How to Properly Iron Shirts, Pants, and Skirts

This is one of those things I really don't like doing. But, I just got to love it.

Enjoy!

Ironing clothes is one of those tasks that has a tendency to be a bit terrifying, but worry not, it just seems overly complicated. Here, we'll break it down into the three simplest, most common cases: Shirts, pants, and skirts. 

What you’ll need:

 A clean iron (without rust or burnt starch, because that ruins clothes!)

An ironing board

A bit of water, preferably in a spray bottle

Some light starch if you like to use it

Yes, an ironing board really is necessary.  Ironing boards are specially made to make the job easier, but more than that, they're wrapped in special material that's not only flame retardant, but also breathable so that steam is able to escape from underneath the item you're ironing.

Shirts

Ironing shirts is quicker and easier than you might think. It should only take an average of three minutes to properly iron a shirt, and that's doing it the right way.

It's best to start with the sleeves, since they'll be just fine hanging off the sides of the ironing board while you finish the rest of the shirt. Doing it the other way around, and leaving the sleeves for last, will end up causing wrinkles in other parts of the shirt that you've already ironed.

Open the cuffs! This is something that many ironing newcomers get wrong all the time, but it's not just easier to open the cuffs and lay them flat, but it lets you do a better job ironing the whole sleeve, too.

When doing the collar of the shirt, make sure you open it up and lay it flat. Just like the cuffs, people tend to think that this is opposite of what they should do, since they're used to seeing the collar in the down position at all times.

Afterwards, let the shirt hang for a few minutes to fully cool down. Ironing heats the fabric to a very high relative temperature, and the "flatness" actually sets in during the cool down phase, so wearing it immediately could negate some of the hard work you just put into ironing it in the first place.

Pants

There's a reason people say "press" instead of "iron" for pants. Even though you'll still be using an iron, it's gentle pressure and steam that are going to do the work, not so much the motion and heat of the iron itself.

If you've lost your main crease (pressing lines), finding it again is easy. Just lay the pants flat on the ironing board, and line up the seams of the leg to match. The crease is as far from those seams as the fabric goes.

The crease should go all the way up the leg, stopping at about six inches below the waist. If there are pleats, then the crease can go all the way to the pleat. Always set the front crease first.

If you've pressed in a crease, the pants should hang by the waistband for at least an hour or two to set. If you don't put creases in your pants, don't worry about it! Just give them a few minutes to cool.

Skirts

For most skirts, it's as simple as starting at the top and working your way down. An exception would be for skirts that flare out suddenly at the bottom, with what are called "flounces." For flounced skirts, you'd want to start at the bottom, and iron each flounce first, then work your way up toward the waist. Basically, skirts are just plain easy—you just need to be careful about the fabric.