Button Ironing "Trick"

[sudsmaster]

Been doing this for years... except usually I wind up doing a little extra flattening/smoothing with the iron from the button side. Just because.

 

 

An Essential Trick to Ironing Shirts With Buttons (Video)

When ironing a wrinkled shirt with buttons, there are many hurdles to overcome: the temperature of the iron, where to position the board in your...

www.slate.com

 

[askolover]

Yeah, me too!  Some of these "new" tricks posted in videos must be from younger people who never learned or were never shown by their parent/s.

 

[frigilux]

What is this 'iron' of which you speak?

My favorite trick: Iron shirts on the wide end of the board.

 

[michaelman2]

Wide end of board is a great tip and most irons have grooves at the tip of the iron that allow buttons on the shirt to slide between the grooves and press the area around the buttons easily. When using an ironer / mangle, you have to turn the shirt so the buttons are against the roller.

 

[rapunzel]

The next video should be about sole plate cleaning.

 

[michaelman2]

I second that suggestion Rapunzel....I have tried every trick under the sun....salt, vinegar, waxed paper.....the only thing I can find is the Faultless Sole Plate Cleaner....smells, smokes and is messy, but works.....Laundress advised of a product that commercial laundries use and I believe it is a similar formulation to the Faultless product.

 

[richnz]

Its far easier if you

have a spongy board. This can be achieved by having two covers on.

I had an awful ironing board to begin with. It was rock hard and too low (I am tall).
Bought a used Laurastar with a soft-pressing soleplate and never take it off.
Don't have to worry about burning items. Can leave the temperature at maximum and you can leave it face down on the board.

Highly recommend the iron and their youtube video tips on how to iron are gold too

 

[rapunzel]

Get a Tylenol tablet (any acetaminophen tablet will do), heat up the iron and rub the tablet over the soil spots. The tablet melts like wax on the hot sole plate and takes off the gunk. Quickly wipe with a damp cloth to remove residue, but make sure it's a cotton or other type of material cloth that can stand high heat.

 

[sudsmaster]

I bet a fresh STPP solution would do the trick, at least for stainless steel sole plates. Don't know about aluminum, it might corrode a little if the STPP is applied to hot aluminum.

 

 

 

[alr2903]

Rapunzel,  I have no doubt it works.  Is there some chemical reaction?   The text in the OP  makes me think the article is for the younger, first time away from home folks.

 

[rapunzel]

" Is there some chemical reaction?"

It cleans the sole plate and creates a little smoke in the process. I think it must be the binding substance that keeps the tablet together and melts when exposed to high heat. That is what lifts the dirt off. You can watch the tablet liquefy as you rub it against the hot sole plate.

 

[michaelman2]

Very cool, I will try this tonight....had never heard of the acetaminophen tablet as a sole plate cleaner....very cool

 

[rapunzel]

However, be careful not to burn your fingers. There are vids on youtube about this.

 

[alr2903]

Thanks Rapunzel !

 

[rapunzel]

Don't thank me, thank the person(s) who discovered this and, in all likelihood, they, whoever it was, probably burnt their fingers during their intrepid quest for a clean iron. I honestly don't know how people come up with (obscure) stuff like this, but it works and becomes an invaluable service to the public.

This is my take. Once upon a time somebody got a headache attempting to clean their iron. However, baking soda or, whatever other old-school method they applied, didn't do anything. They went for the medicine cabinet to deal with their headache and pulled out a Tylenol tablet. Then somehow the tablet found its way onto the stained sole plate and a miracle could be observed. Suddenly the underside of the iron was clean - hallelujah!