Self Pressing vs. Professional Cleaners

[RWLewis2nd]

If everyone would be kind enough to give me your opinions and suggestions ...

Due to severe eczema, I wear long sleeve shirts all year. Most of my clothing is 100% cotton. I rarely have occasion to wear a suit or sport coat.

I have had many problems with local dry cleaners who "professionally" launder and press my clothing. Several of my shirts have been ruined with holes actually burned through. Of most concern to me is that I frequently receive pants back with the presses in another location than the previous time, showing double or even triple press lines. In addition, the cost of this was running about $400.00 per month. Therefore, I am considering buying both a steam ironing press and an iron to do my own clothing.

My thought is that I would have my wife launder my clothing at home, and I would simply hang each item of clothing on a hanger as it comes from the dryer, wrinkles and all. I would then press and/or iron each piece of clothing chosen for wear each day just before wearing it, basically choosing what to wear, turning on the press and iron before my shower, then pressing afterward.

I'm curious if anyone else does this, and wonder what problems you might forsee. I like Alexander Kabbaz's wash methods, but simply don't have the time to do it that way. I know this is a bit "off the wall", but I'd like to get your input before investing in a quality press and iron. Thanks!

 

[j]

Welcome to the forum.

First, is there any reason you couldn't start wearing non-cotton pants at least some of the time? That would cut down on the need for constant cleaning. Wool pants can be brushed and steamed and touched up with the occasional iron touch-up almost indefinitely as long as they stay clean from stains, etc.

Second, it works much better to launder your cotton clothing, allow it to dry only to damp (either hang dry or tumble if you want, but take it out before it's bone dry) then iron it while it's still damp. If you dry it in the dryer fully dry, the clothing will not last nearly as long, and when ironed it will never come out as smooth. If you let it hang completely dry, it's not as bad for it, but you will need to re-dampen it (with a sprayer bottle) before ironing. I get the best results by not allowing it to dry except by ironing.

 

[lakewolf]

Hello,
I always iron my shirts. I prefer to do so,
I have a washer and dryer at home so I do my laundering and hang the shirts out in the balcony during the summer or inside when is winter or raining. I never put them in the dryer, I think this slowly damages the cloth and the lining inside the collars and cuffs. You can see a bulk of lint in the dryer filter after it ends... this is actually bits of the cloth taken out by the friction and heat inside the dryer... the dryer is OK for jeans, T-shirts, towels, etc.. not for shirts..

as for the Ironing, I do it when is still damp, but not too much. I used a Rowenta perfect iron, but now I have changed to an steam station..

The Rowenta perfect or something similar is a good option is 2200W and has a manual or automatic pressurised steamer that pushes 0-40 gr and steam shots of 100g. It has a platinum covered iron.

The problem I had with it was that when using the automatic steamer I could not control when to send the shot, most of the times it sent the shot when I had the iron away from the shirt, wasting the steam away.

So I changed it for a steam station, this is a separate boiler/steamer - iron unit ... like this

As I am still testing the system I bought the cheapest one that is now on sale for around $60, there are others more powerful and expensive up to $500, maybe I'd buy one of those ironing table/steam station combos one day..


This is a 2400W with 0.8lt water capacity ( 27 ounces), has an steam pressure of 3 bar, has steam shots or continuous steam flux, you can regulate the intensity of the steam flux...

With this kind of iron my shirt ironing experience has improved considerably..

Now I can control how much and when the steam is applied and as the tank capacity is bigger and no steam got wasted unnecessarily, don't have to recharge it several times in an ironing session.. the iron foot seems to fly over the shirt with the continuous steam flux... ironing bliss

Ironing has also its technique that is not difficult to master but could be frustrating and shirt damaging while learning...

my technique is.. ( you need a wide ironing table mine is 12.5 inches)

1. lie the inside right side flat on the table . iron it
2. lie the inside 1st half of the back flat, iron it
3. lie the inside 2nd half of the back flat, iron it
4. lie the inside left side flat on the table . iron it
5. lie the outside left side flat on the table . iron it, be sure to retouch the pocket, and button placket
6. lie the outside right side flat on the table . iron it, be sure to retouch the between buttons region
7. lie the right shoulder flat on the edge of the table, iron it and retouch the front
8. lie the left shoulder flat on the edge of the table, iron it and retouch the front
9. lie the left sleeve flat on the table, and this is important BE SURE IT LIES DOWN WITH NO CREASES UP OR DOWN, you have to carefully lie it flat, iron the upper side and then turn it over and iron the bottom side, retouch the cuff
10. repeat for the other sleeve...


It is actually easy, when you have practice and the steamer is sending the right amount of steam it is made fast.

