How do you iron?

Answer 1

The process of ironing is rather simple. First you have to have a small appliance called an iron. This appliance can be purchased at any retail store and ranges from 10 to 70 dollars. Its purpose is to place heat against fabric. It comes with or without various conveniences such as steam, a spraying function, and a Teflon plate (the heating part). You also would find an ironing board most convenient. This appliance needs padding which is purchased separately, but is necessary in order not to further wrinkle the clothing. Note on your iron that there are various material names on the dial. Rather than put temperatures on it, the manufacturers chose to tell you the most common fabrics that you iron with that temperature. Select the material closest to your item to be ironed. There is a tag in your garment that tells the fiber content. If one has a blend fabric it is best to set the temperature of the iron slightly below the lower fabric temperature in order not to scorch the fabric. To begin, fill the iron with water if it needs it and plug the iron into the wall socket. While the iron is heating up, set up your ironing board and place the iron on it. Many people choose to sit while ironing but I find it cumbersome and time consuming. Adjust the height of the ironing board to comfortably move the iron without undue fatigue to your shoulders or back. You might find it useful to have spray starch or spray sizing to use on the article of clothing. When the iron has sufficiently heated you may iron. Place the garment as flat as possible upon the ironing board and pass the heated iron over the fabric. You should see an immediate flattening of all wrinkles and feel heat on the fabric. If you smell a burning smell, the iron is too hot for the fabric. Turn the iron to a lower temperature, let it cool off, then resume. If the result of the ironing is not satisfactory, the alternative is to dampen the fabric. This can be done with the starch, the sizing, or the water in the iron. There are certain conventions to ironing clothing. Slacks or pants are ironed with a crease. This is the deliberate folding of the fabric to make a very sharp bend in the fabric front and back of the garment. It is a proper thing to have a crease in dress slacks. To determine where the crease should go, fold the ironed pants at the waist band and find the pleat (if there is one). This is the place where you begin your crease. Steam the crease into the pants and starch heavily if desired. This gives a nice sharp crease that will wear nicely during the day. Another convention is the crease at the sleeve. This is accomplished much the same way that slacks are done. In this case, the shirt is laid flat and the under arm seam is flattened first until one reaches the opposite edge of the garment sleeve. The crease is a natural flattening of the material front and back and is never "wavy" or broken. Cuffs need to be separately starched with the spray starch to give it a crisp feel. This is the basics of flat ironing clothing. There are other methods but this one is the most popular of the home methods.