By: Gene Rodriguez, III
Learning how to iron a shirt has a number of benefits. Although you may never duplicate a professional pressing, you'll save money and be able to get a shirt looking spiffy in no time.
Setting Up Your Ironing Area
Although ironing is a simple task, you'll want to have your work area set up to avoid accidents or creating more work for yourself.
- A level ironing board is a happy ironing board. You'll want to set the ironing board up so that it is about waist height. Make sure that the legs of the ironing board are stable and locked in place.
- Keep you work area clean. Make sure the area around your ironing board is clear of clutter and free of dust or dirt. As you iron, parts of your shirt will drape down and may touch the floor.
- Placement is key. Try to position your ironing board so that the iron will plug into an outlet on the same side as your dominant hand. Correctly placing the ironing board will keep you from having the power cord lying across your work.
Before You Start
- Start damp. If the shirt has just come out of the wash, let it dry until just damp (but not completely dry) before ironing. If you're starting with a dry shirt, spray the shirt lightly using a misting spray bottle and place the shirt in a plastic bag for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Use the right temperature. You can usually find the iron setting on a care tag on the inside of the shirt. In general, natural fabrics like cotton and linen will need higher temperatures than synthetics.
- Got water? Make sure the water reservoir of your iron is filled before you start. Using distilled water will help keep your clothes and iron clean.
- Come undone. Unbutton all of the buttons of your shirts. If you have several shirts to iron, group them by material and iron the coolest fabric shirts first, working your way to the warmest.
How To Iron A Shirt, Step By Step
- In general, you want to work from the small, complicated parts to the bigger sections. Your shirt will spend a lot of time moving around on the ironing board. Leaving the bigger sections until last will keep them from becoming wrinkled as you work.
- Begin with the collar. Lay the collar flat and iron the outside, working from the points to the middle. Avoid creasing the collar in the middle.
- Flip the shirt over. Fold the collar down and iron the inside of the collar, again working from the points to toward the middle.
- Iron the shoulder yoke. The shoulder yoke is the part of the shirt that connects the collar to the back of the shirt, across the shoulders. Place one side of the yoke over the narrow end of the ironing boar and iron from the seam to the collar. Repeat for the other shoulder.
- Iron the cuffs. Open one cuff and place it flat on the ironing board. Iron the inside of the cuff, followed by the outside. Use the tip of the iron to get at the fabric around any buttons.
- Now, it's time for the sleeves. Use the seam as a guide to flatten the sleeve on the ironing board. Iron both sides of each sleeve, using your free hand to keep the fabric flat.
- Lay out one of the front panels. Iron each of the front panels of the shirt separately. If the shirt has a pocket, iron that first. Again, use the tip of the iron to get in between the buttons.
- Open out the shirt and place the back facing up. Iron the back of the shirt from the yoke down the tail. Make sure to iron all the way into the seams where the front and back sections meet.
- Touch up any areas that you missed or that were re-wrinkled. As soon as you are finished, hand the shirt neatly on a hanger and button the top-most button to help the collar keep its shape.
