Here’s something you might not know about me: I’m super lazy. Seriously, though, I’m all about shortcuts and “hacks” that make life easier and give me less work. Case in point? I haaaaaate ironing. I honestly don’t even know where our ironing board is and still don’t know how to properly work our iron (that we’ve had for 10 years), let alone how to properly iron in general.
Recently, I had a moment of brilliance when I pulled out a pair of shorts. I really wanted to wear them, but the cuffs were all wrinkly and I really did not want to iron them. Then I remembered how I had been using my flat iron to iron on some transfers onto Lil’ CB’s shirt…I took out my flat iron, turned on medium-high and voila! Within seconds, my cuffs were wrinkle-free!
As others mentioned when I posted this on Instagram (indicating I was actually late to the party and not really the genius I thought I was…;) ), this technique could also be used on your little ones’ and loved ones’ clothes, especially on ruffles, hems, and collars. Goodbye, wrinkles and goodbye, clunky old iron!
Like I referred to above, you can also use your good ol’ flat iron to iron on transfers, as long as they are to be placed somewhere near an opening, like on a sleeve, near the hem, or on a pocket. The basketball league that Lil’ CB played on this winter gave out stars for each game the kids played in and stars for different skills they displayed (sportsmanship, effort, defense, offense, etc. — P.S. I cannot say enough about the league, Upward Sports; we love them!). After ironing on the first pair of stars, I wised up and used my flat iron to get the stars on more quickly and easily in two quick, laughably easy steps:
1. Position the transfer.
2. Place the shirt in between the sides of flat iron and hold the iron shut for about 8 seconds.
Aaaaaand, that’s it!
So easy and all those stars have stayed on through multiple washings…I only wish I had thought of it sooner!
What sort of mom shortcuts do you use?
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
Um, this is genius!!
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I don’t even have an iron in the house
we have this handheld steamer that we bust out maybe bi-annually lol. Otherwise I rely on shower steam & wrinkle release lol
cantaloupe / 6086 posts
This works well if you need to iron between buttons on a shirt especially baby/kid size. Though I try to iron as little as possible
I also find spraying with water and laying flat to dry works for something like a bow on a girls top
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
Brilliant! I’ll have to do this with DS’s shorts. His cuffs are always tucked under and I’m too lazy to bust out the iron. Flat iron – check!
blogger / coffee bean / 32 posts
Great tricks!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@snowjewelz: Yup! Just the steam drying on wrinkle release and my hair straightener!
cherry / 206 posts
I’ve been using my flat iron as my iron for EVER! It works on pretty much everything.