Like most materials, faux leather develops creases when it is not kept properly. But in most cases, creases on faux leather will appear naturally. In this article, I will show you the four best ways to remove those pesky wrinkles from your faux leather goods.
One of the best ways to remove creases from faux leather is by using an iron. All you do is set the iron to the lowest heat temperature and then place a piece of brown paper, towel, pillowcase, or t-shirt between the iron and the faux leather while you press.
Continue ironing until all of the creases are gone or until you’re satisfied with the results.
In the remaining parts of this article, I will delve into the details of the following;
- Removing creases from faux leather using the ironing method.
- I will also share with you three additional ways to remove creases from faux leather goods.
Keep reading this article to find out more!
How Does Faux Leather Get Creases?
To ensure that our conversation stays on-topic, I believe it is important to provide some insight on how creases develop in your faux leather items. This way, you have a firm foundation for the next part of our discussion.
So how does faux leather get creases?
1. Not Storing them Properly
Your faux leather items will get creases when you do not store them properly.
If you don’t take proper care of them, faux leather items—from shoes and jackets to dresses, pants, bags, or furniture—may develop creases that can be difficult to get rid of.
An easy way around shoes and boots, for example, is to get a shoe organizer like this one on Amazon.
To preserve the shape of faux leather jackets, it is essential to hang them on broad shoulder hangers that are specially made to keep jackets from creasing.
2. Faux Leather Items Bought And Shipped May Arrive Creased
When ordering faux leather goods online and having them shipped, there is a risk of the item arriving badly creased due to inevitable handling issues during transit.
An example is buying faux leather clothing.
Occurring all too often, one mistake many courier services tend to make when it comes to faux leather is mistakenly folding or box-packing the item that needs to be hung.
3. The Quality Of The Faux Leather
Low-quality faux leather items will also crease a lot easier. Oftentimes, this happens because of a thin coating or poor-quality fabric used underneath the material.
This begs the question, how do you know if a particular faux leather is low-quality when the material itself, “faux” leather, means fake or synthetic leather?
Without delving into too much detail, I will say that if the faux leather is from an obscure brand and its texture and flexibility are coarse or do not feel pleasant to touch, then it’s likely a low-quality product.
You May Also Like: Is Faux Leather Good Quality?
4. Frequent Use
Over time, items made from faux leather, such as jackets and couches, will start to show natural signs of wear and tear if they are used often.
The more frequently you use your faux leather items, the quicker the creases will appear and become permanent.
For example, faux leather shoes or boots that do not have anti-shoe creasers installed in them will also develop creases easily and very quickly.
It is also important to mention that other items, such as jackets and wallets, to mention a few, will still crease, even with very little use.
Later in this post, I will show you how to prevent your faux leather from creasing.
5. Aging
As your faux leather items age, they can start to get creases and wrinkles.
This is because faux leather is made up of plastic materials that break down and becomes more flexible.
This can either be a sign that your faux leather needs to be replaced or that you need to take better care of it.
6. Manufacturing Defects: Creases In Molds or Forms
When faux leather items are made, it is sometimes put into a mold to take on the desired shape. If there are any creases in the mold, the final product will also have those creases.
While this might not be a big deal for some people, others might want a clean and pristine look. Unfortunately, this type of crease is usually very hard to remove, if not impossible.
How To Get Creases Out Of Faux Leather
There are a few ways you can successfully remove creases from faux leather, but the method you choose will depend on how wrinkled or creased your faux leather items are.
Because of this, I’m going to share various ways to do it.
Pro Tip: You would want to try the very easy and less involving methods before trying the very drastic and involving approaches.
Let’s jump into the meat of the content now!
1. Putting Weights On The Item
Putting weights on the faux leather item is one of the first methods you want to try when removing creases from faux leather goods. It will, however, require a substantial amount of time to do this.
This method will work if you have a faux leather jacket, skirt, pants, or any item you can lay flat.
Meaning things like shoes, boots, bags, and items that can lose shape are not good candidates for this method.
Things Needed:
- Heavy books
- Dry clean rag
Procedure:
Here’s how you remove creases from faux leather goods using some easily accessible weights around the house.
Step 1: Lay The Faux Leather Item Flat
- Start by laying your faux leather jacket or pants flat on a smooth, clean table or floor.
Step 2: Place Heavy Books On The Faux Leather Item
- Place heavy stacks of books or bricks on the item.
- If you are using bricks, make sure to cover the side of the leather you’re going to be placing the weights with brown paper, cloth, or towel.
