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Mini Tutorial: Steaming vinyl
By taeliac
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Sorry if this doesn't help anybody, but I figured (as per the usual) that if it's something new to me, it might help someone else out a bit. So here is the mini tutorial on steaming wrinkles out of vinyl.
This tutorial is done with a garment steamer - I don't know how well this would work with an iron (if it even would) but if someone wants to give it a try with some scrap fabric, let me know the results please! Otherwise, I'll try it out some more the next time I'm working on a commission dealing with vinyl.
I'll have a couple more mini vinyl tutorials when I work on my next Shuichi commission, so hopefully that will help make a scary fabric to work with a little less scary
As per the usual, please don't say this is yours, or redistribute it without asking first. Please link people to this deviation instead
This tutorial is done with a garment steamer - I don't know how well this would work with an iron (if it even would) but if someone wants to give it a try with some scrap fabric, let me know the results please! Otherwise, I'll try it out some more the next time I'm working on a commission dealing with vinyl.
I'll have a couple more mini vinyl tutorials when I work on my next Shuichi commission, so hopefully that will help make a scary fabric to work with a little less scary
As per the usual, please don't say this is yours, or redistribute it without asking first. Please link people to this deviation instead
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I've just used the garment steamer and I find that it really helps to get out more wrinkles and even the stubborn ones while using an ironing board with the steamer on the wrong side of the vinyl. You may have to spend a lil more time with the stubborn wrinkles but with the steamer I have you can go right on the fabric like an iron. I have used an iron before on the lowest setting but I like the results with the steamer better 
everytime I sew with vinyl it gets stuck in the foot >< (thing underneath the needle)
Oh! That happens to me, too, before I found out about a teflon (non-stick) foot for my machine! Check into seeing if they have one for yours - it makes vinyl a lot easier to sew :3
THANK U SO MUCH!!!! C:
interesting... and to think the four hours i 'reversed' steamed my friend's vinal pants could have been solved this way. damn it. Oh well. I used a standard iron with a very damp hand towel folded up, then turned the pants to its lining side and then hit the steam ALOT. I have no idea why i spent four hours on something that I wasn't going to wear but i did. She end up sitting on something that grabbed her in the back of the leg/thigh and tore a HUGE hole in it. I wanted to cry. We never did discover what 'ate' her pants.
Cool
This is very helpful and informative. Thank you for sharing!
Any time! I'm glad to be of even a little help with things like this 
cool, this helped me out 
now i know my steamer is usefull for things other than making dread falls XD
now i know my steamer is usefull for things other than making dread falls XD
OMG I couldn't live without my garment steamer 
I do everything with it - I don't even bother pressing many things any more, its just easier to steam them
I do everything with it - I don't even bother pressing many things any more, its just easier to steam them 
This is great because I was trying to get wrinkles out of my horohoro costume. I'm still amazed that you made sakura's cat costume with vinyl since most people go with satin when it's actually made of rubber (or so I've been told).
Thanks though.
Thanks though.
Thanks so much for posting this tutorial!! My shuichi outfit was made wit vinyl and it was all wrinkly >< And I wanted to iron it out, but I was scared too. So this tutorial really helps a lot!!
I'm so glad to help
It shouldn't be too bad to steam, but I'm definitely glad you waited to iron it - it's so delicate, and depending on how it was made (latex covered fabric vs. true PVC) it can really damage it (as I found out by accident the other day >.>
It shouldn't be too bad to steam, but I'm definitely glad you waited to iron it - it's so delicate, and depending on how it was made (latex covered fabric vs. true PVC) it can really damage it (as I found out by accident the other day >.>
thats an awesome tip! im sure i'll be using it soon. I'll be working with 4-way stretch vinyl this winter so anything like that is a great help :3
Some of my friends said they've used babypowder on the fabric instead of a teflon foot when sewing vinyl, have you ever tried it? 
Yeah I used that method when I was making Advent Children costumes, its just that it was sooo time consuming ripping out the little stuck interfacing parts XD
I haven't, but I've heard the same thing - I'm just a little afraid of it plugging up my machine or getting it icky.
I have use tear-away interfacing on both sides to prevent sticking, and that works really well Just be sure to use a high-quality thread, so it doens't run a chance to break so often when you're pulling the tear away out...
I have use tear-away interfacing on both sides to prevent sticking, and that works really well
Just be sure to use a high-quality thread, so it doens't run a chance to break so often when you're pulling the tear away out...Ooh! How cool!! I 
vinyl, it's so much fun (too bad I don't get much of a chance to work with it... I need to find another costume other than the Disgaea one that I could use vinyl on XP)
If you have to press it (and if it has a fabric backing) remember to set your iron really cool, and use a pressing cloth between the iron and the wrong side of the fabric. But, steaming it would definitely help
vinyl, it's so much fun (too bad I don't get much of a chance to work with it... I need to find another costume other than the Disgaea one that I could use vinyl on XP)If you have to press it (and if it has a fabric backing) remember to set your iron really cool, and use a pressing cloth between the iron and the wrong side of the fabric. But, steaming it would definitely help
I have a couple of pieces of vinyl that I haven't got around to using yet - I'm sure they will need decreasing - I don't have a steamer - though it looks like a VERY useful piece of kit that is now on my shopping list 
I'll try using my iron though and let you know how that works - that is if the steamer still works after my son dropped it on the concrete floor grrrr! Luckily living out here in the middle of nowhere I haven't needed to test it yet...
I'll try using my iron though and let you know how that works - that is if the steamer still works after my son dropped it on the concrete floor grrrr! Luckily living out here in the middle of nowhere I haven't needed to test it yet...
I work with vinyl all the time and steaming it is great. To get the stubborn creases out, steam the garment inside out.
Wow! Thank you!! I will definitely try that
I have tried ironing my vinyl skirt on a low iron inside out with a damp press cloth, being very careful not to stay too long in one spot.
Ooh! Thank you - I'll go in and edit the description of this deviation later, and put that in, too
you could do it the poor man's way and turn on the shower as hot as it goes and steam it in the bathroom - i've had to do that before. the down side is that you hve to keep going in and shaping the garment.
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