How To Stop Linen From Wrinkling Or Creasing

In the modern world, there are many luxuries we can afford. Take hemp bedding, for instance. How cool that there is now this amazing eco-friendly bed linen product on your doorstep, ready to deliver incredibly soft sleeps? Check out our linen sets here. And yet, despite these wonders, there are still some things that we just can’t seem to fix. One of them is wrinkled, creased bed sheets. Dear lord! If we at Jo Dope had known what we know now when we crafted and slept in our first hemp sheets, we would have avoided a world of frustration and a very messy looking bed. But learning how to stay away from wrinkles and creases takes time and no small amount of experience. Good for you, we’ve done all the work already. Just like a good doona, this blog post will comprehensively cover everything - from situations to avoid, to packing techniques to washing and drying tips. Soon, your sheets will be as clear and smooth as, well, Jo Dope Hemp Bed Sheets (there is nothing else like them, what can I say?)

Avoiding the issue of creasing in the first place

Good habits. At Jo Dope, we love a good habit. For us, good habits lead to good vibes, and from there, the joy keeps rolling in. So, our first tip to avoid creased and wrinkled bed linen is caring for your sheets. Treat them like you would your own daughter! 

Wash them regularly

An unwashed sheet is really gross. It’s got all of the oils from your skin, plus maybe some granola from your last breakfast in bed (not so yum anymore). It might even smell bad. But, continuously sleeping on the same sheet will also make it wrinkle, crease and be generally unhappy. So keep your sheets smooth and soft by looking after them, and wash them at least once a week! This way the creases won’t become folds (which are really hard to get out). That’s the first, and primary way to avoid wrinkles in your bed linen. 

Roll them when they’re being transported or packed

If, for whatever reason, you have to move your bedsheets a long distance, or perhaps you’ve decided to try some new sheets, you might be inclined to pack them up. Ahhh, but it’s not that simple. What? You thought you could just chuck them in a bag and that was that? No, here at Jo Dope, we know that rolling, rather than folding will always minimize excess wrinkles. Lay your sheets on a flat surface, fold them in half, maybe twice and then roll them tightly, remembering to smooth wrinkles as you roll. This way you’ll end up with 3 creases rather than 52. 

Maintaining wrinkle-free bed linen

So, you’ve been looking after your hemp sheets, you’ve followed the instructions and cared for them well. But there’s more! Like many things in life, once the achievement is reached, you have to maintain it. In this section, we will discuss key pointers regarding the maintenance of the smoothness of your sheets throughout the working week. 

Ironing/laundering

At times we can be old-fashioned here at Jo Dope, but with respect to ironing we are not. We generally think that there are quicker fixes to wrinkled sheets. But, if you want old-style crisp sheets, and you have the time to burn (but hopefully not to burn), ironing could be the best choice. Another option is to get someone else to do it for you at a launderer, but this can also be expensive. If you do decide to iron your hemp sheets, it’s best done when they are slightly damp. Read on for our alternative method and more detail regarding the sheet flattening process. 

The spray bottle trick

The way that an iron works is through the combination of steam, pressure and heat. The steam softens the fabric by penetrating the fibers and making them grow larger. From there, the pressure and heat work to disrupt the hydrogen bonds holding the fabric in a crease, and then to soften it into a new, smooth condition. And there’s your chemistry lesson for today. Who thought hemp sheets weren’t educational? But, did you know, you can do pretty much the same thing with a spray bottle? Yep. If you stretch your fitted sheet out onto the bed as you normally would, and then give a gentle spritz with some water in a spray bottle, the H2O, combined with pressure from the stretch, will work its magic in front of your eyes to soften the sheets. You can use this trick for pillow cases and doona covers as well, you just have to make sure that you shake them afterwards, or apply tension of some sort to flatten them in place and allow a new smoothness to form. So there you go. The DIY method. 

Bed sheet fasteners

The last option we recommend for maintaining crisp sheets are bed fasteners. These are little clips with an elastic band between them that you place onto the corners of your fitted sheet. They work really well to maintain the tension of the sheet and avoid it pulling out from the mattress or, for that matter, wrinkling.

Washing and drying the sheets in a way that reduces, rather than creates, wrinkles

Alrighty, so you’ve gotten through your working week, and it’s time for the sheet wash!

Don’t overload the machine

It’s certainly an easy fix to throw everything in the same washing load, but when you’ve got sheets as good as ours, it’s worth looking after them. So we implore you to leave space. Don’t put them in the machine with bulky items (eg. sneakers), in fact, sometimes a bedclothes-only load is fine. This way, they will have room to move as the washing machine agitates, and they won’t come out looking like one of those wrinkly siamese cats. 

Adding vinegar to the wash cycle to soften your sheets

Conventional fabric softeners suck. They can cause skin irritation, allergies and also are full of toxic chemicals that leave a nasty film on your sheets long after they’ve been dried. Our natural hemp fibers don’t need that stuff. So instead, we love to put a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener compartment. Vinegar works great to soften fabrics naturally and in an environmentally friendly manner, and it doesn’t leave your sheets smelling of some British chips (don’t worry, it will be well washed out by the end). With softer sheets, there will automatically be less wrinkles during the upcoming week. 

Add a damp cloth to the dryer

This is probably the coolest of all of our tips. So, remember what we were talking about before with respect to the pressure, heat and steam removing wrinkles? Well, you can do it all at once if you use this handy trick. Once your sheets are dry, place a damp cloth or towel in the dryer with them, and put it on medium or low heat for 10 more minutes. This will work to soften those wrinkled hydrogen bonds and get rid of creases. If you take note of your sheets both before and after the damp towel, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be less wrinkles after the second dry round. Note, this is specifically for dryers that do not have a ‘steam’ function.

In any case, here you have our top tips and tricks for avoiding creased sheets, maintaining crease-free sheets and last of all, washing and drying them in the best way to minimize wrinkles. We also gave you some packing and travel tips in case you’re going on an adventure with your hemp bed sheets. With these sage pointers guiding your way, there really shouldn’t be any reason why you should have to sleep on crumpled sheets anymore. What’s more, your room, with crisp and fresh bed sheets, will definitely thank you for it. Hemp sheets require looking after, but we guarantee that if you keep the above tips in mind, they’ll also look after you. And that’s all we have for today. Good luck!

Love,
The Jo Dope team

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Written By Oscar Langoulant

Founder/Owner of JoDope.com

Driven by a passion for hemp's potential in sustainable bedding, Oscar, alongside Jess, champions ethical manufacturing with JoDope.com. Their mission is to leverage hemp's superior sustainability to revolutionize the bedding industry.

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