- Also, you would want to ensure the weight you’re placing on the leather is smooth to avoid denting or causing other damage to the leather.
Step 3: Let It Sit Overnight
- You would want to leave the weights on the faux leather item overnight.
- The longer, the better!
Step 4: Inspect
- The next day, you would want to inspect the faux leather to see if the creases are gone or improved.
- You can leave the weights for as long as you would want or whenever the item is not in use.
- Once you’re satisfied, remove the books or weights and wipe the surface of your faux leather item.
- You can now use your faux leather item as you normally would.
- Done!
2. The Shower Steam Method
Depending on what faux leather item it is, you will be able to remove creases by using the steam from the bathroom when you shower.
You will be able to use this method to remove creases from your faux leather Jackets, hats, pants, and a few other faux leather items you can hang.
Here’s a step-by-step process for doing this without making the issue worse.
Things Needed:
- Hanger
- Microfiber cloth or rag
Procedure:
Step 1: Hang You Faux Leather Item
- Put the faux leather item in the bathroom.
- To ensure that the area remains dry, you should make certain that it is in a location where water cannot easily reach.
- If it’s a jacket, pants, or skirt, you want to hang it on a wooden hanger and place it on the bathroom door or towel holder.
- For faux leather pants or skirts, hang them straight from the waistband.
Step 2: Run The Shower, So It Gets Steamy
- You can run the shower for a couple of minutes, so the steam gets the bathroom warm.
- One thing I do is find a suitable place in my bathroom to hang my creased faux leather item and then take a hot bath. This way, I don’t waste water.
- You can tell if the bathroom is warm enough when the bathroom glass window or doors fogs.
- Or, if you have a way of checking the temperature in your bathroom, you would want to keep the water at around 105 F (40.5 C).
Step 3: Keep The Bathroom Door And Window Shut
- Keeping the bathroom door and window shut allows the faux leather item to steam as long as possible.
Tip: Make sure not to turn on the ventilation fan to prevent the steam from escaping.
Step 4: Remove The Faux Leather Item
- When the steam dissipates, it’s imperative to remove your article of clothing and smooth it out promptly.
- You can lay the steamed faux leather item on a flat and smooth surface and begin to pull out and smoothen the creases with your hand gently.
- This method will work if there are only light creases on your faux leather items.
Step 5: Wipe The Faux Leather Surface
- Once you’re done, wipe the faux leather surface with a clean, dry microfiber cloth or rag.
- Then let it air-dry.
- Finished!
3. The Dryer Method
The dryer method is another way to remove creases from your faux leather items.
Again, it’s a relatively easy method that will work exceptionally well. This method will be excellent if you have a dryer in your house.
Things Needed:
- Dryer
- Hanger
- Brown paper
Procedure:
Step 1: Put The Faux Leather In The Dryer
- Put your creased faux leather item in the dryer for about 45 seconds to a minute.
- You wouldn’t want to exceed the 1-minute mark because this will overheat the faux leather item and cause it to melt or break down the adhesives used in the assembly of the item.
Step 2: Remove The Faux Leather Item From The Dryer
- After the faux leather item has been in the dryer for up to a minute, take it out and check if the creases are beginning to fade out.
- What you do next is to stuff or hang the faux leather item for a few seconds.
- You can stuff them with some tissue paper, old socks, or anything that can fit in the shoes or boots for shoes.
- And for jackets, pants, and other faux leather apparel, you can hang the item up and let it cool for a few seconds.
- After the item has completely cooled, you can replace the item in the dryer, this time for a less amount of time (45 seconds or less).
- You can repeat this process till you’re satisfied with how much improvement you see with the creases.
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 & 2
- After repeating this process about 2 or 3 times, you can finally leave the item hung or stuffed and allow the warmth to relax the faux leather item naturally.
Step 4: (Optional)
- If you have stubborn creases going on and you find there are still some creases on the item, you can iron them.
- You can wait about 2 hours after step 3 and iron out the remaining creases with a steam iron and a brown paper or towel.
- You can go over the ironing method below for more details on ironing creases out of faux leather.
- Voila!
4. Ironing Method
Last but not least is the ironing method. Ironing creases out of your faux leather items is the most popular way to remove creases from faux leather.
But at the same time, I can say it can be a little tricky to accomplish.
The best way to remove creases for most fabrics is by heat, but things can go well or wrong with faux leather.
This is because faux leather is a plastic material, and the heat from the iron can cause it to melt or warp. So this process has to be done well and carefully to succeed.
Procedure:
Step 1: Set Your Iron To The Lowest Heat Setting
- Start by setting your iron to the lowest heat.
