Linen Clothing

[goldberry]

I have been told that you do not iron linen clothing.  That the wrinkles are part of the "look".

Okay...are ya'll legit just going out in unironed linen clothing looking like you just rolled out of bed?  I'm not sure I can do this.... 

[regentrude]

Even if you iron, after sitting for 30 minutes it looks like you never ironed. So I'm not sure how effective it is - unless I stand still.

[goldberry]

Just now, regentrude said:

Even if you iron, after sitting for 30 minutes it looks like you never ironed. So I'm not sure how effective it is - unless I stand still.

Yeah...I do like the feel of linen, and it's around in the stores right now.  But I don't know if I can embrace the wrinkles!

[Faith-manor]

I love linen. I am having a thing with my skin where it feels irritated from polyester and other synthetics. So I wear a lot of linen, cotton things like chambray, etc. I just let it go. I do hang them up to dry, and then put them in the dryer on air fluffy when they are just damp with my wool balls to pummel them and that helps. Otherwise, embrace the wrinkles. Think of yourself as wearing "Crinkle Crepe". 😁

[Sneezyone]

I hang them up to dry as straight as possible but, yes, the IDGAF ease of linen on hot humid days is worth it.

[MEmama]

I find linen hot and unforgiving in the heat of summer; I’m always surprised people find it cool. As for ironing, I don’t iron anything but even if I did I definitely would never think to iron linen. What would be the point? 

[Melissa in Australia]

I have been making quite a few pieces of clothing out of linen and linen/ cotton blends. I iron just before putting on. I also line dry and hang up as soon as the clothing is dry.

I love linen. I don't find the blend wrinkles much at all . Of course if it is very hot then it wrinkles a bit more, but way more breathable than synthetic fibres.  Way longer lasting than just about anything and terrific choice for environmental factors 

[Eos]

I just pulled my brown linen dress out of the attic to wear to dd's master's graduation tomorrow. It's thick and so doesn't wrinkle nearly as much as thin linen.

[J-rap]

Well, I do always iron mine after I wash them, but then I don't usually iron them between washes.  So they certainly gather wrinkles when I wear them but still look okay overall.  I usually wear them many times before needing to wash them again, and then that's when I finally iron them again.

[Katy]

Most linen IS designed to be ironed.  Some designs even look best starched. I haven't seen linen items designed to be wrinkled and look sloppy in several years, but it probably exists.

[Corraleno]

I think the key with linen clothing is to go for a loose/relaxed fit. A fitted/tailored linen blouse or pants will crease like crazy and look messy, but a loose linen blouse over a tank top, or loose linen pants under a tunic-length tee shirt, will tend to wrinkle less and look relaxed instead of sloppy. There's a reason that linen blazers are usually oversized and worn with the sleeves pushed up, instead of being tailored like a wool blazer.

[Laura Corin]

I avoid linen for this reason.  I iron maybe once a year, and the idea of preparing something that is meant to be cool to wear by spending time sweating over a hot iron makes no sense to me.

[Sneezyone]

10 hours ago, Eos said:

I just pulled my brown linen dress out of the attic to wear to dd's master's graduation tomorrow. It's thick and so doesn't wrinkle nearly as much as thin linen.

I have a thick navy dress like this. The sucker hangs beautifully and needs no ironing. I just throw on a boxy oversized shirt or fitted cropped sweater. I like that linen garments are usually made in classic styles that last. I recently lost 20+ lbs and I’m wearing investment linen pieces that are 15 years old that ppl think are new and on trend…um, no.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Ah, linen.... no, I don't iron it (except when I am pressing it while sewing with it) but I do snap it into shape as soon as it's out of the washer while it'sstill wet. Otherwise it doesn't have that "look" but huge ugly creases. 

