Expert's five ways to get creases out of clothes without ironing

Frustrated young woman with basket full of clothes
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When you are trying to look smart, a wrinkled shirt is rarely a good thing. Yet it can be both time-consuming and not always easy to correct, especially when you are in a hurry and time is too tight for getting out the ironing board and heating up the iron.

However, one expert says there are many other ways to get the job done. Jason Higgs, Senior Deal Strategist for Bountii, is an expert in finding ways to save money while still getting things sorted.

He says there are a number of alternatives to ironing out wrinkles from clothes. And most are with things you already have handy at home.

Make your own wrinkle spray

An easy DIY wrinkle spray can be concocted with ingredients that 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!” says Jason.

From there, all you have to do is lightly mist the affected areas and then let the garment hang to dry for a few minutes. Do not overspray the garment, as that could lead to a longer wait time.

Hang wrinkled clothes in the bathroom while showering

If you are going to take a shower, make sure to remember to hang your wrinkled articles of clothing on the back of the bathroom door or on the shower door so that they soak up all of the steam. This technique cuts out the need for spending hours ironing clothes and lets you do other things with your day after your nice, hot shower.

For best results, Jason suggests: "You should make sure to have all doors and windows closed in the bathroom so that as much steam as possible can build up”. This will leave your wrinkled clothes looking fresh again.

Use a damp towel

For this technique, all you need is a towel, water, and your hands. Take your wrinkled item of clothing and lay it down on a hard, flat surface. Find a towel that is big enough to cover the surface of your clothing and get it wet enough that it is damp to the touch, but not dripping. Gently lay the towel flat on the item of clothing and apply pressure with your hands to the wrinkled areas, straightening them out.

You can then hang the garment to air dry and the wrinkles should be gone. Jason advised: "When dampening the towel, use warm water. The warmth will help lift the wrinkles more easily”.

And he has an expert tip - you can use a paper towel if you are somewhere where real towels are not accessible.

Use a kettle to straighten out clothes

If you have some wrinkled clothes and are planning on making some tea for the day, this tip is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. It also means that you are technically not using energy to smooth out the wrinkles, but to heat up water for tea.

To get the desired effect, hang your garment on a hanger and let it hang on a wall or door frame. Then, when the kettle has reached boiling point, aim the spout steam at the clothing.

“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”, advises Jason.

Throw wrinkled clothes in the dryer with a damp dryer dheet

To quickly get a wrinkled shirt or other item of clothing free of wrinkles, you can lightly dampen a dryer sheet and throw the wrinkled clothing in the dryer with the sheet. Set the dryer on a high heat level and let it go for just 10 minutes.

Although this method uses a bit of electricity, the dryer only needs to be on for about 10 minutes for the wrinkle removal to take effect. This will save you much more energy than if you have to wash and dry the article of clothing again to get it crisp again.

“The key for success with this method is to immediately remove the article of clothing after 10 minutes so that it is not sitting still in the dryer, because that will cause wrinkles to form again”, warns Jason.