- You will need to put your iron on the lowest setting if your faux leather item has a fabric backing.
- You will be able to set your iron to a medium or high heat level if your faux leather item does not have a fabric backing.
- Also, there is a bit of a debate around the issue of steam ironing faux leather vs. dry heat ironing it.
- But I found that while both will work fine, I prefer the dry heat method.
Step 2: Place Brown Paper On The Faux Leather
- Put your faux leather item on an ironing board and lay a piece of brown paper, a t-shirt, towel, or a pillowcase.
Step 3: Iron The Faux Leather
- Begin to press over the towel or brown paper you have placed between the iron and the faux leather item.
- You would want to vary your ironing strokes and the pressure you put on the iron to remove the creases.
- Iron in very brief intervals.
- From time to time, lift the iron and the brown paper, towel, or t-shirt to see how much improvement you’re making.
- This will also allow you to check and see how the faux leather reacts to the iron heat.
- At this point, you will also be able to tell if the heat from your iron is just fine or if you need to increase or decrease it.
- Another important thing you must remember is to allow the faux leather item to cool down in between every pressing.
- Continue doing this until you’re satisfied with the results.
How To Prevent Creases On Faux Leather
Although there are some instances in which you will not be able to prevent creases from the surface of your faux leather, there are other things you can do to minimize the chances of these creases appearing.
This will save you a tremendous amount of time in removing those creases.
1. Clean It Right
Cleaning your faux leather items the right way is an excellent way to prevent creases. You should never throw your faux leather goods in a washing machine if it has not been indicated on its care label.
You can clean your faux leather items by using a damp cloth to wipe the entire surface. You can use mild dish soap if you have stubborn stains, dirt, or grime on your faux leather item. You should never put your faux leather items in a washing machine.
2. Dry Right
You also want to dry the faux leather item with care. When it’s time to dry your faux leather item after cleaning it, you would like to ensure you hang the faux leather item if it’s a jacket, pants, skirt, or some other type of garment.
You can stuff them if necessary for shoes or boots, so they do not lose shape.
Most of the time, you will be air-drying your faux leather items. You would want to smooth them out with your hands before hanging or laying them to dry gradually.
You will also want to air-dry your faux leather items in a well-ventilated place where air freely circulates.
3. Store It Right
Last but not least is to store your faux leather goods properly. You do not want to toss your faux leather goods, such as garments, in a drawer or closet, as this can cause severe creases on your faux leather item.
You want to hang all faux leather garments with a suitable wooden hanger and ensure they do not touch or rub against other items you have hanged.
Also, you do not want to put your faux leather shoes in a pile on the floor. Instead, you would like to arrange them nicely, leaving an adequate space between them.
FAQs On How To Remove Creases From Faux Leather
Q: Will creases in faux leather cause it to crack?
A: Creases in faux leather can cause it to crack over time, so it’s best to remove them as soon as possible. If the cracks are already severe, you might need to replace the piece of furniture altogether.
Q: Can I use a hairdryer to remove creases from faux leather?
A: Yes, you can use a hairdryer to remove creases from faux leather. Set the hairdryer to the lowest setting and hold it about six inches away from the surface of the leather. Move the hairdryer back and forth over the creased area until the creases are gone.
Q: How do I remove creases from faux leather without damaging it?
A: The best way to remove creases from faux leather without damaging it is by using a steamer. Hold the steamer about six inches away from the surface of the leather and move it back and forth over the creased area. Alternatively, you can use a hairdryer on the lowest setting.
Hold it about six inches away from the surface of the leather and move it back and forth over the creased area. Whichever method you choose, be sure not to stay in one spot for too long, as this could cause damage to the leather.
Q: Can I use an iron to remove creases from faux leather?
A: Yes, you can use an iron to remove creases from faux leather. Set the iron to the lowest setting and hold it about six inches above the surface of the leather. Hold the iron there for about 30 seconds, then move it to another spot. Repeat this process until the creases are gone. Just be sure not to leave the iron in one place for too long, as this could cause damage to the leather.
Q: How do I remove creases from faux leather without a hairdryer?
A: If you don’t have a hairdryer, you can try using a steam iron. Set the iron to the lowest setting and hold it about six inches above the surface of the leather. Hold the iron there for about 30 seconds, then move it to another spot. Repeat this process until the creases are gone.
Q: What is the best way to prevent creases in faux leather?
A: The best way to prevent creases in faux leather is by storing it properly. Keep it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight when you’re not using it. If you’re holding it for an extended period, consider wrapping it in acid-free tissue paper.