Difficulty: Beginner
If you travel a lot and live out of a suit case you definitely need to know how to iron. If you care at all about your outward appearance you need to know how to iron. If you want to learn how to sew you need to know how to iron. If you are an adult human being you need to know how to iron.
That may be a bit dramatic, but ironing is a skill that you should have when you go off to college. Unless you get lucky and have a roommate or friend who likes to iron and will do it for you(I did have a friend who ironed for my roommate and me), you will have to know how to do this.
It may seem like something you can just pick up on the fly, but there are few things that would be helpful to know first. Plenty of clothing items have been ruined over the years due to lack of understanding. These tips will hopefully help you to avoid ruining your favorite outfit.
Supplies:
Iron
Ironing Board
Ironing Board Cover
Water
Clean Spray Bottle (optional)
Set up your ironing board. There is usually a button or arm to press on the underside of the board to open up the legs. Set the board to a comfortable height. Make sure cover is tightly secured over the board. Tighten draw strings until a smooth, snug fit is achieved. Put water into the iron. Using filtered water will help prevent build up in your iron, but totally optional. You can use a liquid measuring cup or clean empty syrup bottle to neatly fill the iron. If your faucet is tall enough you can stick the unplugged iron right under it, but fill very slowly to avoid an overflow. Once iron has water plug it in and set upright on the ironing board.
Look at the care instructions on your article of clothing, in this case pants. Check the type of fabric and iron temperature recommended on the tag. This is a starting point.
The iron will have a fabric/temperature selector. Set the selector according to the care tag recommendations. Cotton, silk, linen and wool are natural fibers and will many times have a space on the selector. Synthetics are man-made and have a space on the selector. If you are unsure about your fabric start with the coolest setting and adjust as necessary.
Take pants and lay one pant leg as flat as possible on ironing board. Take iron and press, while moving down on the pant leg. If you have stubborn wrinkles you can give a burst of steam with the steam button while pressing and moving iron.
If wrinkles still persist you can spray the wrinkled area with water either from a spray bottle or the spray function on your iron. You are re-wetting the wrinkled area and are then drying completely flat. This is only necessary if the wrinkles won’t come out from pressing with steam.
Press the whole front of the leg and do the same for the front of the other leg. Then flip the pants over and repeat the process on the back of the legs. Once the legs have been ironed, you’ll need to work on the seat of the pants and any pockets. Place the narrow end of the ironing board through one pant leg and press the fabric with a moving iron.
Be sure to flatten out pockets before pressing. Repeat on the other leg. Then flip pants over to flatten any creases created when pressing the back. Iron around the zipper and button with narrow end of the ironing board placed into one of the pant legs.
After this your pants are done. Lay them flat on the board or a bed or hang them neatly on a hanger until you are ready to wear them. If your pants have pleats throw them away right now. Pleated pants are a crime against nature and look good on no one. Trust me, it’s much easier to iron flat front pants and you’ll look more stylish in them.