Ironing made easy, well sort of...

I'm not big into ironing. I take things out of the dryer, hang them up and iron them as I wear them. Well, that's if they need ironing. It's not that I hate ironing, it's just that's my routine. I've thought about putting everything that needs to be ironed in a basket and doing it all at once, but the thought of keeping Sadie away from the cord that long scares me.

Blake wishes I would iron his dress shirts more. I do them as he asks, but I know he gets frustrated when he opens the closet and sees a bunch of wrinkled shirts. Ironing his shirts frustrates me. It's really hard! I can't seem to get all of the wrinkles out. I spend 15 minutes on one of his shirts and it still looks like he's worn it a few times. I just don't know the tricks, I guess.

So imagine how thrilled I was when I was flipping through the pages of Martha Stewart's magazine and found this:

Ironing a shirt, step-by-step
(My comments are in red)

1. Begin with a shirt damp from the dryer, or sprinkle a dry shirt with water until damp. I just use the spray feature on my iron. Same thing, right? Start with the back of the collar; (This is where I start!) gently pull and stretch the fabric away from the iron to prevent puckering. What?
2. Iron the inside of the cuffs. Nope, I skip that step. Slip a towel under the face-down buttons to cushion them as you iron. Towels are not present when I iron Blake's shirts.
3. Move on to the sleeves. If you don't want a crease in the sleeve, use a sleeve board. Blake will always get a crease because where would one find a sleeve board? Iron the outside of the cuff after each sleeve. Way too hard.
4. Iron the inside of the yoke (the part of the shirt that rests on your shoulders) and then the inside back of the shirt. WHAT!?! INSIDE? Come on, who seriously does that? Iron the outside of the yoke and back. I can handle that.
5. Iron the inside (again, WHAT!?!) and the outside of the shirt front panels and placket. What's the placket? Always iron around the buttons, not over them. Uh, thanks for the tip.
6. Finish by ironing the other side of the collar. Place the shirt on a wooden hanger, (is plastic okay?) and fasten the top button. How official.

So, good luck to all my fellow ironers! I hope this helped you because I know that I am feeling a little bit more overwhelmed at this point. I'm pretty sure you can get a shirt washed and ironed at some dry cleaners for $1.00. I think I'll look into that...