Iron Man
I know ironing!
(559 words)
This is odd I know. Most men iron terribly.
My ironing skills are unmatched in the non-gay men’s ironing arena (possibly because I’m the only competitor).
On the odd occasion where I have to iron my own shirts, it amazes me how handsome I can make myself feel!
Seriously… well ironed clothes can make you feel handsome! I never take my ironing skills for granted and usually take my handsome self out on the evenings where I have personally ironed my clothes.
No one should ever take their abilities for granted.
But most men do not have this ability to iron well. This is something easily corrected.
Ironing is actually quite simple. It only requires a little thought. Read further for my advice on ironing your shirts.
Hang correctly
Most clothes when difficult to iron, is only because they were not hung out to dry correctly. Hanging your clothes correctly is 90% of the ironing done. Men, generally, don’t hang their washing well - and so hate ironing.
Hanging your clothes correctly will let your clothes straighten out, leaving less creases and leaving old fold lines much the same as they always have been.
Like washing dishes, everyone knows that pre-rinsing your dishes will make it easier to wash them the following day (something else, men rarely do).
When hanging clothes pre-ironed and post-ironed, always do up the top-most button to help keep the shape of your shirts.
General makeover
Time to iron… Do the back first, and don’t worry about it too much. The back is the first place your shirt is going to start getting creased once you put it on anyway.
Then do your sides. These should initially be done from the inside, just make sure you iron the seams behind the buttons and button holes well. The rest, just do briefly.
Turn them over and do them from the front. They should look mostly OK by now and should only require a few seconds. From this side you need only concentrate on the pockets and the side seam. The side seam should always face the back so it’s not visible from the front.
Keeping shape
There are only 2 areas that need particular attention to retain the shape of your shirt; the collar and the armpit seam.
Do the armpits first, as this will pull the collar roughly into place. Make sure the seam is at the back so it’s not visible from the front. Hold the armpit with your thumb and finger and pull up from the shoulder seam until the sleeve is flat.
If ironed here well, your shirt should hang on your bodice nicely, if you have the correctly sized shirt – or correctly sized body.
If it’s not working properly, your shirt is probably sewn incorrectly. This is also something you should check when buying your shirts.
Now do the collar. Iron the collar flat from the inside first making sure the top collar fold is correct. Then proceed to iron the two folds (some don’t like to put folds in a shirt collar, but it keeps the collar standing taller rather than falling flat onto your shoulders). Do the top-most button up and hang your shirt. Make sure the creases are aligned along the coat-hanger; else you may distort your carefully ironed shirt.
End.
You should be able to iron each shirt in less than 2 minutes.
Most importantly! Ironing should be fun, don’t let it ruin your day.