How to iron clothes more efficiently
Want to spend less time ironing?
Unless you’re one of the rare souls who loves ironing, we bet you might like any advice that means you spend less time smoothing out wrinkles and more time enjoying life. So we’ve gone searching for any tips and tricks that can free you from the ironing board. As well as advice on ironing efficiently, we’ve found some ideas to reduce the need for ironing in the first place.
Shake your clothes before chucking them in the dryer. If you take a few moments to un-clump your clothes before they enter the tumble dryer, you’ll get fewer wrinkles in your dry laundry. You may still need to iron your clothes, but fewer wrinkles = less time ironing.
Adjust your dryer settings. Is your dryer making work for you? Check the manual in case there is a low-crease setting. This may be labelled ‘casual’ or ‘normal’ as opposed to fast. In general, cooler, slower drying will produce fewer wrinkles.
Shower with your wrinkled garments. If you have a batch of wrinkled clothes, hang them carefully on hangers and then take them into the bathroom the next time you shower. Make sure you close windows and doors to trap the steam inside. As your clothes dry following this steam bath, the wrinkles should reduce.
Shop smarter. If you really want to spend less time ironing, look for clothes that use man-made fibres – or items that are designed to be non-iron. Many of these labels lie, and the clothes still need ironing, but they tend to be easier and quicker to iron than their all-cotton cousins.
Let the water do the work. Have a water spray bottle on hand whenever you iron, and spray your clothes liberally before you start ironing. For the best results, let the water sink in to the fibres before you start ironing. The water will loosen the wrinkles and make the iron more effective – and faster at achieving smooth clothes.
Work in batches. Okay, so you can file this tip in the ‘stating the obvious’ category, but many of us are guilty of ‘ironing on demand’; ironing single garments because we need to wear them, often in a hurry as the taxi waits outside. Or is this just us? But half the chore of ironing is the prep. You have to get the ironing board, plug in the iron and then gather your wrinkled clothes. By ironing your clothes in batches, you will save a great deal of time and stress in the long run. If you want to spend less time ironing, you know it makes sense!