Getting ready for a night out? Maybe have a date? You may be feeling nice and confident until you pull your favorite dress shirt out of the closet and… wrinkles. Your shirt is full of wrinkles and you need to do something about it, so you break out the iron. Dress shirts can be tricky to iron right, so we’re going to lay out some steps to help you properly iron your dress shirt and go back to feeling confident!

Shirts Have Sections

You need to think of dress shirts in separate pieces, each piece needing different ironing attention. Break down the shirt into sleeves, collar, back, and sides. Each section of the shirt can be ironed but they require different methods of ironing to best clear the entire shirt of wrinkles.

Collar

The collar should usually be the first section of the shirt to iron. Make sure the shirt is buttoned all the way before ironing the collar. Simply crease the collar with your hands to make sure it is creased properly and then press down on the collar to ensure a crisp, wrinkle-free collar.

Sleeves

Iron one sleeve at a time, it does not matter which sleeve you iron first. Once you have a sleeve, find the seam and make sure it is lying flat on one side. Then flatten the fabric with your hands and press with the iron. Once you reach the wrist, simply flatten where the crease will be and press.

Sides

When ironing each side of the shirt, the shirt should be unbuttoned at this point. If you are ironing the right side, that should be flat on the ironing board with the left side of the shirt draped over, and same with the left side. Starting at the shoulder move down on the shirt and iron in between the buttons to avoid stray wrinkles.

Back

To iron the back of the shirt, follow the same method as when you iron the sides, the back of the shirt is large and will usually have to be done in separate portions.

Use these tips when you’re ironing a dress shirt and we can promise your shirt will be wrinkle-free. If you have any questions or would like more laundry tips, contact Automatic Laundry today!