Washing my Wested pants and shirt

[NewJerseyRaider]

I recieved my Wested Pants/shirt combo along with a Raiders goat last month. Quality is awesome with all his products, and theres been enough reviews so I wont go into it here. But both the pants and shirt seem a little too stiff for me, to wear first w/o washing. I emailed Peter, and he said he reccomends dry cleaning the shirt, and dry clean only for the pants.
My problem is that these are the only two garments I own that are dry clean only, so I looked here to see if there was a way I could away without paying to have them cleaned. This is what info I gathered from a few posts-

As to wool washing at home. I've done it to some thirft store wool pants and they came out fine. The thing about wool is NOT to agitate it and NOT to hang it to line dry. For itchy pants, add a little baby oil to the water or Woolite. I would suggest testing hand washing on a cheap pair of wool pants first! I think it gives a "period" look to the pants. Take your dress pants and make 'em look like Indy ones. Get rid of the creases and give them a broken-in look. Did they have dry cleaners in the '30s? (or the jungles of South America, or India, or Alexandreta)

I found a tip on the web:

Q. "Can I wash wool, even if the label says to dry-clean? "

A. "Wool fabric can be washed with a certain amount of care. Most labels suggest dry cleaning because there are a variety of fabrics and materials used in the garment construction that have different care requirements. If you decide to try washing a wool garment at home, wash it in the same manner as a wool sweater. Hand wash in cool water with a mild soap. Rinse with cool water and squeeze out the water- don't wring. Roll the garment in a towel to remove the excess water. Reshape the garment and lay flat to dry. Press using steam and a press cloth. "( a towel)

And,

*Aways wash in cold water .
*Hang to dry--Never put them in the dryer.
*Be prepared to iron them once dry.
*It is probably best to try this with a pair of pants that are already a bit larger and baggier that you need them; they will likely shrink as the fibers tighten during washing.
*Once machine washed, the pants will no longer have that finished dressy look; they will look more servicable than posh.

So has anyone actually tried any of these? Im not too concerned about washing the shirt, as it is cotton, but washing the pants has me a little worried. Any thoughts?

NJR

[Canyon]

Hi Raider.

I bought a pair of Wested pants a few months ago and found the material to be very stiff at first. I also found the material to be a bit itchy as well.

I have never tried to handwash these as I have been advised by the guys here that they should really be dry cleaned only.
http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic ... highlight=

You'll find that after a few wears, the material is less stiff and not so itchy (if you're also having that problem as well).

Hope this helps.

[Pyroxene]

Have you looked at Dryel? http://www.dryel.com/



I have used it before and it works well.

Pyro.

[NewJerseyRaider]

Pyro,
Ive heard of this dryel stuff being mentioned before, have you ever tried it?
Can you use it on both the pants and shirt?

NJR

[Pyroxene]

Yes. I have used it. Seems to work fairly well. It always concerns me that you are throwing something in the dryer. I am always afraid that it will shrink. But, the garment never is really wet so it shouldn't shrink.

You don't really need to use it on the shirt. I personally don't. I just put the shirt in with all my other similar colored clothes. I would use it on the wool pants.

The "*Aways wash in cold water . *Hang to dry--Never put them in the dryer. " advise is sound. I was told the same thing too if needed.

So, it sounds like you are on the right path.

Pyro.

[T.E. Lawrence]

Wash'm - dry'm - Wear'm ---- Enjoy.

I bought mine long and unhemed, washed them in warm water with soap tumble dried them and then took them in to be hemed -) The length always seems to shrink more on garments when you abuse them like I do. ) The pants take on a very worn look by this procedure and once I wear them for a day the streatch into a nice baggy look. My wested shirts on the other hand won't hold a wrinkle even if I pressed it in. BUT - and everyone seems to have a big "But" Dry ONLY in low temp. because the stiffener in the collar tends to bubble when expossed to high temps.

Now if you ever want to discauss machine washing a leather jacket you just drop me a line.