Anyone got any ironing tips ?!

[Bride2Be25]

VERY boring topic for a Sunday morning but I’ve just spent 30 minutes trying to iron a shirt and it still looks terrible. I’m hot, sweaty and about to loose my shit!!!!

Does anyone have any tips on how I can actually get the creases out ?! Every time I get one out another one appears. Not doing it isn’t an option sadly and neither is outsourcing it.

Wet it a bit with water and throw in the tumble dryer with a few ice cubes. Lazy but it works.

Shirts are best ironed straight out of the machine, so they are still slightly damp.

Spray this area with water
Undo all the cuff buttons
Iron the cuff and the placket
Smooth out the sleeve on the ironing board until there are no creases or rucks
Iron down the sleeve

I use a steam generator iron and find it irons better than a normal steam iron. Try spraying with water or that spray starch stuff before ironing

What does the care label say?

I do sleeves first. Smooth the sleeve out first with your hands and then iron. Then I do one side, back, other side and then tidy up the shoulder area and then the top area of the the 2 fronts

Unless you’re in the military and going to get reprimanded don’t worry about it. Learn to give less of a shit plus is it your shirt?

My brother very seldom irons shirts but here's his motto @Bride2Be25 :

"Do the collar,
Then the chest,
Then the cuffs,
And bugger the rest!"

It does mean that he has to go around constantly wearing either a jumper or a jacket so no-one sees his slovenly ironing skills, but he thinks that's a small price to pay!

(Personally I really like ironing and like everything to be just so.)

I agree with others here that you need to spray that shirt with water first, but be careful then that you don't singe it.

Iron it when wet straight out of the machine, that will make the biggest difference. Have your iron at the hottest setting.

The cuffs and collar might still be damp afterwards, so hang it up to air, you probably can’t put it straight on.

The other thing that makes a difference is giving yourself enough time to do it slowly and methodically. Get yourself a private space, put a podcast or music on and let it take as long as it takes. Start with the collar, then the bit at the shoulders, then the sleeves, then the main body.

When I wash shirts I put them on hangers to dry to minimise creases. Use steam generator iron. Spray with water if required

The best way is to throw it away.

I only buy easy iron and then do my best to not iron them by hanging out quickly.

I've just ironed a couple of shirts so I can commit 50 years experience to paper!
When ironing the sleeve, iron with one hand and use the other to hold the cuff between finger and thumb so that it stays in place, that's the secret.

Thanks everyone, honestly I HATE ironing !! - I was using steam but the shirt was dry so will try dampening it down now and using the other tips mentioned here.

I’m very lucky as usually it’s DH’s job but he’s away at the mo so I’ve had to do it this weekend !

Life’s short. Don’t waste it ironing. Send the shirts out and leave the rest.

Pop it in the tumble with something damp. Or spray on laundry starch can help.

I was going to say get dh to do it, that's what I do cos I absolutely hate hate hate ironing. Give me 10 toilets to clean instead. Can you not wait till he's back, 😉

I'm so old I was taught how to iron a shirt in domestic science class. Badly creased items were sprinkled with water (we didn't have plastic spray bottles back then) rolled up loosely till they were damp, then ironed on the hottest recommended heat for the fabric. (We didn't have steam irons either, and I still find dampening badly creased things first makes the job easier, even with a steam iron).

We were told it was important to start with the collar and cuffs. Then do the sleeves using one of these little sleeve boards on top of your usual ironing board. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leifheit-Steel-Sleeve-Board-Grey/dp/B07PPCMB98/ Then you can do the front and back.

Please note this down in your domestic science book, alongside the instructions on how to clean a blocked u-bend under the kitchen sink (don't remove the bucket until after you've screwed the u-bend back into place), and how to rewire an earthed 3 pin plug, and how to write a schedule of when to do what to get an entire Christmas dinner ready to serve at a predetermined time.

Of all the things I had to learn to pass exams in grammar school it's really only the domestic science stuff that came in handy in real life.

I agree, I used to have tops like this and I would avoid wearing them because of the hassle it took to iron them

I scrunch up a corner of everything I buy in my hand. If it creases it's not purchased!

There's only me though, so an iron free life is great.

I will iron pillow cases though, but only if someone is coming to stay, and if necessary - guests again- I iron the sheets while on the bed, and only do the fold over bit on the top sheet also. No complaints yet, but what would anyone say?

I’ve got a solution for you!!! Starch spray from Savers - costs less than £1. Does wonders on our particularly thick Oxford shirts.

Buy a better iron with excellent steam and water spray settings. I never realised the difference a decent iron could make. It can halve the amount of time.
I had a rubbish old iron for years and years that I didn't think to replace because it 'worked'. I was shocked when I upgraded it. The same as the vacuum cleaner - I struggled with a cheap one for years and didn't realise the difference a good quality vacuum would make

Dry on hangers

Steam iron and sleeve board. Makes shirts dead easy.

The best ironing tip my mother ever gave me was 'throw or give away your iron'. Twenty years as an adult and parent and I still don't regret following it.