Self Help

How to Iron Your Shirts

Everyone has a favorite shirt-ironing technique. Some books recommend doing it in just the opposite order of the procedure I’m about to describe. The outcome is probably the same for both.

1. Either start with a shirt that’s still slightly damp from the dryer or use a steam iron. Be sure not to use one that is too damp, or you may not get the results you want.

2. Lay the shirt on the ironing board so that the front-buttonhole side is facing up - usually the left-chest side of a man’s shirt.

3. Iron that surface from the tail (bottom) up to the collar.

4. Then pull the shirt toward you and iron the next lengthwise section of the shirt’s body. It’s as if you’re “barrel rolling” the body of the shirt around the ironing board during this procedure.

5. Iron only the body of the shirt during this procedure; bypass sleeves, cuffs, collar, and shoulder “yoke” - the piece of fabric between the collar and the top of the sleeve.

6. When the body is finished, pull the shoulder yoke over the small point of the ironing board and iron each shoulder, including in back of the collar.

7. Place a sleeve down flat and iron it so that the crease is created starting at the middle of the shoulder yoke all the way down to the cuff. This crease would face outward on the sleeves as you’re wearing the shirt.

8. Finally, iron the collar. Place the collar, folded back near the neck seam (where it would naturally fold back), on the small end of the board. Press it flat and rotate until the entire collar is ironed.

How to Iron Your Pants

1. Turn them inside out and iron the pockets.

2. Turn them right side out and iron the hip area.

3. Pick them up, align the creases, and place both legs sideways over the board.

4. Lift the top leg and iron the inside of the bottom one, then flip the pants over and iron the inside of the other leg.

5. Lay the legs lengthwise on the board and iron the outsides of each leg.