Ironing Tips
by grandi
Organization is everything: the point of tolerable ironing is all in appropriate equipment, accessories, and ironing method.
Perhaps it sounds incredible, but I am one of the few on this world who – can you imagine? – love ironing. It gives me an excellent opportunity to daydream, reflect, and relax.
Right, it is not a child’s play, but to my firmest belief, ironing absolutely does not have to be a tedious, tiring, and hated undertaking.
Before you buy yourself an iron, consider few things first that are vital to make this detested task at least bearable.
Natural textiles such as cotton and linen or heavy denim, for example, require irons with both burst-of-steam and spray components. Furthermore, I warmly recommend the iron with a steam that can be switched off.
Pick up and hold the iron in your hand for a while before you make the final decision. Make sure it is comfortable. It is better noticing right off if it is too heavy to maneuver or to small, to big, or too heavy for you.
Pay attention to the controls of the iron. Is it a slide, a dial, or even a digital read-out; is fabric settings clearly marked? Are visible and easy to be adjusted?
Always take proper care for your iron, storage included.
A proper iron holding bag provides an exemplary tidiness and peace of your mind, as the iron can be safely "parked" inside the heat resistant caddy even when still hot.
Those who hate ironing often swear on different tricks that substitute the ironing - but only theoretically. Hanging up garments as soon after taken out of the drawer or fix the hanger in the bathroom while taking a shower or bath; spraying them with a mixture of water and fabric softener after putting them on… Yes, it can be a last-moment salvation, but it just cannot replace a decent ironing. The truth is that clothes look much better ironed.
Nevertheless, some preliminary tips and tricks can make the ironing much easier, faster, and efficacious, but most of all – less vexatious:
Never load too heavily the washing machine. If the water cannot flow efficiently throughout the drum during the cycle, the laundry may finish damp, wrinkled, and dirty.
As well, not ever overload the dryer, or your clothes will acquire the colossus creases, impossible to press.
Avoid letting laundry to over dry.
Fully dry or over dried wash is much more complicated to iron than slightly damp ones.
Once you find out your garments are already over dried, use anti-wrinkles spray, which not only smoothes the wrinkles quickly, but also revives any type of laundry by living a pleasant scent of purest cleanliness and freshness.
When your laundry is so dry that the spray does not work, help yourself with garment steamer.
 | Mary Ellen's I Hate Ironing! Spray Wrinkle Remover-16 Ounce MARY ELLEN PRODUCTS-I Hate Ironing! Spray it on your clothes and watch the wrinkles disappear. This package contains one 16.9-fluid ounce spray bottle of I Hate Ironing! Made ... |
 | Steam Fast SF-435 Compact Fabric Steamers Steaming is much more effective and kinder than ironing. Excellent on all kinds of fabric, even draperies & upholstery. Held-held steamer is great for traveling or daily touch ... |
Preparing For Your Job Pays Off!
Shake, tug, and smooth the clothes after you remove them from the dryer. Leaving the clothes in the basket, waiting for their time to come on iron board, will render the process significantly more bothersome.
Hang up the pieces that are most disastrous to iron. Reshaping the garment and evening out the pleats and seams will make a world of difference when you finally start ironing. To retain running pleats in place, you can help yourself with paper clips, cautiously not to perforate the cloth.
To stop slipping the clothes off, velvet hangers can be particularly helpful.
After the most demanding piece of your laundry is ironed, hang it up immediately to protect the results of your hard work. Functional, practical iron-board hanger helps preserving the effort you put in the job.
 | Adjustable Parallel Double Garment Wardrobe Hanger Rack Storage Organizational Home Out of closet space? Give yourself a little breathing room with this convenient adjustable, double flared Garment Rack. This highly functional rack has 68" of hanging space ... Only $36.76 |
 | Homz 1220128 Iron Rest and Garment Hanger Platinum Platinum powder coated finish iron rest fits most standard 14-15-inch boards. Removable to allow ironing at either end of the ironing board and slides in for easy storage. ... |
 | Closet Complete Ultra Thin No Slip Velvet Suit Hangers, Black, Set of 50 Closet Complete® America's Favorite Brand brings quality, luxury and value to the care of all of your suits with our 50-piece Black Ultra Thin No Slip Velvet Suit Hanger. ... Only $30.0 |
Be Practical
Simplify your ironing with practical sleeve board that is splendid assistant not only to press sleeves, but also to press trying such a trying parts like edging lines, sleeve caps, and other hard-to-reach spots.
Besides, the sleeve board is indispensable to iron properly the most delicate areas, which normally leave annoying marks on the fabric (fly front, pockets on pants, jacket lining, densely piled velvet, and other).
 | Polder 521-93H Basic Ironing Sleeve Board, Red Grid This Polder Basic Ironing Sleeve board has a 21" x 5" Ironing Surface. It has a folding leg assembly and 100% cotton cover. |
 | 24" Sleeve Board This extra-sturdy, high quality solid wood board comes with both a pad and a cover, and is long enough to resist sleeve bunching! |
Find The Right Accessories
Some people are particularly clumsy with the ironing. To prevent undesirable accidents, try the silicone cover, which is safe on delicate materials, silk included. Silicone cover allows high heat with safety on majority of ironed textiles.
