The fabric pressing performance and its role in predicting the appearance of men’s wool suit jackets

A test method and instrumentation have been developed to facilitate the identification of potential appearance problems and for the development of improved fabric pressing performance. The method determines the fabric pressing performance with a greater degree of certainty than using a steam press. The weft “pressing performance” crease angle, as measured by the test method developed by CSIRO, in cooperation with IWS (Biella Technical Centre) and the Italian industries, combined with warp formability, as measured by SIROFAST, were found to be the two fabric properties most important for the prediction of the acceptability and appearance of a range of high quality men’s suits. It also appears that a good pressing performance can partly compensate for the seam pucker symptoms of low formability.