Editing The way to Iron Dress Pants

While we would all love to rock dress down Friday clothing five days a week, most guys will likely find themselves dressed in dress pants more often than not. A properly ironed, non-wrinkled pair of pants finishes off an outfit, and says you actually care about your job, body, etc. Getting your pants ironed at your local cleaners is easy-but an annoyance and can get expensive. If you are like the majority of guys, you will wear a suit or good dress pants a couple times before forking out the dry cleaning dollars. Figuring out how to iron your pants yourself can make you more self-sufficient and offer a fundamental notion of the clothing you're wearing. <strong>Why Guys Hate to Iron Their Dress Pants</strong> 1. Being nervous about destroying them - Too high of a heat setting and the iron will deliver an irreversible shine. 2. Lack of how to actually iron dress pants - Google ironing a shirt and you'll find and endless amount of advice and videos out there. How to iron dress pants? Nope. 3. You assume nobody notices - Many of the guys in your workplace don't iron their pants or shirts - who's going to see, right? Wrong - if you've got ambition, then dress like it. <strong>What You'll Need</strong> " Ironing board " Iron " Water - not from the tap, it could leave spots " Clean(ish) dress pants <strong>Critical Dress Pant Ironing Tips</strong> " Press the iron (pick it up, put it down); do not rub it 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. Meaning the rules are a little flexible. There needs to be as little time ironing as it takes to press out the wrinkles. Steam helps. I begin 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 check out the iron. For example, wool could be easily damaged by too much heat. You'll 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're badly wrinkled and you wear your dress pants close fitted, a mark of the wrinkles could be visible. Prevent this by smoothing out the lining. Note that linings usually are made from cotton. You may have to begin with a warmer temperature if you are ironing wool dress pants, and then let the iron cool for a couple of minutes before ironing the rest 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 continue to 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 pull up the rear pockets. Iron these areas and then move up to the waistband. Finally, move to the other front side of the pants, turning the pocket inside out and repeating the process. Mark the Dress Pants Crease at the Bottom to Get Ready For Ironing Flip a dress pant leg up and off of the board so that you're working with just one leg, and lay it flat on the board. Look inside the cuff and find the two seams. Get the dress pant leg so that one inseam lies right on the surface 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 want to iron the crease. Spray the cuff with water and press down gently on each side of the dress pant leg. This will likely leave a really good 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, but this time at the top of the pants. Place the top of the dress pant leg flat with all the inseams centered. Lightly and gently iron (press down remember?) a crease in place along that edge, about six inches down from the waistband. Don't iron the crease all of the way up to the waistband. The base of the pockets (on the inside of the dress pants) is a good place to stop, or if you have pleated dress pants just iron the pant crease right up to the bottom of the side pleats. <strong>Iron the Front Crease</strong> Now that you've got the start and end of the crease marked, it's just a matter of connecting the dots. If the inseams are still set one atop the other, the crease should 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, move up a little, and do it again. Always push downward rather than sliding the iron along the crease. Work all of the way up from the marker at the cuff to the marker just under 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 focusing on the crease and mess up your hard work. <strong>Press Down the Dress pant Leg</strong> Once you've got your creases set you can press the center of the dress pant leg in between the creases to get out any small wrinkles or folds. Use the same motion that 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 helps prevent "shine," which is the slicked-down look you get when you've 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 allow them to 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 maybe even bar patrons in the evening). <strong>Check out this link for more information: [http://creativehomewares.com Tips to Iron Cloths]</strong>

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