Comments on: Heading Out on Your Own — Day 23: How to Iron a Dress Shirt

By: myname

myname — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 23:05:17 +0000

You forgotten something. When you iron collar, there is a trick.
God thing to do is after you finish collar, while it is still hot, hold it like it should be on your neck, for fiew seconds untill it cools down.

If it cools down in wierd position, probobly it will be in wierd postition on your neck.

By: John Ritchie

John Ritchie — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 04:16:49 +0000

I learnt how to iron whilst I was a soldier in the Australian Army. For the 18 years I was a soldier I would never let anyone else iron my uniforms or day to day clothes. I am still like that 7 years after I left.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:35:29 +0000

There is a cool application for android with animated instruction on how to iron, check it out.
link to Google Play http://goo.gl/iAAxm

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:31:22 +0000

It’s a good idea to invest in that special non-mineral water made specially for irons. Prevents calcium buildup so you won’t have any more of that “crusty” stuff coming out.
In college I was too cheap and lazy to go out and get it (costs next to nothing), and in the end, my iron had so much build up that it CAUGHT ON FIRE. Point is, be careful.

By: CraigB

CraigB — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:10:57 +0000

If you wear a suit to work, just iron the collar and front of your dress shirt. Lazy? Yes. Effective? Very.

Then again, if you wear a suit every day, you can probably afford the $1.50 to get your shirt laundered and pressed.

Because I’m extra cheap, I always wear undershirts and, if the weather isn’t too garbage, I can get a good 2-3 wears from a dress shirt before they fail the sniff-test.

By: peter

peter — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:47:59 +0000

i always do collar, then work around the shoulders (with the sleeves top end on the end of the board) then sleeves + cuffs, then work round from the button side round the main part of the shirt. it takes a bit longer but it means all parts are covered

By: TimJ

TimJ — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:47:43 +0000

Although my order of ironing differs from this one, I love ironing dress shirts. One beer for every two shirts, pretty soon you have a dozen ironed shirts (although the later ones may require some retouching later).

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:11:53 +0000

Protip: after you iron the collar (before you iron the main body of the shirt), fasten the top button. This will not only hold the collar folds in place as the fabric cools, but provide a nice loop to anchor around the point of your ironing board. Always hang your shirts with the top button fastened (top 2 is even better), to maintain correct collar shape, even if you plan on wearing it without a tie.

Protip #2: Don’t iron the fold in your collar unless it’s being a bit unruly. A *slight* roll on the collar fold looks awesome, with a tie or without (subject to opinion, of course – and this is mine). However, do always iron the collar fold at the back of the neck, as you never need a roll there, and it will help the collar lie where it’s supposed to.

By: Coop

Coop — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:05:12 +0000

I was literally just thinking about how I didn’t have a clue how to properly iron.

Last week I threw away all my ratty old t-shirts so I desperately needed this as I’m ironing almost every day.

Thanks!

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:41:08 +0000

Seriously, you want to argue about order of ironing a shirt? It is a very good article for those who have never ironed a shirt. wish I had of read this when I joined the Navy, I have ironed a LOT of uniform shirts, some odd Navy Jumpers but most regular cut dungaree and dress shirts.

My only suggestion, I never put water in the iron. I always use a spray bottle. Irons would spit rust and calcium stains on my white dress shirt

Thanks Brett
Good primer article

Tim