Ironing

[Loony BoB]

I don't hate ironing but I don't like it. I rarely do it unless I have to iron a work shirt or need to wear a suit somewhere. It's pretty rare considering I work from home two days a week and I convinced the company to let us go to work in jeans and a polo shirt.

[Iceglow]

I don't understand ironing. Like how does ironing a shirt actually work? I just seem to permanently press creases into them.

You're clearly doing it wrong. I'd suggest watching some vids on youtube about how to press a shirt properly. Just don't get too hung up on stuff like starching collars and cuffs at first because starch when done wrong is awful.

I did! I have found them unhelpful. They all assume a certain level of competence so they don't go into enough detail and just say things like "Start by ironing the sleeve..." *proceeds to do something with the sleeve that may as well be witchcraft*.

I get that, thankfully my Mom was able to teach me a technique which I've mastered well I'll include it below for you, hopefully my wording will make sense when you have a suit shirt on the ironing board. If you know how to iron a shirt, or don't care how to iron a shirt... you may want to skip this. If you're curious about my technique (I've learnt there are many) and would like to know the one I learnt, or simply want to critique my technique feel free to read the below.

Assuming it's a suit shirt... follow the below steps (for formal french "double" cuffs that you need cufflinks for, the technique varies a little especially on the sleeve):

• Unbutton the main buttons, fasten your cuff buttons (both of them) and pop the collar up like you're impersonating Dracula. the Iron should be set to the material of the shirt, if you're not sure of the material on the shirt then aim for a middle ground on the synthetic/cotton levels. I personally prefer full steam to speed the process up but this is a double edged sword as pressing in a crease with full steam means it's harder to get it out if you've gone wrong. However, you choose to go, you should be OK.
• Hang the shirt over your board so you have a front panel with the sleeve dangling off the board full length on your ironing board.
• Start with the bottom of the hemline and work your way up to the seam at the shoulder. Go to the edge but do not cross the seam on to the back.
• After you've done your first front panel, rotate the shirt so you can get approximately 1/3rd of the back including the edge you just went up to on the side of the shirt on the board, iron from the bottom hemline to the shoulder reinforcement. Don't bother doing the reinforcement as this will only make later bits more difficult.
• Rotating the shirt from your 1st 1/3 around towards the far end of the back of the shirt, you should only ever move it to that point, look for any pleating and try to preserve this by pulling it straight before running the iron over the crease so if you were looking at the profile of the pleat it would look a little like the > symbol. Some shirts conveniently split the back in to 1/3rd sections with these little pleats either below the reinforced area, or at the bottom.
• When doing the middle panel you should also iron the reinforced middle section up to the collar
• After doing all 3 back panels do the other front panel
• Once all main body panels are ironed, pick up your shirt and align the collar along the board, iron this on the underside (from the back) of the shirt only.
• Lastly we need to do the sleeves, because you've got your cuffs buttoned, it makes it fairly easy, lay the sleeve along the board so you're looking at the front of the shirt first. ensure you can see the seam at the bottom of the sleeve but nothing beyond this. Iron that entire sleeve from shoulder reinforcement to cuff flat.
• Flip the shirt and iron the sleeve again, maintaining those creases, pull the cuff so it lays nice and flat then iron in the little folds you see with creasing to naturally reduce the sleeve width to that of the cuff. (this is why buttoning the cuffs makes this easier, undo them briefly if you need to starch the cuff or flatten it more).
• Repeat the process on the other sleeve.
• Viola you have ironed a shirt which should be nice and flat. With practice, you can get this to under 5 mins a shirt at a push with a very good iron that has no dirt/limescale.

Of course, even with step by step guides, you need to practise otherwise it will be crap... it's a lot like learning to shave with a cut-throat razor. The first attempt with a cut throat will be a bloody mess and if you're stupid enough to rush it, potentially fatal (Ironing wouldn't be potentially fatal but it will mean extra laundry) but with practice you can get to the stage where your normal shave will not leave you with any nicks.

This technique is one I learnt and whilst yes, I'm sure a military man or even just a mother who has to iron school uniforms will teach you faster and better techniques I'm sure. It's served me well as a basic, relatively fool proof way to getting my shirts looking respectable.

Lastly, I really would suggest avoiding starch until you're relatively able to produce a wearable shirt 90% of the time (sometimes, trout happens, sometimes the shirt just doesn't stand a chance of being wearable without being washed again) but if you are struggling with floppy collars/cuffs that won't lay flat even with full steam then a quick lick of spray starch across the inside of the cuff or underside of the collar should sort things out nicely.

[Vasher]

NO

Ironing sucks. I really just wanted to point out how awesome Starlet's sig is, fudging love Conan (though Barbarian takes the cake, it's brilliant).

[TheKeybasHKey]

I don´t really like Ironing but my mom tells me that need to be ironed ugh...

[Bubba]

I don´t really like Ironing but my mom tells me that need to be ironed ugh...

She's not the boss of you!

[ttokkii]

I actually quite like ironing, as well as folding laundry.

I know. I'm a head case.

[Mirage]

i don't even have an ironing board, or iron. I just shove everything into my closets, roughly sorted by where on the body it goes

[Cell]

I don't iron anything unless it's a wedding/job interview and I feel I don't have a choice. I don't iron either my work shirts of work trousers. Sod that for a laugh.