Edited May 27 by wisdomandtreasures

[goldberry]

12 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I think the key with linen clothing is to go for a loose/relaxed fit. A fitted/tailored linen blouse or pants will crease like crazy and look messy, but a loose linen blouse over a tank top, or loose linen pants under a tunic-length tee shirt, will tend to wrinkle less and look relaxed instead of sloppy. There's a reason that linen blazers are usually oversized and worn with the sleeves pushed up, instead of being tailored like a wool blazer.

This *sort of* makes sense, thank you!

[Faith-manor]

13 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I think the key with linen clothing is to go for a loose/relaxed fit. A fitted/tailored linen blouse or pants will crease like crazy and look messy, but a loose linen blouse over a tank top, or loose linen pants under a tunic-length tee shirt, will tend to wrinkle less and look relaxed instead of sloppy. There's a reason that linen blazers are usually oversized and worn with the sleeves pushed up, instead of being tailored like a wool blazer.

This is what I do. My skin really needs natural fibers. I don't know why, but I feel like I am itchy and scratchy in polyester and other synthetics. So I do wear loose linen, tunics, wide leg pants, etc. It is just the same thing with my 100% cotton chambray and polished apple cotton pieces. None of them are form fitting, and I don't iron. Hang to dry, when damp, run on air fluff with the wool balls which knocks some of the worst wrinkles out, and that is that. I am currently fly working on a sleeveless tank in grey chambray. After that I am getting started on a pair of buttery, off white pants in linen.

[Corraleno]

39 minutes ago, goldberry said:

This *sort of* makes sense, thank you!

Here's an example of what I mean: the tailored pants are going to crease like crazy in the crotch and across the upper thighs from sitting down or even just walking, whereas the loose-fitting pants with the gathered waist won't crease nearly as badly. I have a couple of pairs of linen pants and several tunic-length linen tops, and I just throw them in the washer, then shake them out and toss them in the dryer (with wool dryer balls) and they come out fine. There's a texture to linen that isn't perfectly smooth (unless it's ironed), but they definitely don't look like I slept in them, lol. I also have linen sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers, and even linen towels, and they all come out of the dryer looking nice, not crumpled up.

ETA: Stiffer, more tightly-woven linen will also crease more than loosely-woven linen, and thin linen will generally wrinkle more than thicker (but still loosely woven) linen. For example, my linen towels are heavy weight but very loosely woven and they barely wrinkle at all (even when one of the kids leaves them in a damp pile on the floor instead of hanging them up).

Edited May 27 by Corraleno

[Bambam]

I discovered recently something many knew years ago. If you hang dry your linen, it has less wrinkles. 
I'm not going to iron it. 
I consider it "rich lady wrinkles" and go on about my business. It is cool and that is the part that is important to me. 

I have found that some linen is scratchier than other? Maybe that is because of origin or quality? There have been a couple of shirts I tried on that just didn't feel comfortable. But I bought a couple of linen pants on etsy, and they are the softest and most comfortable linen ever. I'm looking forward to those this summer. 

[Katy]

32 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I discovered recently something many knew years ago. If you hang dry your linen, it has less wrinkles. 
I'm not going to iron it. 
I consider it "rich lady wrinkles" and go on about my business. It is cool and that is the part that is important to me. 

I have found that some linen is scratchier than other? Maybe that is because of origin or quality? There have been a couple of shirts I tried on that just didn't feel comfortable. But I bought a couple of linen pants on etsy, and they are the softest and most comfortable linen ever. I'm looking forward to those this summer. 

Please link the magically soft linen pants. 

[Bambam]

3 hours ago, Katy said:

Please link the magically soft linen pants. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1135267453/women-elastic-waist-cotton-pants-soft

And I'm sorry, I thought they were all linen, but they are a linen cotton combo. Maybe that cotton content accounts for the extra softness?  Anyway, I love them - soft, lightweight, cool, airy. I think they will be perfect when it gets even hotter. 

ETA: I didn't pay full price. I got them when they were 50% off. Those sales seem to happen fairly frequently. 

Edited May 28 by Bambam