How To Iron Your Clothes Properly?

Ironing is a way to make the garments more presentable by giving them a more crisp and sharp look. Needless to say, you have to read the guidelines long before you bring an iron with the board to take over any sort of ironing endeavor. 

Save yourself a good deal of time by starting off doing the first steps correctly, wash the clothes properly and hang them for drying to reduce the crazy wrinkles from forming in the first place. 

Make sure that your clothes are free of any stains, dirt particles, and botched areas. They may get damaged permanently if you expose them to the heat. The heat will set the stain into the deeper layer of fabrics for good, and this is now what you would like to see with your expensive silk gown and that hefty dress shirt you are still in love with.

Setting up the iron 

You need to set up the iron first and pair it up with a compatible ironing board. Depending on the design and style of the iron, you may need to have one old-style board or adjustable one that comes with sleeves and a section to hold the iron for added comfort. 

You need to check for the following before you set up the iron:

• Choose an area or room that is less crowded. You need to plug the cord with an electrical outlet, and it must not pass through the hallway where kids and pets roam around. The cord may tangle around their feet, causing the iron to fall.  
• The iron cord must not string across the entryways and hallways where family members often wander off. 
• Set the ironing board near the electrical outlet to make the switchboard more accessible for plugging in the iron. 
• Make sure the soleplate or base plate is neat, clean, and free of dirt. Use a plain damp piece of cloth to wipe any dust particles accumulated on the plate to make it super clean for ironing. 
• Add some water in the water reservoir and tank when using steam iron or a steam generating iron. 
• Plug the iron in to activate it.
• Turn the heat dial and temperature level to the desired setting for the fabric that you intend to iron. ( wool, linen, jacket)

Note: If you have not invested in an ironing board yet you can use a flat surface such as a countertop and flat tabletop as an alternative for your regular ironing chores. 

Ironing Different Fabrics:

It usually does not take a high-quality iron to heat up as soon as you plug it in. Before you turn it on, you need to put everything closeby so you wouldn’t have to zoom in and out of the room finding that gown you want to iron for your date on the weekend. 

First off, sort all the clothes order in the right order. Keep the pair of pants with the respective shirts, gowns with the underlay, dress suit with the petticoat, and crop top with the matching skirts in the right order. You can also divide the garments according to the fabric and types; all the cotton shirts should be arranged on one side in one stack and the desmin pants in another. 

If you have planned to iron more of the clothes having a thick texture in the fabric, keep a water spray close by. You don’t need to keep a piece of damp cloth as yet unless you want to roll the iron over a delicate fabric such as satin, silk, chiffon, and organza. 

For fabrics like cotton, canvas, and denim, it’s better that you use a water spray and splash the fabric to damp it a bit. Don’t drench the fabric completely in water; remember you are going to use an iron device that works with the electricity. The clothes should be slightly damp only, not soaking wet at all.

Understanding Heat Level

The ironing guidelines begin by understanding the different heat levels and their adjustments according to different fabric types. When just getting started, iron the fabrics at the lowest heat level to warm the session up. The materials like silk, satin, organza and wool turn out to be presentable when ironed at a low heat level. Make your way to the medium and high heating level by choosing the respective fabrics and garments. Make sure to adjust the temperature with time as you move ahead with cotton and denim. 

Delicate clothes should be ironed first before you adjust the heat to the medium unless there’s one temperature setting for all fabrics you have to keep turning the dial around different levels to regulate the heat level during ironing.

Do’s

• When you activate the iron, pick the lowest heat level to heat the iron up. And make your work around the delicate clothes first and get done with their piles. In other words, start with the fabric that requires low heat. 

• When ironing the delicate clothes, you may not need to fill the water reservoir with the water; you can do the job by using the dry ironing technique.

• Start your ironing session by pressing the delicate fabrics. If the material is silk and satin, put a damp piece of cotton cloth over it and glide the soleplate with a gentle handle to remove the fabric’s creases. 

• Damp the cotton, denim, and canvas garments 15 minutes in advance of ironing. The water should seep through the button layers and it will help with quick ironing for sure. The same rule applies when you have more polyester clothes in the stack for the ironing errand. 
• Use a garment steamer instead of a standard old-style iron for embellished clothes. 
• Hang all the clothes immediately after ironing one by one. Tucking them away on the side may form creases in no time. To deal with the delicate clothes’ ironing, hang them on the hanger and put them in the walk-in-closet or hanging closet right away without wasting any second. 

Don’ts

•   Never start ironing the clothes by opting for a high-heat level; it increases the likelihood of the clothes getting burned. And more often, it results in unexpected cloth burning incidents and accidents. Play it safe; you are just getting started with the errand, have patience and make your work up to the high-temperature level with time. 
• Never expose the delicate clothes to direct heat; the fiber may lose its color, shape, and texture, causing permanent damage. 
• Always use a damp piece of cloth over the delicate and fragile garments. You don’t wish for your expensive silk and satin gowns to have ugly scorched marks.  
• Don’t glide the soleplate right over the top of embellished clothes carrying rhinestones, gold/silver accent embroidery, and gem work. If you accidentally expose such clothes to the heated soleplate, the fabric may damage permanently. Not only that, your soleplate will catch on the material and glue used for attaching the gemstones to the clothes. It would be such a hassle to clean the soleplate later on.

Ironing shirts:    

While ironing thick parts like cuffs, collars, or hems, press the insides first, followed by the outside. For shirts, start from the underside of the centre of the collar. Move towards the edge and then back to the centre and press the shirt completely. Drape the shirt over the board’s side and then press the shoulders and the back.

Ironing pants:     

Iron the pockets first and then move towards the waist of the pants. Don’t get too hard on the part where the pockets are present; this creates pocket-lines. Fold the pants horizontally and place them on the ironing board. Make sure that both legs line up and one is placed over the other. When you have gone through the upper fold, move it towards the waist. Now press the bottom leg, turn over the pants and press the remaining two sides in the same way.

Safety from hot iron:    

• Choose an iron with excellent safety features and an auto turn-off function.
• Keep iron away from children as it may cause accidents.
• Don’t place the iron face down, as it can burn the fabric and damage the surface.
• Let the iron get cooled after you have done your job. Hot irons may cause fires.
• Be careful of the wire of the corded iron so that no one trips over it or use top quality cordless iron

Tip: If you get a burn from iron, immediately wash and keep your burn under running water for at least 15 minutes. If the burn is more significant than a centimeter, consult a doctor. Don’t use ice and oil on your skin.

Are you fed up with pressing clothes for hours?

We have some tips to make it enjoyable for you!

Turn on some music or listen to a suspense audio story. In spare time we always prefer entertainment that involves videos. Now, you have time to enjoy the audio as well!

Ask someone to accompany and help you hang the clothes as you iron them. Make a call to your friend and turn on the speaker for convenience. No more boredom!

And the final option is buy steam ironing press. It’s done the ironing task in seconds.

Happy ironing!

Also Read:

How to Iron without Electricity? Tips

How to iron without board