If you ask most people what their less liked home chore is you will get an answer of “Ironing”. Luckily for us ironing is not the time consuming chore that it was in years past. Our grandmothers and mothers spent way more hours and energy on ironing than many of us in this generation have in our entire lives. However we cannot get totally out of learning the basic ironing skills needed to keep all of our clothing wrinkle-free and looking good for those dressy occasions that come up. More importantly those business clothes must stay looking sharp to make a good impression! Our next couple of blog topics will give us a good idea of the basic skills and how to use them for ironing our clothes.
Ironing Guide | Coin-Op Laundry Raleigh NC
Before you begin you will need to check your garments. Start with the tags that are in inside the garment to see what type fabric it consists of. There is usually information included that will give any specific ironing instructions needed. There is an iron symbol on most items of clothing that will have specific temperature and steam settings. These are usually industry wide specifics and are as follows:
- One dot < 230 F
- Two dots < 30 F
- Three dots < 390 F
You will want to always choose the lowest temperature especially for blended materials. Also be certain to check for any stains or dirt spots on your garment. Ironing over these places will set the stain or dirt into the fabric and make them really difficult to remove.
If you have a number or variety of items to iron you will want to organize and sort them into those that require a low heat setting where you will start your ironing and work up to those that require a higher heat setting. These lower heat garment will usually be the wool and blended fabrics while the 100 percent cotton items will need the hottest heat settings.
Get your iron set up and ready by filling the reservoir with water. Using a distilled water will help with any mineral deposit buildup that can accumulate in your iron that can cause problems with the iron. This will also prevent spitting of steam that resembles dirty water that can stain or otherwise harm your garment.
Ironing Board Tips | Coin-Op Laundry Raleigh NC
When ironing you will always want to use an ironing board. Spray starch can be used if you want a really crisp look to your clothes. Do this just before ironing. Spray starch will also make clothes easier to iron and they will stay fresh and more wrinkle free all day long. Be certain that you keep your iron moving constantly to lower the risk of burning the fabric. If you have stubborn wrinkles you can spray them lightly with some water and then use your steam. As you finish ironing a section of the garment move it away from you to avoid wrinkling it up.
When ironing slacks you will want to pull out the pockets and iron them. This will prevent making wrinkles worse on top. Iron the waistband using a lift motion. with any pleats fold them down into place and iron. Proceed to iron up the legs of the pant from the bottom along the length of each leg. For a crease simply match your inseams together and press in the crease.
Laundry Express | Coin-Op Laundry Raleigh NC
We will offer more tips in our next blog but if you find yourself in need of great laundry services Laundry Express is a premier Raleigh area full service laundromat. We offer wash-dry-fold along with any number of dry cleaning and stain removal services. Come by and see how we can help you get a handle on all your laundry needs!
