# Can you press/iron seersucker?



## ymc226 (Mar 4, 2017)

I am interested in getting a seersucker sports coat like the one at J Press in solid navy like the one on the above link.

I don’t dry clean often and use a Jiffy steamer and steam press to keep my sports coat and pants pressed. Can I do the same with seersucker fabric or will pressing them at high temperatures change the character of the fabric too much?


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## derum (Dec 29, 2008)

ymc226 said:


> I am interested in getting a seersucker sports coat like the one at J Press in solid navy like the one on the above link.
> 
> I don't dry clean often and use a Jiffy steamer and steam press to keep my sports coat and pants pressed. Can I do the same with seersucker fabric or will pressing them at high temperatures change the character of the fabric too much?


Not everyone thinks they should be ironed:
"As for the wrinkling, that is another superior quality of seersucker: don't bother to iron or press it, because you _can't unwrinkle it_. So the seersucker suit on the lawyer walking down Broughton Street after a shave and a trim at Jimmy Tagaglio's looked just like the seersucker suit on the drunk just let out of the holding pen."


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## ymc226 (Mar 4, 2017)

derum said:


> Not everyone thinks they should be ironed:
> "As for the wrinkling, that is another superior quality of seersucker: don't bother to iron or press it, because you _can't unwrinkle it_. So the seersucker suit on the lawyer walking down Broughton Street after a shave and a trim at Jimmy Tagaglio's looked just like the seersucker suit on the drunk just let out of the holding pen."


Thank you. Actually, I like the "crinkles" of the seersucker fabric and specifically want to preserve that characteristic but want to eliminate the invariable larger folds or wrinkles that come from wearing.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^Have you tried steaming out those more deeply set wrinkles? :icon_scratch:


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## Semper Jeep (Oct 11, 2011)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^Have you tried steaming out those more deeply set wrinkles? :icon_scratch:


Steaming is my recommendation for seersucker.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

The crinkle of seersucker is woven in. Originally I've read it was created via an acid treatment, but that's history.

As such, you can press away, and unless you overheat or otherwise damage the cloth, you shouldn't experience much difficulty. I'd use a medium temperature. I think a steamer would be more useful on jackets, ironing on the trousers.

It shouldn't affect the crinkle materially, but realize the *nature* of seersucker is *rumpled*. So understand that no matter how much you iron or steam, it will return to that natural state after any short wearing on a steamy day.


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## fishertw (Jan 27, 2006)

derum said:


> Not everyone thinks they should be ironed:
> "As for the wrinkling, that is another superior quality of seersucker: don't bother to iron or press it, because you _can't unwrinkle it_. So the seersucker suit on the lawyer walking down Broughton Street after a shave and a trim at Jimmy Tagaglio's looked just like the seersucker suit on the drunk just let out of the holding pen."


And the drunk and the lawyer COULD be the same person.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

Can you press or iron seersucker? In the words of Richard M. Nixon, "we could do that but it would be wrong."


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^LOL.
Well said, Brooksfan!


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

I iron the collar and placket after washing, but just hang dry after that. The pucker is woven in, so you can't iron it out.


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## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

I have both ironed and pressed seersucker, but I can't recall ever having done either with a seersucker jacket. I've ironed seersucker shirts and dresses that got badly rumpled in the laundry,* and perhaps I've steamed creases out of the crotch of a pair of trousers (I spend a lot of time sitting), but I am confident I have never done beans to one of my seersucker jackets.

So the short answer is "yes," you can do that to the fabric without irreparably damaging it. But unless you wad your jacket up and leave it under a pile of clothes, I doubt you would put enough rumples in a seersucker jacket to warrant doing anything to it. It's supposed to have a bit of an insouciant quality.

* I grew up in a big family ironing my own school shirts, while my wife grew up an only child whose mother did all the ironing; the net result is I am the only person in the house who knows how to use the dang thing. I think not learning to iron is one of the things my wife puts under the heading of "I was keeping your children alive instead." I've always suspected that both should be possible simultaneously, but she does a sufficiently bad job when she attempts it that I tend not to press (pun intended) the issue.


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2021)

ymc226 said:


> Thank you. Actually, I like the "crinkles" of the seersucker fabric and specifically want to preserve that characteristic but want to eliminate the invariable larger folds or wrinkles that come from wearing.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

Titus_A said:


> I have both ironed and pressed seersucker, but I can't recall ever having done either with a seersucker jacket. I've ironed seersucker shirts and dresses that got badly rumpled in the laundry,* and perhaps I've steamed creases out of the crotch of a pair of trousers (I spend a lot of time sitting), but I am confident I have never done beans to one of my seersucker jackets.
> 
> So the short answer is "yes," you can do that to the fabric without irreparably damaging it. But unless you wad your jacket up and leave it under a pile of clothes, I doubt you would put enough rumples in a seersucker jacket to warrant doing anything to it. It's supposed to have a bit of an insouciant quality.
> 
> * I grew up in a big family ironing my own school shirts, while my wife grew up an only child whose mother did all the ironing; the net result is I am the only person in the house who knows how to use the dang thing. I think not learning to iron is one of the things my wife puts under the heading of "I was keeping your children alive instead." I've always suspected that both should be possible simultaneously, but she does a sufficiently bad job when she attempts it that I tend not to press (pun intended) the issue.


"I think not learning to iron is one of the things my wife puts under the heading of "I was keeping your children alive instead."

LOL, I have a feeling you married very well.

(And, yes, I know your post is 2 years old.)


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## vonSuess (Apr 29, 2017)

Mine come back from the cleaner with creased trousers, although I don't know they stay creased all that long...


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