Hang on!

Most of us will agree that ironing shirts can be the most time consuming and fiddly part of the ironing pile but that nothing beats a freshly ironed shirt.

Now think about this – you’ve steamed, pressed and maybe even starched that shirt and it’s looking lovely as you sweep it off the ironing board with a flourish. What do you do with it then?  Hang it over the corner of the door or even on the door handle? Drape it over the bed? Put it on the back of a chair? All of the above……….  I know that I certainly have in the past.  But one thing I have learnt as a Maid is that to keep your freshly ironed shirts as pristine as possible you MUST hang them up immediately.

If you don’t, I can almost guarantee that the shirt will fall off the door handle or that your cat will sit on the shirt on the bed………it’s the First Law of Laundry: if it can be creased, it will be creased.

So, if you want your shirts to stay wrinkle free, you should follow these simple steps to make sure that you don’t have to iron the same shirt twice.

Use a proper hanger IMMEDIATELY after ironing.  So not the door or the chair, but get a coat hanger and put your shirt on it properly (see below).  If your shirt is heavy, try to use a wooden or plastic hanger as a wire hanger may cause the shirt to pucker around the yoke and shoulder

Put your shirt on the hanger whist it is on a rail i.e. not with the hanger between your teeth or tucked under your chin (and admit it, you have done that before!)  Only if the hanger is on a rail can you position the shirt correctly.

Adjust the yoke of the shirt – that’s the back part across the shoulders for those not familiar with ‘garment-speak’ – and make sure it’s correctly aligned on the hanger. What you’re trying to avoid here is not having the shirt straight on the hanger and having one shoulder falling forwards and the other falling back, as this will lead to more wrinkling.

Once the yoke is situated correctly, adjust the collar so that it is turned down correctly and all collar buttons are fastened. Now fasten the shirt’s top button and when this is done, double check that the shirt is still hanging correctly across the shoulders, as all this button fastening may have pulled it around a little.

Now, here’s the super important bit, the step that’s crucial if you don’t want the shirt to crease whilst it’s hanging in the wardrobe – button every other button down the length of the shirt.  Fastening the top button is not enough, yes it will stop the shirt from falling off the hanger but it won’t stop it from moving around as you slide the hanger from side-to-side in the wardrobe.

Try and leave some space between your hangers too. If you’re anything like me and your wardrobe is packed to the gills, I know that this isn’t always possible.  If this is you too, perhaps you could try and have a clear out and pass on/sell some of your infrequently worn items?  Try and make some space and avoid cramming in as many hangers as possible as this almost guarantees your freshly ironed shirts are going to get all creased again.

And you know what happens if it gets all creased in the wardrobe………you’ve got to iron the blinkin’ thing again!!!

Of course, if you hated ironing the shirt in the first place and the thought of having to do it all over again, is enough to make you cry, then it’s time to give us a call or it's really easy to book online!