Photo  1 - The dreaded streak wrinkles on a blown sleeve unit.

 Well, actually, they are better than “fine” because they do not ever have any of the sleever-related quality issues.  You see, I started to really like the blown-sleeve units because they make it easier to do a good job.  That is a big plus, don’t you think?

The conventional sleeve press causes most of the touch-up on a shirt pressed on a typical 3 piece unit.  Think about it:  the sleever, when improperly dressed, can cause sharp, pressed-in wrinkles around the chest area of the shirt when the sleeve-measuring device is improperly used or adjusted.  If the cuffs are clamped in at the wrong place, there can be an unpressed area at the place where the cuffs are sewn to the sleeve.  Similarly, the sleeve gussets can be pressed flat and wrinkled if that area is not placed carefully on the sleeve buck.  Sleeve buttons can easily be broken.  None of these problems exist with a blown-sleeve unit.  It is true that a conventional unit can produce an excellent shirt provided all procedures are followed to the letter.  This, unfortunately, is a management challenge that many supervisors simply do not have time to deal with.  But I digress.  When using a blown sleeve unit, we sometimes see long “streak-type” wrinkles along the length of the sleeve as shown in Photo 1.  What’s up with that?  This is caused by low moisture retention.  A blown-sleeve unit requires that the fabric have more moisture retained rather than less.  The streaks are basically “rough dry” wrinkles but they don’t look all that familiar because the sleeve is pulled taunt during pressing and a wee bit of moisture is added by way of steam injection.  Look for 60% moisture retention when using a blown-sleeve unit and you will produce very good quality.  To determine your moisture retention: when the shirts weigh 100 pounds dry before washing but weigh 160 pounds after extraction, you have 60% moisture retention.  Don’t worry about the body of the shirt not drying because remember that the steam chests squeeze for a longer period of time with a blown sleeve unit.  Any shirt should dry in 30 seconds.  If it doesn’t, something else is wrong, such as padding, squeeze pressure or mechanical issues.

Photo 2- too much of this cuff was pressed on the collar and cuff machine.

Photo 2 shows a cuff that is “over-pressed”.  Too much of the cuff was placed on the collar/cuff machine.  This defect is very difficult to fix because there is no moisture left in the area of the sleeve that was pressed on the cuff press.  Best fix?  Be careful to press only the cuffs and collars on the collar/cuff press.  Often, improper installation of the pads on this machine lead to this defect.  To the presser, the end of the cover should indicate the limits of the area that the press will press. 

Photo 3 - the placket on this shirt has shrunk.

In Photo 3, we have many ugly wrinkles along the button-hole placket.  This is an annoying and very unsightly pressing defect that is not a result of bad equipment, poor training or bad padding.  This is a defect caused by the shirt itself.  The placket has shrunk along its length and gathered the fabric to which it is sewn.  Only careful ironing with a hot, steam-electric iron (and added moisture) will make this shirt look good. I wish that there was a permanent remedy, but I don’t know of one.

Photo 4 - This is caused by improper use of the sleeve holders on Unipress  models and Ajax Empress'

Photo 4 shows an imprint across the cuff that is caused by the “fork” that holds the sleeves on Unipress CRD’s, CRS’s and their all-in-one press as well as the Ajax Empress series.  I would like to say that this is simply carelessness, but I must stop short of saying that.  Apparently, there is (or was) a consultant that trained pressers to attach cuffs this way.  The logic was that there is so much more fabric in the cuff as opposed to the sleeve that this proved a good way to hold the sleeve firmly.  Nice thought, but very short-sighted.  There is never any sense to doing anything that compromises quality and this surely does.  If the fork doesn’t hold the sleeve securely, simply adjust it.  There are two allen screws that adjust the fork.  Surely, we can’t be compromising quality to avoid a 5 minute fix, can we?

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got."