# Is it possible to wash and dry Rayon without ironing it?



## pjrose (Jul 15, 2013)

I have two soft comfy summer dresses that I hardly ever wear, and haven't yet washed. I was considering buying another in a different color until I realized they are Rayon (with 5% Spandex).  Everything else DD or I has had that's Rayon always wrinkles, even if we wash it gentle and cold and dry it gentle and low temp.  Hanging it in the bathroom to get steamed by a few showers doesn't help.  

Is there a way to wash Rayon without it wrinkling?  I'm willing to hand wash and/or drip dry, but very reluctant to iron.


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## Luanne (Jul 15, 2013)

Sorry, but everything I have that is rayon needs to be ironed.


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## Passepartout (Jul 15, 2013)

Is there a care label inside the garment? I have a bunch of rayon shirts that wash like perfectly on warm perm press, dry perm press. They've never seen an iron.


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## linsj (Jul 15, 2013)

Luanne said:


> Sorry, but everything I have that is rayon needs to be ironed.



Ditto here.


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## pjrose (Jul 15, 2013)

Passepartout said:


> Is there a care label inside the garment? I have a bunch of rayon shirts that wash like perfectly on warm perm press, dry perm press. They've never seen an iron.



Yes, wash gentle and dry gentle, or something along those lines, and "Iron if Necessary".  I think I'll postpone washing them until necessary LOL. 

Are your shirts woven or knit?  Maybe that's the difference?


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## Luanne (Jul 15, 2013)

Maybe the difference is all of my rayon is not supposed to be put in the dryer.  Hanging dry doesn't remove the wrinkles.


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## Passepartout (Jul 15, 2013)

pjrose said:


> Yes, wash gentle and dry gentle, or something along those lines, and "Iron if Necessary".  I think I'll postpone washing them until necessary LOL.
> 
> Are your shirts woven or knit?  Maybe that's the difference?



The shirts are woven. Kinda Hawaiian. Bright colors, wood buttons. They say 'Iron if necssary', too, but it never is unless I dry them too hot then leave them in the dryer. They are fairly heavy weight and drape nicely. There are many different 'rayons' it was an early- maybe the first- synthetic, and may be mixed with other fabrics- like yours is blended with spandex.

Here's a wiki-like thing about rayon: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-rayon.htm

I just bought some new cellulose based shirts, but they call the cellulose fabric, 'Tencel'.


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## pjrose (Jul 15, 2013)

Yikes, that's complicated stuff!  How on earth did anyone figure all that out? 

I think I know what your "kinda Hawaiian" shirts are like.  These dresses are extremely soft and flowey, and feel like a high quality light-weight cotton (like supima).  In fact that's what I thought they were until I looked online for another from the same store, and saw that it was Rayon.  I decided not to get it, then checked the labels of the ones I already had. 

The instructions say "machine wash cold, tumble dry low." I'd use the gentle wash cycle.  I'd better wait till we get a new dryer, though, as the thermostat on ours is kaput and everything dries hot


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## MuranoJo (Jul 16, 2013)

Most rayons I'd probably dry clean.

I usually avoid them due to the wrinkles just a while after wearing them, but I have had a few which wore and draped very well.  Probably has something to do with the label.


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## Luanne (Jul 16, 2013)

muranojo said:


> Most rayons I'd probably dry clean.
> 
> I usually avoid them due to the wrinkles just a while after wearing them, but I have had a few which wore and draped very well.  Probably has something to do with the label.



I never dry clean the rayon shirts I have.  Directions clearly say hand wash/hang dry.  That's what I do and they come out great.......just need to be ironed.


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## natasha5687 (Jul 16, 2013)

pjrose said:


> I have two soft comfy summer dresses that I hardly ever wear, and haven't yet washed. I was considering buying another in a different color until I realized they are Rayon (with 5% Spandex).  Everything else DD or I has had that's Rayon always wrinkles, even if we wash it gentle and cold and dry it gentle and low temp.  Hanging it in the bathroom to get steamed by a few showers doesn't help.
> 
> Is there a way to wash Rayon without it wrinkling?  I'm willing to hand wash and/or drip dry, but very reluctant to iron.



I would just take it to the Dry Cleaner.  You can find many like Zips or if you have a Safeway in your area that does dry cleaning you can get it fone for a dollar or 2...especially if the hubby has a few shirts you want to take.  I believe they are a dollar each if more than 5.


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## spencersmama (Jul 16, 2013)

The hint I got from my grandmother for avoiding ironing:

Wash the garment as usual.  Place in the dryer until hot and damp, but not completely dry.  Take the garment out of the dryer and hang dry.  Make sure to smooth out the garment so that all the seams lie or hang flat and so that the fabric is smooth.  

I never iron.  My clothes aren't "crisp," like they just came from the drycleaner but they aren't wrinkled.   I've shared this tip with a few friends that used to iron everything and they loved how much time it saves.


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## Travelclam (Jul 16, 2013)

I would put them in the dryer for about 15 minutes till they are ~ half dry; then hang them on a hanger.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 16, 2013)

We have never been able to successfully wash rayon without it shrinking in some way. No dryer either, it always shrinks. Wrinkles were the least of our problems. I would stick with dry clean only.


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## pjrose (Jul 16, 2013)

I could try dry cleaning, but probably haven't been to one in 15 years .

Since our dryer cooks clothes (broken thermostat) I like the hanging ideas.  Spencersmama's Grandmother sounds like she did it the same way my mom did.  

How about hand or gentle-machine wash, smooth out on a big towel and roll to get out excess moisture, then hang and hand-smooth like Grandmother?  

Or maybe buy one of those steamer gadgets to shoot steam on it when it's hanging dry?  I suppose at that point I could just iron.....

These are long flowey print dresses, and heck, as long as they don't look like they were dried in a crumpled up ball, some wrinklies probably won't even be noticeable!  (And shrinking isn't a problem - the dresses are nice and loose and comfy and would have to shrink a LOT for that to change)


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## Luanne (Jul 17, 2013)

Personally I dry clean as few things as possible.  Hate the idea of the chemicals and the smell they usually leave.  Also don't like the feel of the material after it's been dry cleaned.


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