Easy care

Synthetic fabrics offer the wearer clothing which is easy to wear and easy to care for.  Many natural materials need specialist care to keep them clean and safe from damage.

Silk is a natural material which must be dry cleaned or delicately hand washed. It is a fragile material which cannot be ironed with a hot iron or it will be singed and greatly damaged.

Pure wool garments need particular care. They are susceptible to clothes moths which eat the fibres and cause holes. The fibres also become felted and the garments are at risk of shrinking with over agitation in washing machines.  It is therefore safer to wash them by hand.

Some natural materials such as linen, from the flax plant, have a tendency to crease when worn making them look scruffy. The two pieces on display here are both made of polyester, a material which is quick drying, shrink resistant, and deal with creases in different ways.

The Influence dress (1) embraces the crease; it has been designed to be dried and stored twisted to make a feature of the crinkle effect which gives the skirt lift and movement.

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The blouse (2) is made using DuPont’s trademarked polyester fibre known as Dacron. It’s label states that it: ‘offers comfortable wear, neat appearance and easy care’ the material gives ‘extra wrinkle resistance, extra press retention’ and because the material is not ‘affected by moisture it gives extra shape retention, won't shrink or stretch’ and ‘has extra strength and durability’.

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