How to Iron a Shirt?
There are actually four strategies for ironing a shirt. They should be approached in this order until all wrinkles are removed from the garment.
Strategy 1: Ask your girlfriend to do it for you.
The key here is to ask really nicely. Try to avoid a tone of voice that might be interpreted as “of course you should iron my shirt simply because you are a woman and that’s what women do”. Instead, phrase the request to sound as though you are just a man in dire need of a skilled female touch. Of course you appreciate her help and and celebrate all her skills. It’s what makes you a great couple. She iron’s the shirts, cooks the food and cleans the house. You kill the mice, fix the lightbulbs and… other stuff…
We recognize that in some cases this strategy doesn’t work. If this is the case, move to strategy 2.
Strategy 2: Ask your mom to do it for you.
Serious? No. We’re just kidding. If you live with your mom stop worrying about how to iron your shirts and concern yourself with getting a job and an apartment of your own. Just in case you do try this, use the same approach as in strategy 1. If not, move on to strategy 3.
Strategy 3: Take it to the dry cleaner.
That’s what dry cleaners are for. They iron shirts. A simple pressing should cost no more than a couple bucks which is probably much cheaper than the first two strategies we mentioned above.
If all three of these options fail, and only as an absolute last resource, move to strategy 4.
Strategy 4: Iron the shirt yourself.
This will require an iron. Preferably the iron lets you pour water in it, and even better it has one of those slippery teflon coated bottoms. Before you plug it in, be sure that the bottom of the iron is clean. Plug it in, setting it up so that the hot part is not facing down. If there is a dial, turn the dial to point to cotton or very-very-very hot. All Proper Cloth dress shirts are made from 100% cotton. Now, you need an ironing board. If you’re in New York, you have a dinky little ironing board you can set on your dinky little dining room table. If you live in California, you’re wondering what an ironing board is because you wear nothing but t-shirts. If you live anywhere else, you have a nice big fold out ironing board you can setup in your living room.
*Expert tip: If possible, position the ironing board so that you can see the television from where you will be standing.
Step 1. Unbutton the shirt completely, and spread it out over the ironing board. Start with the back of the shirt because this is going to get wrinkled as soon as you put it on and sit down anyways. Put the shirt on the board so that the narrow end of the board is going into the back of the shoulder of the shirt and the edge of the ironing board is along the side of the shirt. With moderate pressure, slide the iron down the shirt top to bottom, being careful that you keep the shirt flat and don’t actually iron wrinkles into the garment. Use a little steam or spray some water on any wrinkles that aren’t going away. Once you’ve done one side of the back, slide the shirt over and do the other side just the same.
Step 2. Next do the sleeves (one at a time). Lay the sleeve long ways on the ironing board and carefully flatten the sleeve with your hands such that it folds along the hem on the bottom of the sleeve. Starting from around the arm pit area, iron toward the cuff and away from the bottom hem. You should iron in a crease on the top of the sleeve and this crease should be straight. Repeat on the other sleeve.
Step 3. Now we do the collar. Take out the removable collar stays from the shirt collar (don’t lose them) unfold the collar so that it is “popped up” and lay it flat on the ironing board with the back facing up. Iron from the middle of the collar outwards all the way to the tips of the collar points. Because the collar is a thicker stiffer piece of material you may need to press slightly harder than you would for the rest of the shirt. When you’re done, put the collar stays back in the collar.
Step 4. Finally, we do the front of the shirt. Hopefully, by now you’ve got the hang of it. Do one side at a time. Be careful of the buttons. Make sure the front placket is not folded over in a way it shouldn’t. Use the point of the iron to get in the areas up around the front of the collar. If there is a pocket, this can be tricky, but you can be trickier.
Still having trouble, go back to strategy 1. Otherwise, you’re done. Stay Proper.
LOL…Men can be so stupid!
You are using the wrong end of the ironing board. The pointed end is designed for ironing specific parts of clothing like pants pleats etc. You’ll find it much easier, faster, and more ergonomic to use the square end things that are basically square like dress shirts.
[...] of them. However, you will want to remove your collar stays prior to washing, dry-cleaning, or ironing your dress shirt. Just be sure to put them back in. If your shirt does not have removable collar stays, or does [...]