Ways to Iron Dress Pants
While we would all love to rock dress down Friday clothing five days a week, most guys will certainly find themselves dressed in dress pants more often than not. A well ironed, non-wrinkled pair of pants finishes off an outfit, and says you really care about your job, body, etc. Getting your pants ironed at your local cleaners is easy-but a pain and can get expensive. If you are like the majority of guys, you will wear a suit or good dress pants a couple of times before forking out the dry cleaning money. Learning how to iron your pants yourself can make you more self-sufficient and offer a fundamental understanding of the clothing you wear.
<strong>Why Guys Hate to Iron Their Dress Pants</strong> 1. The fear of destroying them - Too high of a heat setting and the iron will give it an irreversible shine. 2. Lack of how to really iron dress pants - Google ironing a shirt and you will find a lot of advice and videos out there. Easy methods to iron dress pants? Nope. 3. You think no one notices - Many of the guys in your office don't iron their pants or shirts - who is going to notice, right? Wrong - if you have ambition, then dress like it.
<strong>What You will need</strong> " Ironing board " Iron " Water - not from the tap, it may leave spots " Clean(ish) dress pants
<strong>Important Dress Pant Ironing Tips</strong> " Press the iron (pick it up, put it down); do not move it around across the clothing. Let the steam and pressure be your friend. " Make sure you get our any stains/dirt Prior to ironing. Otherwise you could have a permanent stain. " Ironing time is an art. So the rules are a little flexible. There ought to be as little time ironing as it takes to press out the wrinkles. Steam helps. I start with 2 seconds, then modify the time depending upon the fabric thickness and reaction to pressing. " Make sure the iron is the right temperature for your dress pants. This is a no-brainer, just look on the iron. For example, wool can easily be damaged by too much heat. You need to let the iron cool and be sure it is set correctly when ironing dress pants after doing shirts (which are normally made from cotton and therefore need a higher temperature setting).
<strong>How to Iron Your Dress Pants</strong>
Iron the Linings of the Pockets
Most dress pants have inside pocket linings. Although no one is likely to see these, if they are severely wrinkled and you wear your dress pants close fitted, a mark of the wrinkles could possibly be visible. Prevent this by smoothing out the lining. Note that linings are often made from cotton. You might have to start with a hotter temperature if you are ironing wool dress pants, and then let the iron cool for a couple of minutes before ironing the remainder of the pants.
<strong>Go Top Down</strong> Turn your front pockets out and then press the iron on the top of the leg. Lift the iron up, reinsert the pocket, and then iron along the top part of the dress pant, paying special attention to pleats and re-forming any folds.
Switch to the back of the dress pants, and get out the back pockets. Iron these areas and then move up to the waistband.
Finally, move to the opposite front side of the pants, turning the pocket inside out and repeating the procedure. Mark the Dress Pants Crease at the base to get prepared For Ironing Flip a dress pant leg up and off the board so that you're dealing with just one leg, and lay it flat on the board. Look within the cuff and find the two seams.
Get the dress pant leg so that one inseam lies right on the top of the other, in the center of the flat leg. With the inseams in the center, the sides of the dress pant leg are where you would like to iron the crease.
Spray the cuff with water and press down lightly and gently on each side of the dress pant leg. This will likely leave a cool crease at the cuff and an inch or two up the leg.
<strong>Mark the Crease at the Top</strong> Find the same two vertical inseams and match them up, one on top of the other, just like you did with the bottom, however this time at the top of the pants.
Lay the top of the dress pant leg flat with the inseams centered. Lightly and gently iron (press down remember?) a crease into place along that edge, about six inches down from the waistband.
Don't iron the crease all the way up to the waistband. The base of the pockets (on the inside of the dress pants) is a good spot to stop, or if you have pleated dress pants just iron the pant crease right up to the base of the side pleats.
<strong>Iron the Front Crease</strong> Now that you've got the beginning and end of the crease marked, it's just a matter of connecting the dots. If the inseams are still set one on top of the other, the crease ought to be the very edge of the dress pant leg as it lies flat. Press gently down in one spot with the iron. Then lift the iron, progress up a lttle bit, and repeat it. Always push straight down rather than just sliding the iron along the crease.
Work all of the way up from the marker at the cuff to the marker just below the pockets. It's worth reaching inside the dress pant and pulling the pocket aside so that you don't accidentally press its shape into the dress pant leg while you're working on the crease and ruin your efforts.
<strong>Press Down the Dress pant Leg</strong> Once you have your creases set you can press the middle of the dress pant leg in between the creases to get out any small wrinkles or folds. Use the same motion you have been using: press the iron flat, pick it back up, and repeat again just a little further along. If you're worried about the dress pant fabric, you can cover it with a thin, clean white cloth and press through that. In the case of delicate or napped weaves (like those expensive thin grey flannel pants) a barrier prevents "shine," which is the slicked-down look you get when you have ironed too hard or at too high of a temperature.
You do not need to press both sides of the same dress pant leg. Once you're done ironing both legs (and the rest of the dress pants, if desired), be sure you hang them to let them dry completely before wearing. If you wear the dress pants damp you'll work the crease right back out, wasting all your efforts. Ok, now you look great and should have confidence in coming off as a true professional, standing out among other workers (and perhaps bar patrons after work).
About the Author
Check out this great information: Tips to Iron Cloths
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here