Ironing is synonymous with clean and fresh clothes. It helps keep the wrinkles away from our clothes and makes us feel good afterwards. However, while we focus on ironing our clothes, it’s easy to forget the importance of cleaning our ironing board. In this blog, we’ll take a look at how to clean the ironing board.
Like with everything we store in the house, ironing boards can be prone to dust, dirt and debris. If you don’t clean the ironing board, there is a high chance of all the dirt latching onto your clothes.
Before cleaning the ironing board, remove the cover and pad. In most cases, cover boards are fine to go inside the washing machine but always read the care label to be certain.
If your ironing board cover isn’t suited for a washing machine, proceed to manual wash. Spot the dirty stains and get one cup of water, one cup of vinegar and three tablespoons of baking soda in a spray bottle and start to spray the stained area. After a few minutes, get a damp cloth and wipe the ironing board.
2. Proceed Wiping The Ironing Board
To ensure you clean the ironing board effectively, get a good sanitizer, continue using a damp cloth and start wiping the top of the surface. Don’t miss any parts of the ironing board; be wary of any lurking cobwebs underneath the board. Wipe down the legs of the board and remove any cobwebs you see. Let the spray settle to ensure the best cleaning results.
3. Start Drying Your Ironing Board
Once you’ve cleaned the ironing board, replace your cloth with a dry one and start wiping it to dry it. Once it is fully dry, put back the ironing board cover and pad.
Your clothes are ready to be ironed again with no concerns of dirt or dust transferring to them!
It’s a general rule of thumb to clean the ironing board monthly if it’s stored in a good dust-free place.
Much like laundry, ironing is a chore you either love or hate; there is no in-between. Regardless, it’s a chore that needs to be done with care and patience because if done correctly, ironing adds a smooth and cool look to your clothes. However, there are also ironing mistakes that need to be avoided.
Here are 4 common ironing mistakes!
1. Not Using Correct Temperature Settings
Not checking the temperature is one of the most common ironing mistakes. With the right setting and temperature, you’ll get the clean results you want.
If you have made this ironing mistake, you’ll know that choosing the incorrect temperature setting can ruin the smoothness of the fabric. Also, it can cause marks and burns on your clothes!
Always read the labels and iron for a good, smoother, and fresher result to save you time and stress!
2. Ironing Dried Clothes
Drying clothes is part and parcel of cleaning clothes, but ironing dried clothes tends to be on the list of ironing mistakes. Dried clothes lack moisture and consequently, the wrinkles are far more stubborn when they are left on dry clothes, which could damage your fabrics in the long run.
That’s not to say you should be ironing wet clothes but ideally, you should aim for damp clothes because they’ll have enough moisture. Ironing damp clothes makes it easy to reshape and remove creases. Always spray water on dried clothes to dampen them for better results!
3. Not Cleaning Your Iron Board
When you think about ironing chores, it’s easy to overlook your iron board’s condition. Iron boards are no different to clothesline in your garden; if they’re in good shape, your clothes will be in good shape. If you neglect cleaning duties for your iron board, chances are your clothes may catch some dust and dirt.
We advise you to first store your iron board in a room with a lot of space and every month, clean and wipe it with a cloth!
4. Not Managing Clothes Pile
When it comes to ironing, the organisation is the key to a fresher result. Managing a big laundry pile is the difference between good and bad ironing. Always make a habit of ironing the clothes with the lowest heat setting first.
Generally, heating the iron up is easier than cooling it down. The most common materials that need the lowest temperature are polyester and silk. Once you are done with this, change the settings on your iron to medium and high for the relevant materials.
Ironing mistakes are common and don’t feel too disappointed if you have made these mistakes in the past. Ironing clothes does require time and patience.
If you’re looking for a service that launders and irons your clothes, get in touch with Laundryheap to book a service!
Visit Laundryheap’s website or download the free Laundryheap app on iOS or Android!
There is nothing worse than waking up the morning of a job interview, to find your smart shirt is wrinkled and there is no iron in the house. Similarly, you could be on a business trip and discover the hotel iron is out of use 15 minutes before your important meeting.
As harrowing as all these situations sound, there is no need to panic. There are many ways to de-wrinkle your clothing without an iron in sight. Not many things give off a worse first impression than wrinkly clothes, but this list will ensure you don’t need to freak out next time you find yourself without an iron.
Use Your Hair Straighteners
Hair Dryer
Use A Cooking Pot To Iron
Hang Your Clothes In The Shower
Use A Tumble Dryer And Some Ice Cubes
Invest In A Clothes Steamer
The Damp Towel Technique
Apply Some Vinegar
Let Us Sort It Out
Use you hair straighteners
Hair straighteners don’t just straighten hair, crazy right? In fact, in the 50s and 60s, women would straighten there hair with an actual iron. We are here to reverse that trend and bring it to the year 2020.
