Washing a viscose skirt

[Charlie]

I've got a crinkly viscose skirt. The crinkles make it sort of elastic, at least until I washed it - then it lost all elasticity. My wife suggested washing it again then screwing it up (as you would to wring it out) and let it dry in that state. The theory was that drying in a screwed-up state would put the crinkles back. It did to a degree, but not as good as it was.

Any suggestions? This skirt would be great for contra-dancing.

Charlie

[Skirt Chaser]

Does it have a care label hiding somewhere inside, maybe in a side seam toward the bottom, Charlie? If that doesn't pan out maybe laundry starch (says she who has never seen much less tried to use starch before for clothes). Maybe you dip it in a small batch of starched water then let it dry in the crinkle form again. I have some crinkle skirts that suggest it be put in a twisted knot to dry. Or at least I think it said something like that before I threw the paper tag away long before they were ever washed.

[Charlie]

It has a label which says:

o Hand wash
o Don't bleach, iron, tumble dry or machine wash.

I'll try screwing it up tight again (take ages to dry then).

Charlie

[crfriend]

Well, if the label says, "Hand wash, do not tumble dry" and you put it through the normal laundry cycle, I suspect you'll have a limp skirt for the rest of its life.

I've seen some skirts ("crinkle skirts") that have an instruction to tie them in a knot to dry them. That's a bit picky for me; I like stuff I can chuck in the wash and not worry about it! Maybe it's a "guy thing".

[Since1982]

Yep, sounds like a "guy thing" to me, how we dry our skirts...LOLOL Mine are all machine wash and dry, "guy thing" again.

[r1g0r]

hey charlie...

i've been advised (and had some success) with taking the washed and still wet skirt by the waistband, and forcing it into a stocking. this worked, but not as well as i'd hoped.

try such sites as ehow and askjeeves. they usually have a lot of useful tips.

[Kelly]

This is probably what's called a "broomstick skirt", because its crinkle is pretty much the same as results from having been wrapped around a broomstick as it dries. You don't really need a broomstick. Just wash it, but don't put it in the dryer. Instead wring it dry by winding it from waist to hem, then let it dry like that. (Yes, it will take a while, since the fabric is compressed, although after a day or so you can spread it out to finish drying and the crinkles should hold.)