However, sunray or concertina pleats are becoming fashionable and it’s important that counter staff recognise this type of pleat and charge correctly.
Finishing a fully pleated sunray skirt can take over half an hour so a charge of £15 – £20 or more is appropriate.
Sunray pleats may look similar to press pleats but as press pleats overlap each other, they can be pressed or ironed flat, taking care to follow the original pleat lines.
Sunray pleats do not overlap and each pleat reverses in relation to the adjacent pleats to form a concertina pattern. To re-pleat a sunray garment, turn it inside out. Then start at the zip or other recognisable point and iron each alternate pleat individually.
Use the iron with great precision particularly at the waist where the pleats converge. The skirt can then be turned right way out and the procedure repeated on the alternate external pleats.
This pleating requires skill so I suggest that cleaners develop expertise obtaining a sunray item to practice on.
