Your Shirt is Constructed of Pieces

• Your shirt is the sum of various cloth parts. The collar, for example, is made up of the stand (the section that rises up), the roll line or top folded edge of the collar and the fall (what you see when worn). The button placement line is located down the center of the garment and the buttonhole hem is made of a double thickness of material. The cuffs have one or more buttonholes.
  
  

Things to Consider for a Quality Result

• The manufacturer's label informs you what fabric the shirt is made of and you set your iron's heat setting for that fabric type. The wrong heat setting can damage your garment.
  Work at a comfortable height.
  Only use distilled water in your iron's water reservoir. A shirt properly prepared for ironing will be slightly damp and you should spray steam on it regularly as you work.
  Ironing removes wrinkles from the cloth. Starch stiffens the cloth and might streak or cake on the surface. Use spray sizing on double-thickness parts. It will stiffen the shirt but does not have the side effects of starch.
  
  

Tips on Ironing

• It does not matter whether you start by ironing the collar or the sleeves. Likewise, it does not matter if you iron the front first then the back, or half of either first. What matters is where you put your attention to detail. The broader cloth sections you want wrinkle-free. The double-thickness areas you want slightly stiff as well as smooth, so spray them with sizing: the collar, yoke, buttonhole hem, pocket tops or flaps, and cuffs. On the rest of the shirt you spray steam to help eliminate the wrinkles.
  Give attention to the buttonhole hem and around the buttons. These front parts of the shirt must lie flat in order to layer properly one on top of the other when worn.
  The cuffs require similar attention to detail because of their thickness, particularly if they are French cuffs by design.
  
  

Storing Your Finished Product

• Hang your shirts on plastic or wooden hangers. You want a wide surface width in contact with the shirt. Metal hangers should not be used.
  Hang your shirt so that it has sufficient space between it and the next garment on the closet rod. Think of it as allowing your shirt room to breathe. The circulating airflow will help the fibers stay dry and the shirt will not develop compression wrinkles while hanging.