Talking About Green

Although the world of organic clothing has been expanding in leaps and bounds over the last several years (due in large part to a rise in consumer demand spurred by a growing collective eco-consciousness) buyers will still have to deal with the fact that fabrics containing all-natural fibers (that haven’t been treated with any chemicals) are often subject to wrinkling.  However, people who abhor the iron will be happy to know that there are many ways to avoid a long session of steaming and pressing an entire wardrobe.  Just because you want to reduce you carbon footprint doesn’t mean you have to look like you just rolled out of bed.  Here are a few ways to get the beautiful, organic clothing you crave without the onus of ironing.

1.       Choose your fabrics wisely.  By opting for organic items like jersey-knit skirts, silk kimono tops, or leather chaps, you can easily avoid the wrinkled appearance that often accompanies cotton or hemp offerings.  While you can, of course, use an iron for everything that comes out of the dryer creased and crinkled, who wants to waste the time when there are so many wrinkle-free fabrics to choose from in the organic line-up?

2.       Learn dryer settings.  If you know that certain items are going to come out of the dryer wrinkled practically beyond repair, it behooves you to understand that you dryer has settings to minimize this problem.  The permanent press cycle was designed to keep your duds wrinkle-free with a cool-down at the end.  Although it works best with pre-treated, permanent press clothing items (those that are chemically treated with methanol to resist wrinkles), you can definitely use it with organic clothing, as well.

3.       Keep ‘em separated.  Most people just throw all their laundry in at once.  You might separate lights and darks, but it’s simply not economical to do several small loads when you can do one or two really big ones.  Right?  Well, this is more or less true.  You’ll waste less water and electricity this way.  But when it comes to drying, you should separate some items if you want to avoid wrinkling your organics.  When you put lighter-weight clothing in with heavy stuff like jeans and towels (for example), the light stuff gets bunched up, increasing the potential for wrinkling.  By the time it comes out of the washer, it’s not too likely to bleed (especially if you wash in cold water), so re-sort your clothes into heavy and light loads for the dryer.

4.       Hang immediately.  As soon as your dryer buzzes, you should be opening the door and hanging items that are prone to wrinkling.  Want to save on electricity by hang-drying your clothes in the first place?  Nip wrinkles in the bud by throwing offending items in the dryer for just a few minutes while damp and then re-hanging for further drying.

5.       Under-dry.  One of the worst culprits when it comes to wrinkles is bone-dry clothing.  By checking your items throughout the cycle and removing them when they’re still slightly damp, you can definitely reduce the wrinkle factor for your favorite organics pieces.

Sarah Danielson writes for Jafrum where you can find a great selection of biker gear including motorcycle helmets, boots, jackets, and many other clothes and motorcycle accessories.