Use ironing sprays and starches properly. Before you start ironing, allow the product sufficient time to penetrate into the garment thoroughly. Just a few second will enable the product to be soaked into the garment and prevent residue to stay on the sole plate of your iron.
 | Bo Nash Ironslide Iron Shoe Makes the sole-plate of your iron new again! Fits over the base of your iron. Nothing sticks! It's made of fiberglass with a non-stick surface - starch and fusibles wipe off. ... Only $19.5 |
 | Mary Ellen's Best Press Clear Starch Alternative 16 Ounces-Tea Rose Garden Mary Ellen's Best Press Clear Starch Alternative 16 Ounces-Caribbean Beach. MARY ELLEN-Mary Ellen's Scented Best Press. This is a clear starch alternative with soil guard and ... Only $12.16 |
Be clever. Iron your lightest, delicate fabric first (silk, micro fiber, synthetic), as all need to be ironed at low temperatures.
 | Whitney Design Pressing Pad Polyester see through fabric protects clothing from scorch marks from iron, Protects the iron also from zippers, 23.5in. x 15.5in., Great for delicates. Only $12.1 |
 | Reliable C81 Home Vacuum and Up-Air Pressing Table For the ultimate pressing performance, we suggest this professional-quality ironing board that has features used by the best garment makers, dry cleaners and tailors in the ... Only $599.0 |
 | Pelindaba Lavender Linen Water with Organic Lavender Essential Oil - 16 fl oz Pelindaba's steam distilled and essential oil infused Lavender Linen Water is produced using the essential oils from lavender flowers freshly harvested from our own ... Only $22.0 |
To protect your iron plate from snaps, zippers, or buttons, use pressing pad – transparent is the best. It will also keep your clothing from being damaged. Even better is to iron your printed T-shirts outside out at low settings.
If you are prone to use a lot of steam while ironing, I warmly encourage the purchase of vacuum iron board.
It is pricey, that is true, but it is worth every penny as it combines the home use with all the advantages of professional ironing board. You can press multiple layers at once, as the incredibly effective built-in vacuum sucks the steam through them profoundly.
If you dislike steam ironing, copy me. I am often ironing without the steam, and just spraying the garments with gorgeous essential oil infused scented water.
For Professional Results
At last, but not least, if you truly despise ironing, try the ironing press. Its advantage number one is definitely the precious time that can be saved easily without giving up the superior quality of ironing. Just imagine –ironing press can be over ten times the size of your normal iron. I swear by it!
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| Steam Fast SF-680 Digital Fabric Steam Press |
Find the Best Iron For You
Although in modest category under $50, this terrific iron excels with a three-way automatic shut-off, LCD monitor and digital readout, automatic cleaner, soft-grip handle, a motion-sensitive automatic shut-off with audible alerts, stainless-steel sole plate, and convertible steam regulator. In addition, if you lower down the heat, a beeping light indicator informs you when the pre-set temperature is reached.
Panasonic
It is quite annoying when all cordless appliances need to be returned to the charger after the battery is exhausted. Yet, the Panasonic NI-L70SR is tremendously popular among users, thanks to its ergonomic handle-top commands, removable transparent water tank, and auto shut-off function. According to consumer reviews, it heats up rapidly, glides smoothly and it is easy to manipulate.
Rowenta
This potent Rowenta steam station with stainless still soleplate is the Rolls Royce of irons!
Consistent pressurized vapor penetrates into materials energetically and intensely, inducing extraordinary results.
Transparent water tank that holds 33 oz of water can be re-filled at any time with tap water.
Modifiable steam control is adjustable in accordance to different types of textiles, from lighter steam for delicates, to most potent for thick and heavy ones.
Used in the vertical position, the iron can eliminate creases in hung garments or in drapes.
Pressing Is Better Than Ironing
This outstanding device grants grandiose 24-by-9-inch ironing surface with 100 pounds of pressure, no steam option or electronically pumped variable steam, temperature adjustment, lockable handle, auto safety shut-off, and temperature ready indicator. Affordable, relatively light-weigh and space saving press guarantees an excellent, professional "fresh from the cleaners" appearance to all types of garments.
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Comments
I would "e-mail" my caddy to you, if possible. Since discovery (and buy) of ironing press, my ordinary iron leads a solitary life. Ironing press (I have a Singer) definitely rules! Ironing a male shirt with the press is a piece of cake :)
Wow, it is incredible to me that anyone could enjoy ironing. (I have altogether stopped buying clothes that require ironing just so I can avoid it. My husband's shirts often still need to be ironed, though.) You have assembled some great gadgets related to ironing. The caddy is very interesting to me.