Thread: wrinkly veils

Is there a super-careful method of ironing veils and/or fan veils so they don’t burn? Or do you just steam them in the shower? My fan veils arrived in a pretty crumpled state so I’m worried steam won’t do it all.

Thank you

Moxie

I have this clothes steamer and it works great!

Conair GS10RHR Deluxe Fabric Steamer - 1300W

There is really no reason to be super-careful with silk (except no bleach!)

Silk can and should be ironed on the hottest setting with steam. If that isn't doing the trick, spritz them with a spray bottle of water until they are damp and iron them dry.

If they are polyester chiffon they can be ironed on a medium setting.

Yep it's true; silk will tolerate quite a hot iron. If you try to use the "delicate" setting, you'll just iron and iron away with little effect. If the iron's hot enough, one swipe across the fabric and it will go perfectly smooth wherever the iron touches it. Getting a silk veil soaking wet and hanging it to dry outdoors on a windy day will also make it beautifully smooth.
Rosette

hang it up and squirt it with a water bottle. And if you have a water based scent you can add it to the bottle so you have nice smelling silk.

Maybe I'm just uber-picky, but I don't iron my silks, because I think they float differently. I hang them (wet) or steam them, and on the next windy day, mine will take turns on the clothes line. But I don't like them ironed.

After I iron silk veils, I pull them through my fist several times (think of a magician pulling silk handkerchiefs out of his hand). This makes them extra buttery and fluid.

When I air dry silk it ends up rather stiff, not to mention crinkled. But I don't have a clothes line outside and its not often windy here.

I knew there was a silk setting on my iron for a reason!

Originally Posted by Karnak

I knew there was a silk setting on my iron for a reason!

If your iron is old, the silk setting is likely up there on the high end with the cotton setting (where IMHO it should be).

If your iron is newer, it is more likely to be way down in the medium range with the polyester setting (right on the edge of what's even hot enough for steam).

I'm not sure why this happened.

The reason that some fabrics need a cooler iron is either because 1) they melt (for example acetate or polyester or nylon) this only applies to synthetic fibers or 2) they will shrink an extreme amount if steamed (for example rayon that hasn't been prewashed and is labeled dry clean only) or felt up (for example, a wool sweater).

I guess I should add a 3) fabrics that have been treated to be wrinkle free or polished can scorch a little more easily.

It is extremely difficult to scorch silk, even on the highest setting. You would have to leave the iron on it in one place and go off to answer the phone or something. I have never scorched silk or plain cotton.

I have been using the Downy wrinkle release on my veils and it works really well.