There’s a reason why household chores are called “chores” — they’re tedious, unpleasant and seemingly never-ending. But of all the menial tasks that make up domestic living, few are as annoying as ironing. To help you escape the monotony, we’ve assembled a list of our favourite laundry hacks from the past few years: some don’t require any ironing at all!
Ironing picture from Shutterstock
Below are the top time-saving laundry tips from our website, ranging from DIY magnetic ironing boards to de-wrinkling clothes with a wet towel. We’ve also included some general laundry tips that will get your clothes feeling softer and folded quicker. Click on each link to find out how to speed up your own ironing routine. (We’ve also included video tutorials for specific clothing items.)
De-Wrinkle Your Clothes Without Ever Touching An Iron
“Ironing is barbaric. There, I said it. Heating up a giant metal plate to slowly smooth out wrinkles is at best a tedious exercise, and it requires way too much setting up and stuffing around. Fortunately, there are alternatives.”
Cut Your Ironing Time In Half With Aluminium Foil
“A simple sheet of aluminium foil can make that tedious chore of ironing much faster. Basically, you just have to put the strip of foil under the ironing board cover and iron away.”
How To Properly Iron Shirts, Pants And Skirts
“Ironing clothes is one of those tasks that has a tendency to be a bit terrifying, but worry not, it just seems overly complicated. Here, we’ll break it down into the three simplest, most common cases: Shirts, pants and skirts. Some fabric types might need special attention, but other than that it’s all pretty much the same.”
De-Wrinkle Clothes With A Hairdryer
“You might not need an iron or clothes steamer to get creases out. Just use your hairdryer as a steamer.”
Add Salt To Your Laundry For Vibrant Colours
“It seems like every laundry detergent makes claims its product makes colours last longer. According to DIY blog Apartment Therapy, the easiest trick is to add a tablespoon of salt to the load.”
Remove Clothing Wrinkles With A Damp Towel
“Ever rushed out the door and arrived at work only to realise your shirt is a wrinkled mess? DIY blog Stylelist Home suggests you can fix those wrinkles no matter where you are by wiping down the shirt with a damp towel.”
Use Vinegar For Softer Line-Dried Clothing
“The weather’s not always perfect for line-drying clothing, but when it is use these tips to ensure you get great results — more softness and less stiffness and wrinkles.”
“Iron/” Your Clothes With A Water Spray Bottle
“Don’t like the hassle of ironing? Household weblog Re-Nest suggests lightly misting the clothing with water from a spray bottle. A few minutes later the wrinkles will disappear as the garment dries.”
Remove Gunk From Your Iron With A Dryer Sheet
“Irons can accumulate debris over time by being used on small plastic buttons or blends of fabric with too much plastic. One simple way to fix this is by quickly ironing a dryer sheet.”
DIY Magnetic Ironing Mat
“If you have basic sewing skills you can make an ironing mat that magnetically attaches to the top of your dryer, taking significantly less time to get ready than an ironing board.”
Iron Clothes Out Of The Washer For Easy Ironing, Energy Savings
“Cut out the middleman in your laundry process by ironing damp clothes right out of the washer instead of drying them and then dampening them again to iron them.”
Make Your Own Wrinkle Releaser from Liquid Fabric Softener
“Need an on-the-go, no-time-to-iron solution for wrinkled clothes, but loathe paying a premium for spray bottles of liquid wrinkle releaser? The TipNut blog has a recipe for a homebrew version.”
DIY Ironing Board Expansion Churns Through Shirt Ironing
“Ironing board design hasn’t changed much in the last 153 years. If you ever feel like your board just isn’t efficient for the clothes you have, consider one Instructables user’s modified board. With practice, it becomes a shirt-ironing machine.”
How To Iron A Dress Shirt
How To Iron Trousers
How To Iron Skirts
10 Great Clothing Tricks In 60 Seconds
Use This Bundled Packing Method For Fewer Wrinkles
5 Tips for Keeping your Dress Shirt Crisp
Do you know any time-saving ironing tips that we missed? Share your hacks in the comments section below!
See also: How To Speed Up Laundry | How To Avoid Losing Your Socks In The Laundry
Comments
5 responses to “The Ultimate Laundry Guide For People Who Hate Ironing”
You forgot my personal favourite tip: Only buy clothes that never require ironing 😀
Work: Who wants a branded polo shirt?
Me: I’ll take four.
10/10 will be trying all of these… But so help me if they don’t work I will be back for my ironing revenge.
my mother thinks anyone who mixes whites with coloureds is deserving of a custodial sentence.
I just started a new job and need to iron my clothes now, sucks. Any suggestions?