Life Hack: Four easy ways to avoid ironing and keep your clothes wrinkle-free

Step away from the ironing board and try these simple hacks instead to remove wrinkles from clothes

Do you hate ironing? You'll love these alternative ways to rid your clothes of wrinkles. Picture: iStock

Ironing is one of those household chores that many people despise. The temptation is always there to just fold your freshly-dried laundry and bundle it away, wrinkles be damned, but often a too-crinkled item of clothing will convince you to take out the iron and tackle the whole pile of clothes.

However, if you’re not a fan of wielding an iron, whether you find it tedious or you’re cutting back on your energy usage amid rising utility bills, there are a few shortcuts you can take to avoid a crumpled look.

Shower power 

This one is such an established trick I would be surprised if you had not heard of it. The premise is simple: hang the clothes you want to remove the wrinkles from inside your bathroom while you take a shower. I do this when I want to wear something that hasn’t been ironed or that has wrinkled due to the way it was stored. Hang the garment somewhere in your bathroom (I pop it on a hanger and place that on a hook inside the door). Run a hot shower and after about 10 minutes the steam will have gotten to work on the fabric. Some deeper impressions may still be visible but I find gently tugging around the wrinkle can help remove the last hints of it from the item.

Shake it off

If you chose to use a tumble dryer, all tweaks can help eliminate a mass of wrinkles when you remove your dried laundry. When you remove your clothes from the washing machine, give them a good shake to untangle the fabric. Tangled clothes will wrap around themselves to cause a wrinkled mess, meaning the iron is inevitable. Shaking the fabric means it’s less likely to twist into positions that would cause the worst wrinkles while it is in the dryer.

#Life Hacks

Life is hard enough without being aware of these simple life hacks. Read on.

Less is more 

If you’re guilty of packing as much as possible into your washing machine drum, you might be creating unnecessary chores. The more fabric squashed in means even more wrinkles. If you leave some room in the drum for all the fabrics to move, the steam and heat from the machine will reach the clothes and prevent creases and wrinkles from forming. An overloaded drum is also less effective at cleaning your clothes. If your washing is squashed into it, there will not be enough room for each garment to move separately and the detergent will not circulate properly.

Solar power 

This one isn’t the most useful tip in the depths of winter but on a sunny day, simply hanging your wrinkled clothes outside can knock out those wrinkles. Place them on the clothesline and spray a mist of water onto the fabric. While the washing sits out in the sunshine, the heat will remove the wrinkles as it evaporates the moisture from the clothes. It’s also a great one to know about if you go on a sun holiday and unpack your clothes to find them all wrinkled from your case.