How to iron woolen dress pants

Equipment:

• 1 iron (Teflon coated base optional)
• 1 cotton or linen dish towel, (optionally damp)
• 1 ironing board

Process:

1. Set iron to the wool setting; use steam
2. lay pants on ironing board, with left inner pant leg facing up
3. smooth out pant leg
4. cover with towel
5. iron pant making sure not to iron the crease
6. repeat steps 2-5 for right pant leg
7. turn over and iron right pant leg this time ironing the crease and cuffs
8. repeat for left leg

Rationale:

• the towel prevents shining. Teflon-coated irons are suppose to solve this problem but they don’t always work
• avoiding the crease when ironing the inner pant leg avoids double creases

There are more detailed and complex guides [1] [2], but the above is simple, fast and effective.

Shin is a problem with wool pants. To remove the shin, the Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, by Mary Brooks Picken recommends:

Sometimes, in the construction of woolen garments, certain parts, especially seams and overlapping edges, become shiny or glossy from improper pressing. Also, as is well known, a woolen material that consists of hard or firmly twisted threads is likely to become glossy from hard wear. To remove the shine, first place over it a press cloth that is slightly damper than one needed for ordinary pressing. Then hold a hot iron very close to the press cloth, but not on it, keeping the iron in one position long enough to allow the steam an opportunity to penetrate the fabric. Then lift the press cloth and brush the fabric briskly to roughen its surface a trifle in order to take away the shine.
Repeat this process until every trace of the shine is removed. Then, dry the steamed material thoroughly, holding the iron close enough to the press cloth so that the fabric will appear to have been carefully pressed, although the iron has not touched it.