Ironing
clothes can be a tricky job. With so many fabric types, pleats, tucks, seams,
etc. getting the wrinkles out can give even the best housekeeper a headache.
Find out the ironing mistakes we make and how to avoid them. Some of them begin
before we ever turn on our iron.
1. Letting
clothes over-dry.
Clothes are
very difficult to iron when they are fully dry or over dried in the dryer.
Over-dried clothes can be very difficult to reshape. Try to remove clothes when
they are still slightly damp. If you line dry your clothes, bring them inside
to iron when they are not quite dry.
2.
Overfilling the dryer.
It would seem
like stuffing as many clothes as can fit into a dryer would save us time, but
more than likely it will only lengthen the time you spend caring for your
clothing. An average dryer should be only 1/2 full in order to allow freedom
for all clothing to move. If too many articles of clothing are in the dryer, it
will create wrinkles, and make your ironing much more difficult.
3. Forgetting
to shake and smooth.
When clothing
is removed from the dryer, it frequently sits in a basket waiting to be ironed.
Take a few minutes and shake out your clothing. Reshape garments, and smooth
out seams and pleats. Even if clothing still needs to be ironed, it will be a
much smoother process.
4. Not using
the sprayer.
Many irons
today come with a built in sprayer to dampen clothes during ironing. If yours
doesn't have one, purchase a new inexpensive empty spray bottle to use. Dampen
the clothing when you are ready to begin ironing. Wrinkles will fall out of the
clothing as you iron. If you don't use the sprayer to soften up the clothing,
ironing is much more difficult and for some garments, impossible.
5. Using Tap
Water.
Tap water may
be okay to use in your iron, depending on what type of water you have. People
with tap water risk damaging their iron. Read the instructions for your iron,
and if in doubt, use distilled water in your iron.
6. Improper
use of starches.
Starches are
a great tool when ironing, but they must be used properly. Spray these products
as you iron, but allow them to actually penetrate into the garment before
ironing over them. Allowing just a few seconds for the clothing to soak up the
starch, will keep your iron's soleplate from becoming built-up with product
residue.
7. Ironing
heavyweight fabrics first.
If you have a
large pile of ironing to do, try to iron your lightest silk, synthetic, and
delicate fabrics first. These need to be ironed on low temperatures. Once the
iron heats up, and you've ironed your lightweights, you can move on to the
wools, cottons, linens, etc.