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Seersucker vs linen vs linen-cotton blend--summer sport coat wrinkle contest

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rhz

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
When it comes to lightweight summer jackets, some wrinkling seems to be part of the territory. I've read plenty of posts about how people come to "embrace" the wrinkles in their linen jackets. I'm not quite there yet (some wrinkling is fine, but pure linen seems to become a disheveled mess in short order) and was wondering how seersucker or a cotton-linen blend compare against pure linen in terms of wrinkles. Also, for any of these options, is there any kind of home ironing that can be done safely to keep things fairly orderly between trips to the dry-cleaner?

Thank you very much.
 
#2 ·
I've not had issues ironing linen. In fact, especially in the summer, I kinda like the fact that I don't need it to be perfect to look good. While it does wrinkle easily, it's not like having a wool suit looking like it was just unpacked. Yes, linen/cotton blends are more wrinkle-resistant (I don't own one) and IMO would likely be a bit dressier. Last, seersucker is a textured enough fabric where I really haven't noticed when it's wrinkled (looks the same pretty much all the time). So bottom line: I hand iron my linen stuff without an issue, and I think it looks fine.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
medhat said:
I've not had issues ironing linen. In fact, especially in the summer, I kinda like the fact that I don't need it to be perfect to look good. While it does wrinkle easily, it's not like having a wool suit looking like it was just unpacked. Yes, linen/cotton blends are more wrinkle-resistant (I don't own one) and IMO would likely be a bit dressier. Last, seersucker is a textured enough fabric where I really haven't noticed when it's wrinkled (looks the same pretty much all the time). So bottom line: I hand iron my linen stuff without an issue, and I think it looks fine.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Re seersucker, yeah, small wrinkles can't be easily distinguished from the fabric, but larger ones seem to be quite noticeable.
 
#4 · (Edited)
rhz said:
When it comes to lightweight summer jackets, some wrinkling seems to be part of the territory. I've read plenty of posts about how people come to "embrace" the wrinkles in their linen jackets. I'm not quite there yet (some wrinkling is fine, but pure linen seems to become a disheveled mess in short order) and was wondering how seersucker or a cotton-linen blend compare against pure linen in terms of wrinkles. Also, for any of these options, is there any kind of home ironing that can be done safely to keep things fairly orderly between trips to the dry-cleaner?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
From my experience, seersucker seems to wrinkle a bit less than linen, or possibly only appears that way as it is already pre-wrinkled in a sense.

I've never had cotton/linen coating, but I have one shirt that is 50/50 and was very surprised that it wrinkles less than either. It also wears very cool. I'd think it would make a very nice casual jacket, as the appearance of the cloth is relaxed.
 
#5 ·
I have 3 summer jackets recently purchased with a 50/50 linen cotton blend. I didn’t want the pure linen due to the fact that it looks like one just hopped on top of a wrinkle grenade. I really think that 99% of people would just think I never bother to dry clean my clothes. I find the blend to be great so far. I prefer to run an iron over the jackets after each wear but I suppose you wouldn’t necessarily have to.
 
#6 ·
I have found seersucker quite resilient and wrinkles considerably less than a pure linen. A cotton/linen or cotton/linen/silk blend will also be a little more to your taste than a pure linen regarding wrinkles IMO. Mine wrinkle way less than a lighter weight pure linen. Another thing to consider with pure linen is the weight and type/design of the fabric (which it seems you have as you mentioned “lightweight”). I have a pure linen jacket that is a bit thicker and almost tweed like in its appearance and it hardly wrinkles at all vs. my lighter weight herringbone pure linen suit that wrinkles just by looking at it, lol. I have learned to embrace and enjoy the character of it and I think in time you will find yourself in a similar situation. I try and limit my trips to the dry cleaner to as little as possible because it breaks down and slowly shortens the life of your garment (especially summer jackets as many are partially fused construction). I will iron at home as needed but will only take my jackets and trousers to the dry cleaner when they really truly need it as a last resort. :) As I recall there have been a few threads in the past that discuss how frequent, or lack of frequency, people are taking clothes to be dry cleaned. Best of luck in your search and I hope I helped a little.
 
#7 ·
Jgarner’s comment about the thickness and overall weight of the linen is a good point.
Thin, cheaply made linen will wrinkle quite a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing but if excessive wrinkling is a concern, surely a factor to consider.

