Faux leather can get quite wrinkly if it gets used often. This happens most to faux leather items that experience a lot of movement. We’re talking about faux leather jackets, car seats, couches, shoes, or bags. You’ve come to the right place if you want to straighten your faux leather items out.
Can you iron faux leather?
Directly? We would not recommend it at all. You may be able to do so at the very lowest setting, but it’s still very risky. If you want to iron your faux leather, you should at least cover it with a wet towel and iron over that instead of doing it directly to the faux leather. Faux leather is made of plastic and it may melt off or distort easily when exposed to extreme heat.
Can you steam faux leather?
Steam is a pretty safe way to straighten faux leather. Although, we would suggest avoiding using high settings on your steamer as you would end up exposing your faux leather to high amounts of heat that may distort it. Although it may be safer on other types of faux leather than others. Car seats are quite durable and can handle steaming quite well.
Disclaimer
These methods will involve heat. We would like to warn you of the dangers that heat can bring to your faux leather product.
Heat, in moderate amounts, will be beneficial to remove wrinkles on your faux leather item. However, if you are not careful, you will damage the synthetic material quite quickly. This can manifest itself as melting, warping, and weakening.
We are not responsible for any damage that you may cause to your belongings.
How to get wrinkles out of faux leather
There are a few ways you can get wrinkles out of faux leather. Some of these methods are really easy and don’t require special equipment. If you want to remove the creases on your faux leather goods, keep reading below.
Steaming method
Many people have access to a fabric steamer, and it’s one of the most versatile pieces of equipment as it can be used on clothes and furniture. This is great for large faux leather items like coats, car seats, and couches.
Things you will need:
- Fabric steamer
- Water
- Sturdy hanger (for clothes)
- Clean cloth
Steps:
- Clean the surface of your faux leather goods.
- If you are doing this on car seats, you may want to remove the seat so you can work in a more spacious area.
- If you are working with clothes, you may lay them flat on a clean surface.
- Fill the fabric steamer with clean water. Turn the fabric steamer on and put it in its lowest heat setting.
- Wait for the fabric steamer to be ready.
- Working in sections, steam the area for a few seconds then massage the steamed section until the wrinkles have been minimized.
- After the whole item has been rid of wrinkles, wipe the excess moisture down with a damp cloth.
- Hang your item if you are dealing with clothes and let the item rest.
Tips and extra information:
- You don’t need to remove all the creases on your car seats. Minimizing them will be enough. Doing it too much will risk damaging the material instead.
Hair dryer method
This method is fairly easy to do since all you need is a hair dryer. Others might suggest for you just use the dryer directly, but we don’t suggest you do this as it can badly damage your faux leather item. Instead, using a hair dryer will allow you to have more control over the entire process while removing creases.
Things you will need:
Steps:
- Using a soft cloth, wipe the surface of your faux leather material to remove any dirt and loose dust on it.
- Use a sturdy hanger to place your leather item on to make it easier for you to maneuver around it with a hair dryer. Set your hair dryer to the lowest heat setting and make sure it is at least 4 inches (10 cm) away from the faux leather garment.
- Point your hair dryer to the area with the most creases, but make sure that it does not become too hot or the material will be warped or melted.
- Once you’re done, check the item for any missed spots.
Tips and extra information:
- Constantly move your hair dryer, staying in one spot may warp the faux leather.
- If you’re dealing with clothes, you may place heavy books on top to flatten them while they cool down.
Ironing method
Ironing faux leather can be quite tricky since it involves heat which can be damaging if not used properly on any leather material. Too much heat from the iron on your faux leather may cause it to melt or warp. However, since this method works pretty well, we will still include this in our list.
Things you will need:
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Brown paper or towel
- Soft cloth
Steps:
- Make sure to remove all the dust and debris using a soft cloth.
- If your faux leather garment does not have a fabric backing, set your iron to the lowest setting. If it does have a fabric backing, you can set it to medium heat.
- Place your faux leather item on the ironing board and put brown paper on top of it. This is to prevent the iron from directly touching the faux leather material.
- Try ironing out the corners first to see how the material reacts to the heat.
- Begin ironing by gently pressing the iron on top of the brown paper. Vary your strokes and the pressure to effectively remove the creases.
- Lift the iron from time to time (short intervals) to see the progress and make sure that you are not using too much heat on the surface.
- Allow the surface of the faux leather to cool down before going in for another press.
- Check the material once you’re done and let it cool down completely before using it.
Tips and extra information:
- If you don’t have brown paper at home, you can use a piece of shirt or a damp towel instead.
- Do not go beyond 1 minute without lifting your iron and checking the leather garment underneath.
Professional services
There are many professionals who specialize in faux leather goods or all sorts of special materials. Depending on the type of item you have, you may need to go to different types of professionals.
These will mostly be cleaning services as you can’t really find professionals who specifically only deal with creases. Wrinkle removal is usually only a part of the services one can offer.
Furniture cleaners
There are professionals who specialize in cleaning and restoring furniture, chances are, they also know how to remove wrinkles from faux leather furniture as those are quite common and they will have had experience with that as well.
Call up your local furniture cleaners and ask if they have experience with faux leather. You may even ask about their portfolio for any proof and pictures of their work to see if they really are good at what they do. Alternatively, you could even ask a friend that has furniture similar to yours and see if they have any recommendations.
Car detailers
Detailing is a very intricate process. It involves cleaning your car in intense detail. Car detailers are usually able to clean practically every aspect of your car, most especially its aesthetic features of it. This will include your car seats.
Car detailers have a wide range of tools and a wide range of knowledge when it comes to caring for all sorts of materials. When it comes to wrinkles on your car seats, that will be an easy job for them. They may even also be able to remove any cracks and restore your car seats to almost brand-new condition.
Dry cleaners
Dry cleaners are always reliable when it comes to taking care of different types of delicate materials. You usually only go to the dry cleaners when you want an expensive or fragile item taken care of. The same goes for faux leather.
It’s unlikely you can ask for just wrinkle removal, but you can try. You may as well have your faux leather item cleaned while you’re there anyway, that way you hit two birds with one stone.
Conclusion
Creases on faux leather materials are fairly easy to remove; you just have to keep in mind that the material is made out of plastic and work accordingly to this. Faux leather is a good alternative to real leather and even though you’ll know it’s not real leather, it can still feel, look, and smell like the real deal. Faux leather items generally don’t last long, but with proper care and storage, you can make the most out of them.
FAQ
Can faux leather be put in the dryer?
We do not suggest that you place any leather item in the dryer. This includes faux leather. The dryer is too harsh. Dryers usually spin very fast and use heat as well to hasten the evaporation of moisture.
Heat will soften the synthetic leather and the harsh spinning will stretch and warp that softened material. This combination will most likely deform your faux leather item terribly. You can mitigate the warping by placing it in a laundry bag, but the dryer will still be too harsh on the material.
If you want to dry your faux leather items, simply wipe them down and hang them in front of a fan. Do not put it in direct sunlight as the UV rays will break down the plastic used on the coating, causing it to peel prematurely.