Using the hair straightener as an iron can be especially useful on the collar, cuffs and placket of your shirts. So, next time you are in a rush and need to straighten out the collar on your favourite business shirt, look no further than your trusty hair straighteners!
Use a hairdryer
Don’t have hair straighteners at hand either? That’s OK. How about trying the hairdryer? Another great way to de-wrinkle your clothes is by using a hairdryer to shoot concentrated bursts of hot air onto the wrinkled area of your clothes.
This technique is particularly efficient when used on dresses with annoying creases in them. Firstly, you lightly dampen the wrinkled area of the dress. Next, you set the hairdryer to the lowest available setting and blow on the dress from 1-2 inches away. Be sure to keep the hairdryer a fair distance away, as you don’t want to scorch the fabric. Do this until the wrinkles straighten out.
Hang your clothes in the shower
This technique is probably the most well known of all the options on this list. Often the first plan of action when there is no iron available, the shower trick is particularly useful when travelling and finding yourself at the mercy of hotel appliances.
So, if your hotel room lacks an iron, instead of asking for one at the front desk, why not just hang your creased clothes in the shower? Just turn the heat up and let the hot steam fill the room – this will help your clothes release any annoying creases. Afterwards, your clothes might be a little damp from the steam. Just hang them out to dry for ten minutes, once you come back, you won’t ever want to use an iron again!
Use A Cooking Pot To Iron
Using a cooking pot to get rid of tough creases is one of the oldest tricks in the book. That’s right, the same pot you would boil your potatoes in, makes for the perfect ironing tool.
All you have to do is make sure the bottom of the pot is nice and clean, boil some water and then pour it out. From there, you use the bottom of the pot in the same way you would use an iron, running it over the wrinkled areas. The steam from the pot will run out, so you have to make sure you are quick to ensure you have enough steam for all the creases.
A Tumble Dryer And Some Ice Cubes
Without a doubt the strangest suggestion on this list, but bear with us. Try throwing a wrinkled item of clothing in the tumble dryer with a few ice cubes and run on high for a couple of minutes.
As the ice starts to melt it will create steam, this will de-wrinkle your clothes, leaving you with a creaseless shirt. Don’t believe us? Try it yourself.
Invest in a clothes steamer
A clothes steamer is the most effective way to iron clothes – even more so than using a conventional iron. Most retail stores use clothes steamers to remove creases from their clothes as opposed to irons.
The only downside to a clothes steamer is that they don’t come cheap, buying a clothes steamer will cost you considerably more than buying an iron. Also, be careful not to burn yourself on the steam!
The damp towel technique
The moist towel process is a simple, easy-to-do tip. All you have to do is place your wrinkled garment on a clean surface. Next, put a moist towel flat on top of the garment. Using your hands, press your hands on the towel and smooth out the affected area. It’s as simple as that!
White vinegar works well when trying to eradicate wrinkles from your clothes. All you have to do is mist your clothes with one part vinegar and three parts water. Finish off by leaving the clothes to air-dry for crisp, smart looking clothes.
Hire a professional
If after reading this post you still don’t feel confident ironing your clothes without an iron, then maybe it’s time to seek professional help. Laundryheap can collect your clothes in 30 minutes and have them returned to you within 24 hours. All with no delivery fees.
Raise your hand if you want to know how to cut down on ironing…
If you’re someone who despises ironing or has trouble finding the time to iron, here are a few time-saving, quick-tips to help you cut down on ironing.
Use a steamer: Wave a magic ‘wand’ and voila wrinkle free- That’s the best way to interpret a steamer. It’s honestly the easiest and most convenient thing to use and you don’t have to worry about ruining your clothes (if you know how to use it correctly). Just hang your clothes up and start steaming! No need to whip out the ironing board.
You can buy a steamer, OR use an iron with one already built in, so if you’re one of the lucky owners, don’t worry about investing.
Use hair appliances: By hair appliances, I mean the blow dryer and the hair straightener. Cliché to say but surprisingly, it works!
The blow dryer works the same way as a steamer, except there’s no steam (duh). To get rid of a few wrinkles and creases, just hang the garment up and blow away. As for the hair straightener, let’s just say it’s a portable iron but for smaller, easy to reach areas.
Put away clothes immediately after drying:This is something that we all should be doing anyway. You want to fold and put away clothes immediately to avoid further creases and wrinkles.
Choose the right clothes: Whenever I go shopping for new clothes, part of my final decision in purchasing is based on the answer to ‘Is this going to be easy to wear or would I have to iron it every time I whip it out of the closet?’
Unless I absolutely HAVE to buy a piece of clothing that needs to be ironed, I tend to look for clothes that are easy to wear and won’t crease so easily.
Give it to Laundryheap:Well of course, who else would you give it to? If you ‘re looking to pre-iron clothes for the next few days for special events and you have no time to iron- or you just don’t want to – schedule a pickupwith us and we’ll return them back to you within 24 hours.
