem, the table of ironing modes will tell you at what temperature a particular fabric should be ironed: