Everyone likes ironed and put-together clothes, they look good on you and your baby too. But to iron wrinkled clothes may take a while, and you might want to use this time in other ways.
Maybe you have a book to read? A meal to prepare? Or perhaps you just want to brew a cup of coffee? The thought of having wrinkle-free clothes out of the dryer occurs to you and a lot of parents. Guess what? Your wish has just been granted!
This article has a collection of sworn-by 7 iron and non-ironing tips (and more advice) for everyone to have crisp clothes fresh out of the dryer. It’s time to put your iron board aside and dive deep into these tips to have a great time with clothes chores. In the end, you’ll save time, have great clothes, and learn fun tips you can share. Let’s get reading!
Why do clothes wrinkle?
The short and straight answer is water and heat. In ideal conditions, the structure of your garment’s fabrics is held in place; that is why they look so sleek.
But when heat and water interact with your clothes’ materials, they allow your clothes to be flimsy and crush. Eventually, when the material cools down, there are wrinkles in clothes that are there to stay.
But no matter what you do, some fabrics tend to crease more quickly and deeply than others. For example, cotton, rayon, and linen, the reason being they are absorbent.
So how can you stop this without spending a whole day ironing? Here are the 7 iron tips you need all while you wash your clothes.
1. Sort clothes before washing
Sorting your clothes before washing them isn’t a new technique. You know how to sort clothes based on colors and fabrics, but did you know you need to sort clothes based on their washing instructions? Don’t worry; it is not as scary as it sounds.
You are already used to sorting clothes, so you got this! Just follow these detailed steps to wash clothes, and you’ll be good to go.
- Just like you wash baby clothes separately, you should separate them among themselves too. Your baby’s clothes also have different washing and drying temperatures, just like any other garment. This is a dictating sorting technique that helps clothes dry faster, last longer, and stay wrinkle-free!
- To further remove wrinkles from clothes, you can sort your baby clothes based on the fabric type. For example, parents advise new parents to wash linens together, muslin together, cotton items together, but never with each other.
- Sorting clothes based on weight also reduces the risk of wrinkling clothes. Heavier materials such as denim tend to crush lighter ones like cotton. So as long as you wash different fabrics separately, you’ll be good to go.
- Wrinkled clothes can also be a result of improper storage before washing. Ensure you store the clothes in your laundry basket properly; you can even keep them folded.
2. Don’t overload the washer
Parents have a lot to take care of; from jobs, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and whatnot, there is a lot to handle. Putting off laundry till you have a hill of baby clothes in the laundry basket is much more common than you think. But this doesn’t have to mean you should put all of the clothes in the machine simultaneously.
To avoid ironing clothes and have wrinkle-free clothing right off the washer, you need to keep the dryer load light. It is tempting to push all the clothes into the washer, but you’ll end up with the most challenging set of clothes to iron.
- You need to sort your baby’s clothes and wash the batches one by one.
- To have clean and barely creased clothes, you need to pre-decide on a set of clothes you want to wash first. Follow with other set clothes after, one by one.
- Of course, the best way to avoid wrinkled clothes is doing your baby’s laundry regularly. This way, the clothes don’t pile up, and they’ll remain creaseless.
- Another simple step you can take is always filling your washer halfway. This way save you the trouble of deciding how many clothes you need to while you’re already in a hurry.
3. Pick the proper dryer cycle
Now that you have sorted your baby clothes and put them in the washer, it’s time to dry them. The first step to take care of clothes in the dryer is choosing the right dryer cycle. Mostly, all the dryers have the same operation technique.
The mechanism tumbles clothes through the warm air while a system absorbs the moisture from them. Even though this is the case for almost every dryer, the heating and cool-down cycles vary. And they determine if you’ll have deep wrinkles on your clothes or not.
Here is how should you use your dryer cycles effectively:
- Permanent press cycle: This cycle offers a gentle cool-down time. (The cool-down period while drying helps the garment’s fibers go back to their original shape and elasticity.) This cycle is best for synthetic materials.
- Use fabric-specific programs: If your dryer has a fabric-specific timer, you just need to select the option and lay back. This option will choose the right temperature and drying period for you automatically.
- Avoid overdrying: Yes, everybody does that. But you are not only creating your baby’s clothes; you are destroying them. Keeping the clothes in the dryer for too long can cause deep wrinkles that will require steaming and ironing; that’s double the work you don’t want.
Tip: As mentioned in the first point, sectioning your baby’s clothes based on their weight helps to get crispier clothes. This method also helps define the cycle time of your clothes. If you put a variety of heavy and light clothes in the washer simultaneously, some of your clothes will overstay in the washer. Usually, this happens with more lightweight fabrics, which also means heavier materials can crush them.
4. Pick dryer sheets carefully
Here’s a note to begin with: Dryer sheets are often heavily fragranced, and some may even contain chemicals that can be potential allergens for newborns. If you are skeptical about using them on your older child or your baby’s clothes, consult your doctor. Ask for mild alternatives or if you have to ditch the sheets.
Everyone who does laundry knows how vital are dryer sheets. And when you forget them or run out of them, the clothes are not crisp and fresh like usual. With dryer sheets, your clothes don’t stick together, smell fresh, and they also avoid deep wrinkles in clothes.
As dryer sheets cancel static, clothes do not stick together. This means one garment won’t crush the other, and it’ll keep the clothes safe from deep creasing. And when the clothes come out smelling great, what more could you want.
- You don’t have to stay confined to the default dryer sheet you, even your mother, used. There are various dryer sheet options available in the market, with different textures, fragrances, and formulas. If you are allergic to one, you can always go for a different formula, or the best option is to consult your doctor.
- If you are sensitive to fragrance or a particular one, dryer sheets without fragrance also do the job perfectly. As long as you and your baby’s clothes come out dry and wrinkle-free, you are doing a great job!
5. A fold on time saves nine
The real test of procrastination comes when it’s time to fold your laundry. Once you take the load out of the dryer, it is tempting to throw it all in a basket and think about tackling it later. After all, it’s a tiring job. But if you decide to do that, all your efforts till now will go to waste.
If clothes are left unfolded for a while, it’ll lead to deep wrinkles in clothes that will only get rid of with steam iron. So maybe procrastinating on folding your laundry isn’t that good of an idea.
On the other hand, if you take your clothes out of the dryer and organize them in the closet, they’ll be fresh to wear without ironing. It’ll save you a lot of time when you’re in a hurry to dress your baby to go out or casually lounge.
Here is how you can keep your fresh-out-the-dryer clothes wrinkle-free:
- As you start to take the clothes out of the dryer, take them out one at a time. When you take out a garment, snap it a few times to make sure it’s free from lint and light creases.
- In the case of shirts, t-shirts, and longer garments like cute baby bodysuits, try to lay them flat in the drawer or wardrobe. It would be better if you could hang the clothing items in the closet.
- Make sure you fold the items only after they have completely dried. You can air out the clothes first on a hanger in a ventilated room and then fold them later (this will give you time to chill and procrastinate too!)
These steps will help all the wrinkles fade away and keep your baby’s clothes ready to wear without spending a lot of time while you iron.
6. Storage matters
Now that you have followed all the steps and your clothes seem wrinkle-free, it’s time to keep them that way. If you throw all the clothes in the closet or do not have an organized system for baby’s clothes and yours, you’ll end up with wrinkled clothes no matter what you do.
- Clothes are warm and sometimes even damp when they are out of the dryer, so it is obvious that if you throw them in a basket or don’t fold them properly, they will crease. The best way to go about it is to hang the clothes on a hanger instead of folding them when they are out of the dryer.
- If you want to fold the baby clothes or put them in a drawer, let them hang and air for a while. Once they seem dry and any wrinkles have faded, you can fold them.
- Sort and section the clothes according to the type and fabric of clothes. And try to keep heavier clothes below and lighter ones on the top. This way, the heavier materials won’t crush and wrinkle the lighter ones below.
- If you want to dress up your baby twice in an outfit, put it on a hanger and keep it in the air. It’ll refresh it for a re-wear and remove subtle creases too.
- If your closet is overpacked, your clothes can wrinkle easily. So you need to ensure there is some free space in your closet for them to stay fresh and smooth.
7. Use steam
No matter how careful and particular you are about following a routine, life happens. There will be days you’ll forget to sort clothes, or you won’t have the time to organize clothes, so there needs to be an alternative backup like steaming.
Steaming is a popular method that works well with light to medium weight fabrics like cotton, cotton blends, or chiffon. There are many conventional and non-conventional ways you can steam your clothes, and here are some ways you can do it too. This works on baby clothes and your clothes as well.
- Take a spray bottle and fill it with water. Now hang the garment or lay it flat on a surface (it would be better if you hang them), and spray clothes with the water. Now hang the clothes in the air and let them dry; it’ll eliminate the creases.
- There is another simple and quick way to steam your clothes without even doing anything. Hang your clothes in the bathroom while taking a hot shower and let the steam do the work. And when you get out of the shower, the wrinkles in your clothes will be gone. Isn’t it easy?
- Another thing you can do is use a tumble dryer. If you have one, you can put the clothes in it with a damp towel and turn it on. Let the dryer run for 5 minutes and take the clothes out; they’ll be good to go.
What Are Quick Tips to Smooth Wrinkled Clothes?
Now that you know all the tips to avoid wrinkled clothes from you and your baby’s clothes, here are some secrets iron and non-ironing tips you need to know. These tricks will keep your clothes crisp and fresh.
- When you are at home, it is easy to avoid wrinkles in clothes. Even if they do get wrinkled, you can steam them, and your clothes will look good. But what about when you are packing your clothes in a suitcase? After all, you need to pack the best outfits for you and your baby no matter where you’re going, and you can pack a lot. Don’t stuff or roll your clothes; instead, put a dryer sheet or newspapers in between the clothing layers. It’ll help your clothes remain wrinkle-free.
- Test your clothes before you store them or take them out of the dryer. In case the clothes have a little bit of moisture, they’ll have deep wrinkles. Ethem outside, the clothes will wrinkle as soon as you move or sit in a while. Make sure you have an antiperspirant by your side as sweat and humidity can wrinkle your clothes too.
- If you are ironing or steaming your clothes, it is difficult to remove wrinkles from completely dry clothes. It would help if you kept the clothes a little damp to end up crisp and completely smooth. It is an excellent way to get rid of stubborn creases.
- Here is a real cool dryer trick: you can use ice to remove wrinkles in your clothes. Turn on your dryer and set it to the highest temperature and load your clothes. But before you start the cycle, add some ice into it. Then let the dryer run for at least 15 minutes or until the clothes are dry. Just make sure you do not load the dryer completely; a few dresses with two or three ice cubes will do the job.
- Many clothes do not last long if they are dried in the dryer. So what should you do? It would be best if you hang them dry. For example, shirts dry better and come out crisp if you let them hang dry. Dryers may destroy the shape of such structured clothes, so hanging them to dry is the best option. And when they are damp, you can steam them or hang them in your closet.
- You can make your own wrinkle erasing solution! Did you know there are many wrinkle releasing solutions available in the market? You can use it at home and carry it with you while you are traveling too. But you can make a solution with a liquid fabric softener and water. Just add 1 spoon of fabric softener with 1 cup of water, and you are done. Now put it in a spray bottle, and you’ll have wrinkle-free clothes.
With these valuable iron and non-ironing tips and tricks, you’ll have the smoothest clothes ever. Maybe you won’t be able to stop iron your wrinkled clothes forever, but these tips will help you reduce the time you spend ironing. And you can care for your clothes, so they stay new-like and last long.
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