Liner handling tips

By Holly O’Dell

Handling liners appropriately will give them a longer shelf life. “It is so important to handle these things that go up and come down carefully to minimize the cleanup,” says Jimmy Parks, vice president of sales for Karl’s Event Services, headquartered in Oak Creek, Wis. “In clearspan tents, when you hang them from the pipe, the tent liners don’t have to touch the ground. But we still suggest that [installers] use a drop cloth and make sure the area is clean of debris.”

Storage methods depend on the liner. For gathered liners, the more opportunities for wrinkles, the better. “One of the advantages of the Baytex silk liners is that they crush well,” says Barbara Friesen of the SEC Group in Wilsonville, Ore. “We stuff them in a storage bag, and the more times you wad them the better they look. They end up with an overall crushed appearance rather than wrinkled.”

Flat liners, of course, are a different matter. “Keep in mind that if you put up a smooth liner, it has to be wrinkle-free,” says Glen Hansen, vice president of sales, Classic Party Rentals–Chicago. To that end, rolling the smooth liners on cylinders minimizes creases. “We’ve also had success running them through the mangle when we do our linens, but it’s hard because the material is pretty sensitive,” he says.

As for storage, “We typically like to keep them in boxes, and when we install them, we can steam the areas that need to be taken care of,” Hansen adds.

Based in Georgia, Jamie Swedberg is a freelance writer specializing in the specialty fabrics industry since 1997.