Kill two birds with one stone with a tea kettle trick
A LAUNDRY expert has shared his go-to techniques to get wrinkles out of clothes without ironing.
A DIY two-ingredient spray saves time and makes garments look crisp with little effort.
Jason Higgs, a senior deal strategist for Bountii and a laundry pro, shared his cleaning hacks and tips.
An easy spray can be made with ingredients you already have at home.
“All you have to do is add a teaspoon of fabric softener or hair conditioner to boiled or distilled water and mix it up in a spray bottle – it’s that easy!” said Higgs.
Once you have your spray bottled up, all that’s left to do is lightly mist the wrinkled areas and let the garment hang to dry for a few minutes.
Higgs recommends being light-handed with the spray, as a little goes a long way, and over-spraying can lead to a long wait time.
Another low-effort technique is to hang your wrinkly clothes in the bathroom as you shower.
While you’re relaxing in the water, the hot steam will rid your garments of any unwanted creases.
The technique also eliminates hours spent ironing clothes and frees up your time.
Higgs suggests that those who attempt the tip “should make sure to have all doors and windows closed in the bathroom so that as much steam as possible can build up.”
A third way to get rid of wrinkles is to use a damp towel.
Take your garment and place it flat on a leveled surface. Find a towel that’s large enough to cover your entire garment and get it damp enough so that it’s damp to the touch but not dripping.
Once that’s done, lay the towel directly over the garment and apply pressure with your hands, straightening the wrinkles out.
“When dampening the towel, use warm water. The warmth will help lift the wrinkles more easily,” Higgs advised.
Once the wrinkles are gone, the garment can be left to air dry.
A tea kettle and a damp dryer sheet are also useful tools for wrinkle elimination.
Higgs recommends killing two birds with one stone by aiming a hot tea kettle’s spout steam at a hung-up garment while you’re in the process of making tea.
“You can do this by holding it below and letting the steam travel upwards towards the wrinkled areas; just make sure not to hold the kettle too close to the garment and wear heat-protective mitts so you don’t get burned,” he said.
The expert explained that a damp dryer sheet thrown into a dryer with a wrinkled piece of clothing on high for ten minutes would have the same effect.
Those who attempt the trick should set a timer, however.
“The key for success with this method is to immediately remove the article of clothing after ten minutes so that it is not sitting still in the dryer, because that will cause wrinkles to form again,” he added.