What is Garment Pressing?
Garment pressing is an important finishing process that involves applying heat and pressure, with or without steam, to fabric or garments. It removes unwanted creases and gives the material a smooth, flat appearance. Additionally, pressing is used to create intentional creases in garments for design or styling purposes. In the apparel industry, pressing is commonly referred to as ironing. The process involves pressing the iron onto the fabric, lifting it, moving it to a new section, and repeating the action.
Garment pressing combines heat, moisture, and pressure to eliminate wrinkles and shape garments. It is an essential step in garment care and production, typically performed after washing or tailoring to achieve a polished, crisp look. The aim of fabric pressing is to remove distortions in the fabric surface, for example, wrinkles in the zone of the seam, which depend on the buckling behavior partially related to bending rigidity. This process is integral to the apparel industry, performed either during assembly or as part of the final finishing stage.
Categories or Types of Garment Pressing:
The pressing of garments are categorized into five according to garments types, designs and materials that are given in below:
1. No pressing:
Some garments, like underwear, briefs, and swimwear, made from knitted fabrics, don’t require pressing.
2. Minimum pressing:
Some garments are available; these are not needed finishing done by applying heat but no need pressing. Such as Night gowns, knitted T-Shirt, Leisure wear and so on. These types of garments are pressing by steaming and by flowing dry air to the garments and called minimum pressing.
3. Under pressing:
To do help for sewing easily and beautifully, it must need to give minimum pressing to some parts of garments before sewing is called under pressing. Specially, under pressing is done to most of the garments industries for making coat, jacket, and trouser and so on. Sometimes, there is needed of unpicking and again under pressing is done before sewing.
4. Final pressing:
These types’ garments are applying heat and pressing to the garments. This is done after making of garments. This is generally done in jacket, trouser, skirt and so on. Special type of pressing machine is used for final pressing.
5. Permanent pressing:
Permanent pressing is a special type of pressing, when it is given to retain the shape of garments or special conditions. Such as, dart and pleat, which cannot be displace or drawn-off after washing of garments again and again. This type of pressing is done by applying high temperature and steam, sometimes, there is needed for pressing.
Purposes of Garment Pressing:
The primary goal of garment pressing is to enhance the overall appearance and appeal of garments. Also, the following are the key purposes of garment pressing:
a) Removal of unwanted creases and crinkles:
Different types of unwanted creases and crinkles are happened during making of garments. It may be forms due to the washing of garments. To remove these unwanted creases and crinkles from the garments, pressing or ironing is done.
b) To apply creases where necessary:
Sometimes, it is applied creasing effect to the garments to increase the beauty of that garments. This is also done before sewing to ensure proper alignment and improved appearance.
c) Shaping:
Pressing helps shape garments by enhancing the darts and seams for a tailored fit. It may involve shrinking or stretching certain parts of the fabric. Specialized pressing machines with custom beds are often used for this purpose.
d) Under pressing:
To do help for sewing easily and beautifully, it must need to give minimum pressing to some parts of garments before to give minimum pressing to some parts of garments before sewing is called under pressing. Specially, under pressing is done to most of the apparel industries for making Coat, Jacket, and Trouser and so on.
e) Final pressing:
The apparels are pressed finally before folding or after making of garments, is called final pressing. It is done to increases the beauty of garments and to impart a flat appearance to the cloth or garments. This step is crucial before folding or packaging to enhance the overall presentation and attractiveness of the product.
Pressing Equipment and Methods:
I already published an article on various pressing equipment and methods. The various equipment used are iron, steam presses, steam air finisher, steam tunnel, pleating and permanent press.
Ways of Garment Pressing:
Pressing is carried out using various means. Pressing is done by application of heat, moisture and pressure. Moisture is used usually as steam. Various pressing equipments are available which use steam for pressing.
Conclusion:
Garments are pressed to eliminate any creases, and present the garment to the customer in attractive condition ready for sale. Pressing plays a critical role in shaping, finishing, and preparing garments, contributing to both their aesthetic appeal and overall quality. Garment presentation to the consumer is a vital step in the finishing of a product. Garment pressing is often done in the garment production process to ensure that clothes look their best before they are sold. It is also a key part of laundry services, where garments are pressed to restore their smooth appearance and remove any wrinkles that may have formed during washing. Incorrect selection of parameters during pressing can lead to shrinkage, color loss or degradation of the fabric. Hence, all the parameters should be precisely controlled to avoid any damage to the garments.
References:
[1] Garment Manufacturing Technology. (2015). In Elsevier eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1016/c2013-0-16494-x
[2] Karthik, T., Ganesan, P., & Gopalakrishnan, D. (2016). Apparel Manufacturing Technology. In CRC Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315367507
[3] Rathinamoorthy, R., & Surjit, R. (2015). Apparel Machinery and Equipments. In WPI Publishing eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1201/b18903
Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.
