Ask Dethroner: How Do I Iron a Shirt?

Clay writes:

My question is: how does one properly iron a dress shirt? I don’t feel like sending them to the drycleaners when I have all the equipment and a functioning pair of hands. I can work on a car, surely I can make my shirts pristine and wrinkle free.

Ironing isn’t hard in theory. I can manage in a slow oafish-tortoise manner. But surely the collective wisdom of Dethroner.com can come up with solid guidelines that a guy can use to fit ironing into his life.

Easiest thing in the world, Clay. I find ironing to be a peaceful time to reflect on all the awkward conversations I will be having in the shirt I am pressing; it’s really not that big of a hassle once you get it figured out. Once you’ve gotten the basic technique down you’ll start getting faster, unafraid to knock a shirt flat in 60 seconds or less.

• You’re going to need water – Whether that comes from a steam iron, a shirt that’s slightly damp, or a spray bottle filled with water, your iron works best when it has something to turn to steam. Besides making the whole thing easier, the water will help you from scorching your shirts. (That said, I’ve never scorched a shirt in my life; Don’t ever stop moving the iron and you’ll be fine.)

• And an ironing board – Ironing on a bed or arm of your couch just doesn’t work. Spend the five bucks and get a proper board.

• Iron until there aren’t any wrinkles – Seriously. That’s the long and the short of it. If you need specifics, hit the jump, but there’s not a major trick to it.

That said, here’s how I do it:

1. Place the shirt on the board with the back up and the collar around the pointy part.

2. Starting at the shoulders, work down until the back is wrinkle-free.
3. Flip shirt and do one front half, then the other, avoiding any buttons.
4. Grab the sleeves where they meet the shoulder, fold a crease down the top and bottom to the cuff. Iron both sides. (You can ignore the part on the sleeve near the cuff where it gets tricky.)
5. Open cuffs and lay flat on the board; Iron with light spray starch if you have it.
6. Open collar and iron it up with light starch, using the pointy part of the board to get the correct angle of attack.
7. Hang up with collar still upright until you’re ready to wear.

Now if you’re in a hurry, just get the front two sections and the back, skipping the collars, cuffs, and sleeves entirely. In a super-fast hurry? Just do the front.

Don’t have an iron or a board? If you’ve got time, put your shirt in the bathroom with you as you shower, then hang it in the closet right after you get out. The steam will get out some of the wrinkles, but not all of them. Get an iron, you big slob!