Off course as the iron needs to heat and the water to boil it is better to iron not one but several shirts in one session...

I wear 1 shirt per day sometimes two.. so at sunday when I do my ironing I have 7-8 shirts to iron.. I do them in 30 minutes aprox

Finally I advice you to do this BEFORE taking your shower... this will make you sweat

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by lakewolf

So I changed it for a steam station, this is a separate boiler/steamer - iron unit ... like this

As I am still testing the system I bought the cheapest one that is now on sale for around $60, there are others more powerful and expensive up to $500, maybe I'd buy one of those ironing table/steam station combos one day..
Interesting -- never seen a unit like this.

Originally Posted by lakewolf

my technique is.. ( you need a wide ironing table mine is 12.5 inches) 1. lie the inside right side flat on the table . iron it 2. lie the inside 1st half of the back flat, iron it 3. lie the inside 2nd half of the back flat, iron it 4. lie the inside left side flat on the table . iron it 5. lie the outside left side flat on the table . iron it, be sure to retouch the pocket, and button placket 6. lie the outside right side flat on the table . iron it, be sure to retouch the between buttons region 7. lie the right shoulder flat on the edge of the table, iron it and retouch the front 8. lie the left shoulder flat on the edge of the table, iron it and retouch the front 9. lie the left sleeve flat on the table, and this is important BE SURE IT LIES DOWN WITH NO CREASES UP OR DOWN, you have to carefully lie it flat, iron the upper side and then turn it over and iron the bottom side, retouch the cuff 10. repeat for the other sleeve...
So you do iron each section of the shirt twice? Once on each side? [Does anyone else here do that? I wouldn't think it would be necessary.] And do you iron the yoke at the same time as the back? I always find it easiest to do the yoke first.

 

[lakewolf]

Originally Posted by Quirk

Interesting -- never seen a unit like this.

This is a budget steam machine... costs only $60 as it is at 50% off sale...
I bought it to try it on, before investing more on a costlier unit... But it does the work so well I am very happy with, maybe will not last long... we'll see

So you do iron each section of the shirt twice? Once on each side? [Does anyone else here do that? I wouldn't think it would be necessary.] And do you iron the yoke at the same time as the back? I always find it easiest to do the yoke first.

I iron the shirts that way so it is the fastest and best way to do it... as the front of the shirt is the most visible part ( as the colllar that I forgot to put in the list, but it goes before the shoulders in my case ) I retouch the fronts, because when you iron from inside there are some spots where there is double cloth ( pocket, button placket) and between the buttons...

 

[lakewolf]

These are examples of the steam stations... all in one... costs around $600-$700 here

and there are others around $200 or $300 like this

from makers like Tefal, Rowenta, Trisa, Philips etc

 

[montecristo#4]

Iron your shirts when they are still damp. No need to worry about steam and it's easier on the fibers. Start with the sleeves and then pick one half of the back, working your way around to the front, then go back to the back and do the other side, working your way around to the front. Do the collar last.

 

[RWLewis2nd]

Thanks for your input everyone, I really appreciate it! I'm sorry that I didn't respond/post again sooner, but I have been laid up with a pinched spinal nerve since my first posting.

J, I try to stick with all cotton due to my eczema. Any other fabric, while I'm not allergic to anything, tends to aggravate the eczema. As my time is usually limited, I'll probably have my wife launder my clothes, then have her hang them on plastic hangers right out of the washing machine, eliminating the dryer completely. I'll just have to wet them again with a spray bottle or the steam iron that lakewolf suggested.

lakewolf, thanks for the information. I know that you spent a great deal of time composing your response for me, and I do appreciate it. I was looking at this type of iron prior to my post, and think I will definitely buy one. Do you use distilled water? Any problems with the iron rusting or "caking up" due to the water going through it?

At any rate, I've decided to purchase the iron that lakewolf mentioned as well as a steam press and possibly a Jiffy steamer. My bathroom's gonna look like a commercial laundry!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[lakewolf]

Hello,

certainly using distillate water will reduce the calc problem... my rowenta has and anti-calc system incorporated ( I don't have any idea how it works ).. so I just use tap water, I had used that $100 rowenta perfect iron for around 18 months with tap water and is still working perfectly...

but for the new steamer, I have nothing in the specification about an anti-calc system.. I use tap water... anyway is a cheap one ( just $60 on sale here ), and here in Geneva we have a high content of calc in the tap water...

 

[RWLewis2nd]

Thanks Lakewolf, you're great!

 

[grimslade]

I iron my shirts only on the inside, except for touching up the placket, cuffs and collar on the outside.