Upping the fashion IQ: fabrics - YouLookFab Forum

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Upping the fashion IQ: fabrics

Carol

(website)

Veteran

I was just watching an old video from a favorite YouTuber, Jennifer L. Scott, who shows some dresses and exclaims, "they just don't wrinkle! So these would be great for a trip."

And it got me to thinking: what are the fabrics or processes that lead to no wrinkling? And which are the ones that definitely wrinkle?

I know I could easily Google this, but I thought people might have personal experience with this. And are you a person who buys with "no wrinkling" in mind, or is that not a factor?

General

18 replies

Latest reply was from Star

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

VERY generally, Carol:

Manmade fibres are a lot more crease-resistant than natural fibres.

Carol

(website)

Veteran

Thanks, Angie! That does make sense, as linen and cotton come to mind.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

What Angie said.

Linen wrinkles. Full stop.

But blend it with cotton and it wrinkles a bit less. Blend it with some man-made fibre and I'll bet it wrinkles less again.

Knits tend to wrinkle less than wovens, or the heat of the body releases any wrinkles (most of the time).

Wool wovens, though, barely wrinkle at all. And that's a natural fibre. So...

Heavier fabrics like denim don't show wrinkling as much as lighter weight cottons would.

You can test it easily by scrunching a fabric in your hand and seeing how it springs back (or doesn't).

Irina

Veteran

I do pay attention to wrinkles but I don’t buy polyester unless there is no other choice - some gym clothes and outwear. Wish I could do without completely. I don’t mind ironing and wearing natural fibers is important to me.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Wrinkles are the price to pay for natural fibers. Although wool less so than cotton and linen in my experience.

Joy

Veteran

What Jaime said. I hate polyester and remember when polyester leisure suits were so popular. Now I only wear polyester during transitional and deep winter times when I can use the warmth. My newest box of insulin needles are plastic.the first one I used broke off under abdominal skin during an injection, resulting in a trip,to the emergency room. They ended up sending me home and said it would come out on its own in time like a sliver. The doctor had a huge pair of forceps to take it out. I was relived when he did not try.

Dee

Veteran

Not too crazy about wrinkles but will definitely tolerate them with linens in the heat of the summer.
I wear a lot of patterned items like ditsy prints in cotton blend tops which I find hide wrinkles quite well.

kkards

Veteran

For what it’s worth, I find woven’s wrinkle but knit’s crease. It’s pretty easy to steam out a crease. I also find that wool bounces back really well, so it’s pretty travel friendly

lyn67

Veteran

Linen is the worst, and my fave-haha!:-) I don't really buy with "wrickle- resistance" in my mind but certainly pay attention to when dressing up an event or to picties- as I have been caught in some wrinkly outfits in the past and was really an eye opening....oh well.

Anonymous

Linen is definitely better when blended with cotton. Not 100% crease proof, but better.
In general poly wrinkles much less than natural fibers, though not always. I have a mesh blouse that's a wrinkle magnet. I still prefer natural fibers, or higher natural content though, because of the microplastic thing. I have a well and septic, so anything I wash is going right back into my groundwater :/

cat2

Veteran

There are some non polyester knit fabrics that don’t wrinkle: modal, viscose and bamboo.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

I can't stand most polyester & acrylic against my skin BUT viscose/ rayon works well when it's light enough. I find a linen-viscose blend is good for summertime but a cotton-viscose mix drapes better whilst still withstanding wrinkles.

Bijou

Veteran

The only fabric I refuse to buy is viscose because unless you dry clean it, it wrinkles terribly. Wool, cotton and silk are my favourite fabrics, natural and generally not too bad when it comes to wrinkles.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Haha interesting that our replies are completely opposite @Bijou! I concede that not all viscose fabrics are made equally, so it's important to check it out in-person first (materials like polyester are much more consistent).

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I still wear polyester and also viscose, modal and bamboo. I don’t find any of these wrinkle, myself. My light viscose summer dress is soft and floaty, doesn’t wrinkle at all.
I only have one linen item, some linen/cotton blend white summer shorts. I wear those casually because they wrinkle terribly.

Brooklyn

Veteran

Like Bijou, I’ve found woven viscose (100% viscose) can wrinkle very easily and it’s important to scrunch test the item. It works better if it is a blend (especially with some elastane). The tencel and modal versions of viscose are superior in my opinion. Also knitted viscose, as opposed to woven, is fine. Lots of lightweight sweaters are knitted viscose. But they tend to have some nylon in the blend so that might be helping to prevent wrinkles.

I find silk usually wrinkles a lot, like viscose. It helps if it’s blended. Or if the item is lined.

With cotton it can depend how substantial the cotton is, and how it’s fabricated. Knit rib cotton doesn’t wrinkle much, in my experience. Denim, because it’s so sturdy. Also cheesecloth type fabrications seem to stand up to wrinkles well.

Linen is, well, linen.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

In my experience, 100% viscose tends to wrinkle terribly, and it's a natural fibre so I'm with Bijou. As a blend, viscose is gorgeous in a fabric because it's soft, natural, and silky! To Zaeobi's point, it feels wonderful against the skin in hot weather.

Star

Veteran

I get the appeal of no wrinkling when travelling but, I find poly does not work for sweat so being stinky and not wrinkled is actually not appealing. As for viscose I find it way to weak when it comes to washing so I avoid buying it mostly, as it just does not last as I am not prepared to handwash or run a separate handwash cycle when using the washing machine. I love linen for coolness but gosh it wrinkles! I think cotton is my #1 fabric choice in hot weather. For cold weather cotton is too cool and everything else is good.