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In an effort to capitalize on the market for 100% cotton wrinkle-resistant garments, shirt manufacturers have been hard at work trying to produce a no-wrinkle product. A host of problems in processing and production, however, have made it difficult for manufacturers to deliver an all-cotton, no-iron dress shirt. Amid doubts about consumer demand, apparel makers are proceeding cautiously and experimenting with cotton/polyester blends and new finishing methods.
"We feel that there are strong applications in wrinkle-resistant cotton blends. They are doing very well for us," says Chris Heyn, president of Salant Menswear Group, which markets wrinkle-resistant cotton blend shirts under the John Henry and Gant names, and all-cotton oxford shirts under the Gant label. Like many in the industry, Salant is working on a no-wrinkle, 100% cotton broadcloth shirt yet questions the product's market potential. "I wonder about the growth in 100% cotton wrinkle-resistant because of two factors," says Heyn. "the first is that nine times out of 10, the customer is sending this shirt out to be laundered, and doesn't require the same no-wrinkle performance as the blended customer. The second is that the industry just hasn't achieved a good, wrinkle-resistant, lightweight product at a marketable price."
Shirt makers have overcome many of the initial obstacles in producing wrinkle-resistant shirts. For instance, new fusing materials were introduced because those used initially were not consistent with the anti-wrinkle process and puckered after washing. No-iron shirts also puckered because factories were using traditional medium size needles and tight thread tensions.
"There were lessons to be learned as far as that was concerned," says Mark Camnitz, director of manufacturing for Hampton Industries, which produces 100% cotton broadcloth and oxford shirts for the casual market. "Wrinkle-resistant goods tend to pucker, and we found we had to use a smaller needle and the least amount of tension on all sewing operations to alleviate the problem. But the risk of going to smaller needles is having more skips. The tendency is to then go to a larger needle, but because we use pre-cured goods and some of them are stiff, we were getting hole impressions. So there are a lot of things that have to run exactly right."
Another problem was caused by the softeners used on cured fabrics...