I have some older table cloths by Artex that say blended cotton. They are truly ‘wrinkle free’. The problem is this: The table cloths I find now are not as ‘wrinkle free’ as the old ones. I would like to find out what the material was these older tablecloths were made out of. Thank you for your help.
Historic English Schoolhouse and Banquet Hall.
facebook.com/schoolhouse1929
Hi David,
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Life happens. I’ll try to answer your question as best as I can. From what I have discovered from working with old and new fabrics age does play a role in the fabrics chemical make-up and behavior. Those old blended table clothes are probably a mixture of cotton, polyester or Cotton Linen. Age plays a big role in linen. The older the poly the larger the fiber molecule. New fabrics have been redesigned to have a finer fiber structure and there-fore are more flexible. If you would like a mixture of fibers that will do things similar to what your current table clothes do there are a couple of options that might bring you some success. One is to look into ebay and some of the antique stores that regularly frequent ebay. You can make several watch sites and when those stores put up certain items you will be notified via email. Also when you go to fabric stores look for the older lady who looks like she has more experience than anyone else, :), ask for a cotton, poly, or cotton, linen blend. I think your best bet though is to find something with all three in one blend. Try checking the upholstery sections. A way to test in the store if they are wrinkle free or not is to crumple the fabric up in your hand and let the heat from your hand set in for a few seconds. When you let go there should be wrinkles or they will just fallout. Good luck!