How to Iron Clothes Faster: 11 Tips

Ironing is a household chore that can be time-consuming if it’s not done correctly. Things that can be very simple, like shaking clothes before putting them in the dryer or washing them in small loads, can be useful to reduce the time you spend on ironing.

5-Minute Crafts will show you 11 tips to help you with ironing. Remember to check the label first to avoid damaging your clothes.

1. Put just a few clothing items into the washing machine.

It’s always a good idea to choose which items you’d like to wash instead of just washing everything that’s in your laundry basket. Bear in mind that a small amount of laundry will allow your machine to really distribute heat and steam better because they’ll have more room to pass through evenly. It’s also a good idea to wash heavy and light fabrics separately. You should wash all your towels together and then your clothes, for example.

2. Add vinegar when washing.

Put a splash of vinegar in the machine when you’re about to wash your clothes. You might not know it, but vinegar can actually be a very effective fabric softener. You can place some of it in the softener compartment, but don’t worry, the smell will not stick to your clothes, as it will disappear when they’re drying.

3. Organize your clothes

This tip is especially useful if you have a lot of different types of clothes made with different fabrics. Start by ironing garments that require less heat, like wool and polyester. Then move on to garments that are made of materials that need a higher temperature to be perfect, like linen and cotton. Organizing your garments in this way will help you save time, since you won’t have to wait for the iron to cool down or heat up the whole time.

4. Quickly remove your clothes from the dryer

Once the drying cycle is finished, remove the clothes and hang them right away instead of leaving them in the machine for a while. By doing that you can avoid unnecessary wrinkles that increase your ironing time.

5. Remove wrinkles by cooling clothes

Take the garment out of the washing machine and put it in the refrigerator for approximately 10 minutes. Remove it and put it on — the heat of your body together with the cold of the garment will eliminate part of the wrinkles. Clearly, this trick is only suitable for the summertime, or for places where the weather is always warm.

6. Fold pants right after drying them

To avoid wrinkles that are difficult to iron you can do the following: When your dryer has just finished doing its job, take your clothes out and fold them immediately. This way your clothes won’t develop massive wrinkles by staying in a messy pile until much later. Also, you get to have all your clothes ready to be used when you are in a hurry and you won’t have time to spend time searching.

7. Spray shirts with water before ironing them

When ironing, you can always try spraying the shirts with a little bit of water. You can either use a spray bottle or the built-in spray function. This is a very effective way to reduce ironing time as the moisture coming from the water helps get wrinkles out faster.

8. Shake clothes before putting them in the dryer.

When you transfer your clothes from the washer to the dryer, shake all of your garments to get rid of wrinkles. This way, you’ll have a better chance of it coming out of the dryer with fewer wrinkles.

9. Iron with parallel movements

Iron your clothes with long, parallel movements in one direction. Circular ironing does not make wrinkles disappear easily despite what the urban myths say. In fact, it can even ruin your garments in some cases if you’re not careful.

10. Use steam when ironing

Use the steam function of the iron, as it accelerates the heating of the fabric of your clothes, transports the heat quickly, and penetrates more deeply, which will help you iron in less time.

11. Keep your iron clean

Keeping your iron in good condition will make ironing easier and prevent you from damaging your garments. There are some tricks you can use, such as cleaning it with salt. Place a cloth with several tablespoons of salt and iron on it, then wipe the iron with a damp cloth.