Cleaning material pre-work

[Mikilt]

Rabble,
I have 4 yards, double width wool fabric that I am attempting to make into a jacket. I'd like to get it dry cleaned first, but after calling several cleaners, none were certain they could do a job so large.

So my questions: Does the material need to be cleaned ahead of construction? Will it pre-shrink? I might have better luck if I cut the material into two pieces?

If anyone can advise, I'd be much obliged.

[brewerpaul]

I have asked myself that same question when it comes to making items of wool, which is the main fabric I enjoy using. Presently I have about 5 vest/waistcoat, 1 Inverness Cape, 1 kilt jacket and one tweed jacket using a fleece jacket pattern. Because I was making jackets and vest, that I dont plan to wash, I did not prewash or treat them in any way. I do have some suiting weight wool I plan to make 1940's wide leg pleated trousers(yes guys pants but not your everyday Dockers) and I do plan to do a very gentle cold water wash with gentle shampoo or dish soap. I also have some medium to heavy tweed for a Sack Jacket circa1860's but again I dont plan to prewash or treat the wool. In my searches for the answer I have come across a couple sites that say all you need to do to preshrink or pretreat wool is to use your steam iron on it. This will treat the fabric as needed before you sew it. Google up prewashing or pretreating wool fabric and you will come up with quite a few sites. You dont want any harsh washing because it will felt or otherwise damage the wool. It may be time consuming but worth just cranking up your steam iron and giving the whole 9 yards a good going over. Let it dry then cut away. Im sure there are plenty, more experienced than me, that can add from their collective experiences.. Best of luck. I always have that bit of anxiety before I make that first cut.. Measure twice cut once..(a carry over from wood working)

[Pleater]

If your jacket is only going to be dry cleaned then there is probably no benefit to having the fabric cleaned, but if it might be washed then you might find it gives greater confidence to wash it first. If there is an odour or a sheen on the fabric it might be best to wash it.

I have quite a store of fabric and one kilt I made fairly recently proved to be mostly loose fibre and over three or four washed has gone from winter weight to something suitable for heat waves.

If you don't wash the whole thing, once you have laid out the pattern take a square of the spare fabric, measure it and then wash it - let it dry, press and remeasure so if the fabric proves prone to shrinking then at least you know that you should never wash it.

If you do decide to wash it, do it in the bath, run the water in just warm and lift the fabric out so it is not stirred up by the water as it empties and fills. Ordinary shampoo without conditioner is good for washing wool but add a cup of white vinegar to the last rinse as wool likes to be very slightly acidic and the shampoo is alkaline. I have an over the bath airer which I fold and lie flat to make a safe place for the fabric to sit and drain. Once most of the water has gone I hang it up, usually over a towel or sheet so the rods of the airer don't mark the fabric

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Kiltboy]

The suiting wools I've used in projects I've pre-treated (and pre-shrunk) with a two step process.
-Throw the yardage in a warm clothes dryer, with a towel soaked in hot water. The steam released during drying helps a lot.
-Then, if you have time, steam it with a hand clothing steamer, and let it dry flat. It usually shrinks a bit. Some like to do this step with a hand iron on full steam. But my arms get tired.

Most dry cleaners can just press it, not clean it, to get it to shrink. But some do not as they send out their clothes to a processing facility, and don't generally do yardage.

[Andrew Breecher]

You could do what's called the "London shrink" - dampen a sheet or other large cotton cloth, then lay it on top of your wool and roll them together. Leave them for a day, then unwrap them and press the wool dry with an iron. A quicker method would be to simply iron the wool with a generous steam iron.

Even if you plan to only dry clean the items once they're finished, you should still pre-shrink them to some extent. What if you're caught out in the rain and your clothing gets wet?

[Mikilt]

You could do what's called the "London shrink" - dampen a sheet or other large cotton cloth, then lay it on top of your wool and roll them together. Leave them for a day, then unwrap them and press the wool dry with an iron. A quicker method would be to simply iron the wool with a generous steam iron.

Even if you plan to only dry clean the items once they're finished, you should still pre-shrink them to some extent. What if you're caught out in the rain and your clothing gets wet?

Indeed! Very good point, sir. It will take a while to do nearly 7 yards on a 4' ironing board.

[Andrew Breecher]

Indeed! Very good point, sir. It will take a while to do nearly 7 yards on a 4' ironing board.

It sure will. This is a labour of love!

[Mikilt]

All,
Thank you for all your input. I am new at this and I am unsure of things.

As long as I air dry it, will it work to machine wash it on Wool setting? Will I still need to iron?

[Andrew Breecher]

If you wash it, you'll need to iron it in order to get the wrinkles out. Even if you hang dry it, you'll need to iron it to get the wrinkles out. Even if you don't wash it at all, you'll probably want to iron it. A blast of steam will help it a great deal. Apart from my needles, my iron is the piece of equipment used most in tailoring.

If you have a spare piece of plywood, or a smooth hollow-core door you can lay over some sawhorses, or on your dining room table, you can put a piece of canvas or cotton twill over it, and then iron right on that. It will save a lot of time and give you better results than using a small ironing board.

[Mikilt]

I wound up steaming it carefully with a garment steamer. Hopefully this does the trick.