• Iron your shirts in batches. Ironing a shirt only takes a few minutes, but half of that time is taken up with preparation–getting the ironing board set up, the iron filled and hot, etc. So use your time more effectively by ironing all your shirts in one batch instead of whenever you need one.
• If you’re ironing a large number of shirts or other articles of clothing, start with the garments needing the lowest temperature. Then move to the garments (cotton and linens) that require the highest temperatures. The reasoning is that it takes an iron longer to cool off than heat up, and it decreases the likelihood of damage to your clothing.
• If you dry your shirts in a clothing dryer, pull them out before they are fully dry. Better yet, don’t even place them in a dryer and instead put them on a wood hanger and iron them right out from the washing machine. No need to moisten or use any steam.
• If you literally have no time to iron then at least throw the shirt in the dryer (assuming you’ve dried it like this before) while you throw on the rest of your clothing. Five minutes tumbling in the warm air will help to loosen some of the worst wrinkles.
• If you’re going to pack your dress shirts for a week’s worth of travel, don’t waste your time ironing the shirts beforehand. Pack them normally and allot 15 minutes upon arrival to iron them when you arrive in your hotel room.
• Anytime you are using a questionable iron that may leave marks, turn the shirt inside out and iron the backside only. It won’t give the shirt as crisp a look, but the difference is negligible and any marks will be invisible once the shirt is turned back out correctly.
• Pay attention to the condition of the ironing board cover and pad–if it looks like it could leave any type of mark or you can feel metal underneath, cover it with a cotton towel or look for another board.
• Make sure your iron has an auto-shutoff. Although most modern household irons do, some of the older models floating around do not. You want the peace of mind knowing that even if you forgot to turn off the iron this morning you’re not going to start a fire.
• To produce steam, make sure you are using the iron at its highest setting. If you are using it at anything below the middle setting, water will often drip or trail. If you need to iron on low and need moisture, this is where the spray bottle really comes in handy. If you don’t need moisture, make sure to set the adjustable steam to “off” and don’t press the steam blast button.
• Always empty the water from your iron while the iron is hot. This will reduce the moisture that remains in the water compartment. Doing this will also ensure you unplug the iron before leaving the house.
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