So many shaving gurus here.. Now, are there any ironing gurus?! I still cant iron shirts and trousers properly!!
Any tips would be good.
Any tips would be good.
Anyone got a good guide to Ironing? lol
- Thread starter theshankleton
- Start date
Dry Cleaning
I've actually always had women do mine, first my mom, then my girlfriends and friends. I've only tried it a handful of times myself and I've ruined two really nice dress shirts. I'm staying clear of it from now on.
Dry Cleaner.....seconded... 
If you're ironing shirts yourself, this is the proper sequence: first shoulderpart, then arms, back, front, end with collar. Minimal creases guaranteed.
The third most important grooming task for me - followed by getting a close shave and taking a shower, is having wrinkle free attire. I'm very particular about that and always preferred doing it myself.
First of all, start by using a non-stick, steam iron. Use high heat and steam on all cotton fabrics. For areas that seem to have wrinkles that don't dissappear, press the spray button over the area and slowly pass over it. You need to do this on a full size ironing board...not on top of a counter or bed
The narrower end of the ironing board is designed so that shirts/shoulders and the upper area of slacks can be accommodated. If you're ironing any synthetics or polyester mix use a lower setting. Note that steam does not work on lower settings...so you have to disengage the steam button on the lower settings or you will have water drip on the garment.
Irons of choice:
Rowenta is the best but a bit higher in price. Sunbeam would be my second choice. Keep away from Black and Drecker...I mean Decker.
First of all, start by using a non-stick, steam iron. Use high heat and steam on all cotton fabrics. For areas that seem to have wrinkles that don't dissappear, press the spray button over the area and slowly pass over it. You need to do this on a full size ironing board...not on top of a counter or bed
The narrower end of the ironing board is designed so that shirts/shoulders and the upper area of slacks can be accommodated. If you're ironing any synthetics or polyester mix use a lower setting. Note that steam does not work on lower settings...so you have to disengage the steam button on the lower settings or you will have water drip on the garment.Irons of choice:
Rowenta is the best but a bit higher in price. Sunbeam would be my second choice. Keep away from Black and Drecker...I mean Decker.
I find that the local cleaners do a much better job than I could ever do. Given how long it takes me to do a poor job of ironing, I find they're a bargain too.
I use one of those countertop boards and a relatively cheap iron... I can get the shirts just fine, maybe not to the quality a professional cleaner would get but they don't have noticable wrinkles. As for trousers, well, I can get the legs fine but when you get up to the pockets and pleates (for those that are pleated, I HATE pleates) I have trouble... I can never figure out how to iron around the pockets and if I iron over the pockets the pant leg shows the location on the pockets... Grrr.
fuerein said:
Easy...grab the pocket (inside) and flip it up. Now proceed to iron that area normally...no fantom pocket outline.
I've been buying the 'travel collections' from the lines I like. They are treated with something that makes them wrinkle free after laundering for quite some time. After removing from the dryer, I hang them immediately and they really stay creased and wrinkle free. When travelling, I unpack them and hang them as soon as I check into the hotel and they are fine. I really recommend looking into these and they are top shelf quality (Brooks Brothers, Jos. Banks)
My regular dress shirts and pants, I bring to the dry cleaner to be laundered. For the $1.50 per item they charge, it is well worth it to me. My wife let me know that ironing is right up there with (not gonna tell) as something that just won't be happening.
-Scott-
My regular dress shirts and pants, I bring to the dry cleaner to be laundered. For the $1.50 per item they charge, it is well worth it to me. My wife let me know that ironing is right up there with (not gonna tell) as something that just won't be happening.
-Scott-
Pants: if you want a crease, line the seems of the together lay flat on the wide end of the ironing board smooth out with your hand spray on light layer of spray starch let it soak in for a few seconds or you can just use the steam from your iron or spray on water from a little sprayer then run the iron over the legs, no need to apply a lot of pressure just let the weight of the iron do it, start with the creases get them established then do the rest, then flip the leg over and repeat. After you finish both legs take the pants over to the skinny end of the board and slip the waist over and iron. YMMV and remember do not leave the iron in one spot too long it will burn
GeeQue said:The third most important grooming task for me - followed by getting a close shave and taking a shower, is having wrinkle free attire. I'm very particular about that and always preferred doing it myself.
First of all, start by using a non-stick, steam iron. Use high heat and steam on all cotton fabrics. For areas that seem to have wrinkles that don't dissappear, press the spray button over the area and slowly pass over it. You need to do this on a full size ironing board...not on top of a counter or bed
Irons of choice:
Rowenta is the best but a bit higher in price. Sunbeam would be my second choice. Keep away from Black and Drecker...I mean Decker.
This is all good advice - here are a couple of other tips/suggestions:
Iron - unless you are prepared to spend more $$ on a heavy duty iron with a polished stainless surface (these are the best, but cost a fair bit more), go with any high quality brand of non-stick iron.
Here's a link to the Consumer Reports iron reviews:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/steam-irons/reports/ratings/ratings/index.htm
It may not work, as its a pay site, but here's some general tips about buying irons from the same site that's in the free section:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/steam-irons/reports/how-to-choose/index.htm
The CR best buys were the B&D digital advantage D2030 at $60, with the Sunbeam Professional 4239 and Hamilton Beech Professional 14970 coming in as solid performers (the HB is $35).
