We have shared with you the right TOOLS needed to iron a dress shirt in our previous article. Today we will take you through, step by step, HOW to iron a dress shirt. These time saving tips will ensure you do a fast and great job leaving you enough time for your weekend pursuits.
PREPARATION
It is a great idea to iron shirts in a batch, you will save time and electricity (think of the many times the iron needs to warm up, if you iron a single shirt at a time)!
Have a look at the care label. It tells you how to care for your shirt. This picture should help you decipher the symbols! Shirts made of 100% cotton or cotton blends can withstand high temperatures, but polyester shirt fabrics are more fragile (Please, for the love of god... do not buy and wear polyester shirts... it kills us a little inside every time we see someone with a polyester shirt...). You can start with a low heat setting on the iron and slowly turn it up once your shirt responds well.
Check whether there are any stains on the shirt, particularly at the cuff, collar or underarm areas, because stains that are ironed in can be very difficult (or even impossible) to remove.
It is best to iron a damp shirt. If the shirt is totally dry, then spray the shirt with water and leave to sit in a ball for 10-15 minutes.
Step 1. Iron the collar
Remove the collar inserts if there are any. Start with the front of the collar. Pull the fabric of the collar taut. Press the top of the collar and moving your way to the tips. Repeat the same with the back of the collar and also iron the strip of fabric under the collar.
Step 2. Iron the back of the shirt
Next press the yoke, which is actually the upper back of the shirt. Also iron the pleat on the shirt (if any) which is under the yoke.
Lay the shirt flat on the board. You can position one of the sleeve heads into the edge of the ironing board. There will then be half a side of the shirt back in a good position to be ironed. Then slide the shirt over to complete the other half. Start with the top (shoulder area) and slowly slide the iron down.
Step 3. Iron the cuff and sleeves
Unbutton the buttons and lay the cuff out flat. Iron the outside of the cuff first followed by the underside. Carefully iron around the buttons and don’t iron over them as it can leave a mark. For the French cuff, repeat the above.
Next, before you iron the sleeves, make sure the fabric is flat and smooth! This is because you are in fact ironing two layers of fabric, and slightly more care is needed for this step. Lay the whole sleeve flat and make sure to line up the seam properly. If there is a crease on the sleeve from the previous ironing, use that as a guide. Start from the top of sleeve and work down to the cuff.
Turn the sleeve over and iron, and repeat the process with the other sleeve.
Step 4. Iron the front of the shirt
You can start ironing the side that has buttons. Using the tip of the iron, carefully work your way around the button area. Remember not to iron over buttons, besides leaving a mark, it may even break the buttons.
Go around the arm hole with the iron tip, and work your way down the shirt front. Repeat on the other side of the shirt front and if you have a placket, iron the fabric underneath the placket, and then over it. This part of your shirt receives a lot of attention, so make sure you spend some time here!
Then, iron the pockets upwards.
Step 5. Inspect and hang the shirt
Take a good look at the shirt and if you need to, spot iron for some touch ups. And that’s it. We’re done! Now it’s time to hang the shirt so that you do not undo all that perfect ironing. Make sure you button the top collar button so that the collar stays in shape.
Just kidding guys, with our explanation above, you don’t need to resort to this.
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