How to starch and iron a shirt the more professional way.

How to Starch and Iron a dress shirt

- It is not a big deal.  Just follow the simple steps. 

My husband loves  a clean crisply starched shirt. They look so neat and sharp.  

A shirt that is starched will look great and like new for years.  He has taken them to the cleaners for years and loves the heavy starch.  I have finally convinced him that I can do it.  The first time I did it I put them in a sink with a lot of starch and water and they were very very stiff.  He liked it though.  then I learned that you can just
1. pour your liquid starch in the fabric softener dispenser in your washer.  That worked great for a light starch.  2. You just don't totally dry the shirts and iron them while they are still slightly damp and then let them "cure" on the hanger.  They will stiffen up some more when they are dry.
3.I added a little spray starch to them to make them a little firmer.  They turned out just like the laundry does them.
4. Another way to have them firmer would be just to run an extra rinse cycle after the wash and add 2 cups of starch instead of the one that would go in the fabric softener dispenser (if you have one)

How to make your own starch
For a light starch just add 1 Tablespoon cornstarch to 1 cup of water and mix it.  You can shake it in a spray bottle if you are going to spray it on.

For a heavy starch just add more corn starch to your water.

Tips on ironing a dress shirt
1-Dampen shirt if it is dry with a spray bottle.  You can spray the shirt and put it in a plastic bag for 15 minutes for a more even result or just spray and iron.

2- Iron the yoke of the shirt on the narrow end of the board first.

3-Iron the collar. first the wrong side and then the top.

4- Iron the cuffs on the outside.  Iron one cuff and that sleeve.  paying attention to the sleeves seams being straight.

5-Now iron the back of the shirt on the wide end of the board.  It will fit right over it nicely.

6- Now do each front side.  You save it for last so you do not wrinkle it with your other ironing.

7-Check it over for touch ups.

8-Hang it up and button up the collar and front so that it will hang nicely while it drys totally ("cures").

With practice you can do it in three minutes or less and it will look great on.

It reminds me of a poem I once knew.  The last line says "for I have ironed a clean white shirt and hugged the husband in it!"  A freshly ironed shirt (his or hers) boosts one's self esteem for sure!  Soooo happy ironing.