Ironing Board - while you can use a small countertop board, you will definitely have an easier time with a full-size model. Make sure its solid and has an easy height adjust/fold up mechanism.
Ironing Board Cover/Pad - usually, if you buy a decent board, you get a good cover/pad. I'm not going to go into details, but you need a thick enough pad to provide some cushion and prevent you from pressing the pattern of your ironing board into your shirt (you will get some shine if there isn't enought padding - especially on synthetics/blends). The cover should be heat resistant and should allow the iron to glide freely - several pads have Teflon. Most good houseware stores have these in stock, but if you're starting from scratch, you should get a good board/pad/cover combo, as you get a better value.
Water - I generally use filtered or distilled water so that I don't get calcium/lime buildup in my iron or water stains on my clothes. While most irons do have a sprayer for stubborn wrinkles or putting in a serious crease, they tend to put too much water on the clothes for my taste so I use an inexpensive spray bottle (available at most hardware or gardening stores) to mist clothes. You can also iron your clothes when they're still slightly damp, which will give you great results and razor sharp creases.
Heat - I use the heat setting recommended on my clothing, but basically you use higher heat for all-natural clothes, medium to low for natural-synthetic blends and low for synthetics. If you use too high a heat on synthetices, you will burn/melt them - if nothing else you will have clothes with a sheen.
Starch - I generally only use starch on my shirts when its very humid and my shirts will otherwise wilt. Wait until you get the hang of ironing before using starch and then only use a little bit and not all the time, as starch isn't that great for most fabrics.
Shirts - Stauff has his order and that's as good as any, but I suggest that you figure your own out based on which part you want to have the sharpest crease or be least creased - the last thing you iron will be the best pressed -
Here's my order:
1) collar (but iron the part of the collar that you won't see when the collar is down - this prevents excesive wear on the corners of your collar) - if you're ironing a shirt with a button-down collar, undo the buttons before washing and iron with the collar unbuttoned
2) yoke -the shoulder area between the collar and back of the shirt
3) back - the easiest part to do on most men's shirts
4) front - again, pretty easy
5) sleeves - I start with the cuffs (iron from the inside so as not to leave press marks) and then set the shirt sleeve flat down the the length of the board - you should have the seam of the sleeve straight and if you do this, the crease on the upper part of the sleeve should be just fine. I don't press the crease into the cuffs.
6) collar - I go back to the collar, fold it down as I would when wearing it and iron a couple of inches in the midle of the neck (basicaly the part over the label in most shirts), which helps keep the collar stay flat - but still allowing the collar to fold naturally (i.e., don't try to press the collar down along its length, as you will likely get funny creases and will get a press mark at the fold.
Pants
Pants are a PIA, but here's my method.
1) insides of of pockets (yes, you need to actually iron the pockets if you want a good press!)
2) upper part of pants - put the pants over the narrow part of the ironing board as if you were putting the pants on the board - iron the top of one leg, and then the other, rotating the top of the leg around to get the front and back - try not to iron over the pocket linings, as you can get press marks (just shift them out of the way from the inside of the pants)
3) Legs - do one leg at a time - if you want a crease down the middle, line up the seams from the outside and inside of the leg and then lay the leg down the length of the board - if things are lined up properly, the leg will lay flat (or reasonably so) - then iron the front and then the back, one at a time and then flip the leg over and repeat from the other side (you get a much better crease if you iron both sides)
If you screw up the alignment of the side creases, your crease will not fall in the right spot and you will look like a dork. If you've put a crease in the wrong spot, it can be difficult to get out, so try your technique on a few older pairs of pants before you iron your Sunday best.
This experience comes from several years in the military. That having been said, I have most of my work shirts professionally laundered (but do still iron most of my casual shirts) and all of my good pants dry cleaned and pressed by a professional (I iron my own casual pants).
Good luck and sorry for the length of the post - much longer than I anticipated.
3)
FriscoSoxFan said:
I should have read this BEFORE typing out my very long post!
The suggestion to button after ironing is a good one, but I usually get away with the top two buttons and a one in the middle.
Get a steam generator iron. They cost upwards of £100 this side of the pond. A nice one with teflon/PTFE non-stick coating from the French boffins at Tefal will cost £150. They really do work better than a standard iron.
Steam generator irons are the ones with a large box that creates large volumes of steam at pressure. They blitz out wrinkles on dry clothes. If you've ever tried to iron linen you'll know how tough it is to get wrinkle free.
But the easiest way to do the ironing is to get a wife! (I do the cooking and she does the cleaning. Its a good deal.)
Steam generator irons are the ones with a large box that creates large volumes of steam at pressure. They blitz out wrinkles on dry clothes. If you've ever tried to iron linen you'll know how tough it is to get wrinkle free.
But the easiest way to do the ironing is to get a wife! (I do the cooking and she does the cleaning. Its a good deal.)
There's a pictorial guide to ironing a shirt in the new MS Living magazine - the one with Thanksgiving on the cover (November, I think?)
doctorsimon said:
But the question then becomes where do I get one of those... and no I'm not going for one of those Russian mail-order brides.
Thailand? Make sure she is old enough! And not a lady-boy too!
