I usually manage to spill mustard, red wine, coffee, and grease all over my clothes the minute we get to the airport to leave. No one ever notices my clothes are WRINKLED too!

You keep from looking like you've slept in your "linen" ( which wrinkles because of the cotton content) by getting into your clothes and then getting someone else to pull gently at the garment whilst you blow HOT air at full speed from a hairdrier! Keep going all over until you look like its been steampressed and almost wrinkle free.
Stretching or pulling the fabric straight when you apply the hot air is crucial.

OK - that'll be $5 please!

ttt

Wear Black, I've been traveling non-stop for 6 years.

Black doesn't show stains, hides wrinkles better and is universal.

Bart

A spray bottle of Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It works wonders. I've heard it it is only fabric softener diluted with water. Does anyone know about this?

In my view the beauty of linen is in the creasing . Who wants to wear linen looking 'starched up'? If people want to do that then they ought to wear synthetics with permanent pleats .In my view maintaining the impeccable ironed look is simply not the point of linen which of itself is chic, natural and comfortable . Concede now that keeping it looking freshly pressed is possible for 2 minutes at best or until you sit or bend . If you cannot make that concession then you will be giving yourself over to a life of "linen stress ". It matters not that it is wrinkled if you wear it with style and confidence.
On a very mundane level surely over 2 or more weeks you will be somewhere with an iron and a board ?
Last , I always comforted myself by the fact that those who may see me looking rumpled are people I am unlikely to know or even see again so who cares what they think ? Linen is linen , is linen, is linen.... ( with apologies to Gertrude Stein ) and always looks classy - wrinkled or ironed .

Another linen lover.

Just love that Wrinke Release stuff! It really does work, but lately I have had a hard time locating it in my stores.

Hi dg,

>..Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It works wonders. I've heard it it is only fabric softener diluted with water.

You are correct.

My Lady Wife brings a small plastic plant mister, which she fills with water and sprays her wrinkled garments before hanging them up.

I always look wrinkled, so no one notices if I have slept in my clothes.

<<Linen is linen , is linen, is linen.... ( with apologies to Gertrude Stein ) and always looks classy - wrinkled or ironed.>>

Yay for John Fitz.

I'm glad portia12 asked this question. I intend to take my linen but have picked up some good tips, will take an spray bottle along next time. I usually wash the lightweight shirts, put them on hangars, and like cigalechanta does, handpress the seams and collars.

However, I really prefer unironed, except for the collar and seams. I used to go to great pains to iron my linen shirts but found as soon as I sat in my car and put on the seat belt I had major creases in the wrong places that looked far worse than the small, natural wrinkles.

Hooray for linen, the most beautiful fabric in the world. Excellent tips and info here -- you need high quality linen with a heavy weight, never mixed with cotton or God forbid rayon. The synthetics and blends you *think" look just like linen are easily spotted a block away, there is just no comparison. And I agree that the small natural wrinklings look good as they caress the body. I just got a pair of navy herringbone-weave linen pants; the weave stabilizes the fabric and even less pressing is needed. Not to mention how sharp I will look.

Add my name to the roster of linen lovers! I too have used tissue paper in layering while packing. Plastic cleaning bags or the bags you sometimes get with purchases in stores also work well. I have a terrific steam travel iron (that my husband kindly carries for me) and have used it successfully many places without an actual ironing board, just using a towel on a flat surface. Haven't tried the spray bottle of "wrinkle remover" but may on a future trip.

On travel days I wear cotton knit pull-on pants and t-shirt, with a silk cardigan sweater. No wrinkles and very comfortable on plane or train.

I agree that linen feels great on hot days, and our doctor (also a friend) once commented that wrinkled linen is chic! I tend to agree.

For packing tips look at www.onebag.com which has a whole section on how to pack to avoid wrinkles and a link to a section on shoelaces and their intricacies including the the perfect way to tie them . The author is of Dutch extraction and lives in Melbourne Australia .

<<The synthetics and blends you *think" look just like linen are easily spotted a block away, there is just no comparison.>>

I agree. I bought a linen *blend* pantsuit a couple of years ago and hated it. It just doesn't have the same look or feel. I wore it a couple of times and then donated it.

After all the linen lovers posts, I wonder if Portia will pack some linens.