The linen/cotton blend should provide a good balance between the lightness and wrinkle resistance sought from a warm weather jacket.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Jgarner197 said:
I have found seersucker quite resilient and wrinkles considerably less than a pure linen. A cotton/linen or cotton/linen/silk blend will also be a little more to your taste than a pure linen regarding wrinkles IMO. Mine wrinkle way less than a lighter weight pure linen. Another thing to consider with pure linen is the weight and type/design of the fabric (which it seems you have as you mentioned "lightweight"). I have a pure linen jacket that is a bit thicker and almost tweed like in its appearance and it hardly wrinkles at all vs. my lighter weight herringbone pure linen suit that wrinkles just by looking at it, lol. I have learned to embrace and enjoy the character of it and I think in time you will find yourself in a similar situation. I try and limit my trips to the dry cleaner to as little as possible because it breaks down and slowly shortens the life of your garment (especially summer jackets as many are partially fused construction). I will iron at home as needed but will only take my jackets and trousers to the dry cleaner when they really truly need it as a last resort. :) As I recall there have been a few threads in the past that discuss how frequent, or lack of frequency, people are taking clothes to be dry cleaned. Best of luck in your search and I hope I helped a little.
Click to expand...
Thanks. So, to be clear, I presume you find it safe to iron seersucker? I'd be afraid that I'd somehow damage the fabric with an iron. Thought about maybe ironing it with a towel in between the iron and the jacket.
 
#9 ·
rhz said:
Thanks. So, to be clear, I presume you find it safe to iron seersucker? I'd be afraid that I'd somehow damage the fabric with an iron. Thought about maybe ironing it with a towel in between the iron and the jacket.
Click to expand...
Assuming the seersucker is all cotton, it should be no more problematic to iron than any other cotton fabric. The puckers are woven in.

Scorching is an issue with any cloth, just make sure you use a steam iron, and don't set it at the hottest setting.
 
#10 ·
rhz said:
Thanks. So, to be clear, I presume you find it safe to iron seersucker? I'd be afraid that I'd somehow damage the fabric with an iron. Thought about maybe ironing it with a towel in between the iron and the jacket.
Click to expand...
Yes sir I occasionally iron my seersucker trousers as needed. If you have the iron on the proper temperature setting you will have no issues. As Flanderian stated the texture/"puckers" are part of the fabric and you would have to really try hard to damage it IMO.
 
#11 ·
rhz said:
Thanks. So, to be clear, I presume you find it safe to iron seersucker? I'd be afraid that I'd somehow damage the fabric with an iron. Thought about maybe ironing it with a towel in between the iron and the jacket.
Click to expand...
If you care to look at the temperature setting of any given iron about the fabric type and temperature, you should see that linen requires the highest temperature setting, even higher than cotton.

That means, even with highest temperature, it is a bid difficult to scorch linen clothes. Using a pressed clothes with linen is unnecessary.

Having said that, if you are uncertain about how hot or how much, just remember this: you can press many times with lower temperature than scorching the item with one shot of high temperature. Less is more. For linen, using temperature setting for cotton and press more frequently until you get your desired result is far better than accidentally burn the fabric with high temperature setting.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Searching_Best_Fit said:
If you care to look at the temperature setting of any given iron about the fabric type and temperature, you should see that linen requires the highest temperature setting, even higher than cotton.

That means, even with highest temperature, it is a bid difficult to scorch linen clothes. Using a pressed clothes with linen is unnecessary.

Having said that, if you are uncertain about how hot or how much, just remember this: you can press many times with lower temperature than scorching the item with one shot of high temperature. Less is more. For linen, using temperature setting for cotton and press more frequently until you get your desired result is far better than accidentally burn the fabric with high temperature setting.
Click to expand...
Turning down the temp a bit is good advice. Thank you.
 
#13 ·
rhz said:
When it comes to lightweight summer jackets, some wrinkling seems to be part of the territory. I've read plenty of posts about how people come to "embrace" the wrinkles in their linen jackets. I'm not quite there yet (some wrinkling is fine, but pure linen seems to become a disheveled mess in short order) and was wondering how seersucker or a cotton-linen blend compare against pure linen in terms of wrinkles. Also, for any of these options, is there any kind of home ironing that can be done safely to keep things fairly orderly between trips to the dry-cleaner?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Have a linen/cotton sport coat that I have no problems ironing. It's a 3-button w/ peak lapel, very light, 1/4 lined with a nice cream color. Perfect for nice summer evenings or for the occasional cloudy day.
 
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