Ribbons that come on medals-how to get wrinkles out?

[SusanG]

Many times we frame medals that come with wrinkled ribbons that are supposed to go around one's neck. Usually I try not to iron them as they can melt. I guess that I am refering to more modern (cheap) ribbon. Does anyone have any tips on getting those fold marks out?

Susan

 

[Joe B]

I steam them. I have a little hand held steamer that does an excellent job of getting the wrinkles out. I use it on jerseys and other articles of clothing too. Be sure to allow enough time for the ribbons and other articles to dry well before enclosing them.

 

[Candy]

Those little hand steamers are better than irons. Cost about $20 or $30 at most. You can get more expensive ones, but the cheap ones work well. I also use it when I am stretching xstch or needlepoint. It works well to soften the fibers and dries quickly.

 

[Tom Reigle]

Hi Susan,

I also have found some success with steam on those ribbons. It all depends on what the ribbon is made of whether you can flatten them with steam or not. I also have used a heat gun on them if they are polyester or some other plastic based thread. Be careful to control your heat application no matter which procedure you use, steam will melt poly material as easily as a hot iron if you get it too hot.

I tried my own version of a ribbon "heat press" on some high school track medals once that worked out quite nicely. I heated the long neck ribbons with my shrink wrap heat gun and immediately sandwiched the ribbon between two pieces of glass. It was a type of poly cloth that laid down pretty well without having to hold it in position and I applied hand pressure to the glass for just a minute or so. Try to leave the end of the "loop" part outside the glass so it doesn't scrunch it and then go back and do that part separately if it needs some touch up. The glass sucked all the heat out of the ribbon and rendered it quite flat since there wasn't a rolled edge on them and they were good to go!

Good luck.

 

[Puppyraiser]

An old trick from my teen years was to run a wrinkled ribbon over an incandscant light bulb. (Yes, we had electricity then). But does anyone still have an incandescant light bulb?

 

[SusanG]

Ellen,

There seems to be an error in your profile info. They have doubled your age!

Seriously, the steamer idea is great, but I need to go buy one. I'm sure that I can use it for other applications also. I have a few incandescents in the shop and tried Ellen's idea. It worked like magic! Ellen you are brilliant!

Susan

 

[Rick Granick]

I have always just ironed them with my tacking iron on medium setting. Never had any kind of problem.
Rick

 

[Nancy W]

iron settings

I have always used an iron, do check the settings first though! Linen and cotton and wool can stand a lot of heat, on those settings you may melt your polyesters. On the cooler 'Poly' setting you will be golden. For extra security you can put a clean thin towel between the iron and the ribbon. I also find 'pressing' works better than 'ironing'. The technical use of 'Press' is to hold the iron STILL with arm pressure for a span of time, whereas ironing is passing the hot iron over the surface. Try it out, it is amazing what a difference it makes.

 

[BusterBart]

An old trick from my teen years was to run a wrinkled ribbon over an incandscant light bulb. (Yes, we had electricity then). But does anyone still have an incandescant light bulb?

Yes, contrary to popular belief.

And good idea too.