How to Have Wrinkle-free Clothes Without Ironing

Photo by Artem Beliaikin from Pexels

Ironing helps to transform our clothes from drab, wrinkle-ridden pieces to nice, smooth, and sharp-looking apparel.

But not everyone has the luxury of time or patience to perform the tedious task of ironing.

Moreso, if you’re one who travels a lot, it can be a hassle to carry an iron around. So, it is understandable that you are seeking ways to have wrinkle-free clothes without touching an iron.

This article has exactly what you need. Read on for hacks you can try.

12 Ways to Have Wrinkle-free Clothes  Without Ironing

How can you have wrinkle-free clothes without ironing?

To have wrinkle-free clothes without ironing, do the following:

1. Roll your clothes instead of folding them.

2. Steam your clothes in the bathroom.

3. Spray your clothes with water and hang.

4. Use a dewrinkle spray.

5. Use a damp towel.

6. Use a hairdryer.

7. Use a hair straightener.

8. Steam your cloth using a teapot.

9. Place heavy objects like books over them.

10. Use the bottom of a pot.

 1. Roll Instead Of Folding

Rather than fold your clothes into your box or bag, roll them instead (think burrito roll).

Just place your cloth on a flat surface and roll tightly. Do this carefully to avoid introducing new wrinkles.

Then place the roll under a mattress for about an hour, or even overnight.

By the time the night is over (*winks), the heat and weight of the mattress will “iron” out the wrinkles.

Photo by Dom J from Pexels

 2. Steam In The Bathroom

This oldie-but-goodie trick has worked for years to de-wrinkle clothes.

How can you have wrinkle-free clothes by steaming them in the bathroom?

Simply hang your cloth in the bathroom and close all the doors, air vents, and windows. After 15-20 minutes, the steam would have melted the creases away.

How to have wrinkle-free clothes without ironing -- steamin
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

You can also take the cloth to the bathroom while having your bath.

Just hang it in a tiny spot where lots of steam from the shower is sure to reach and let the steam work its magic while you have your bath.

However, ensure that your cloth is not placed where drops of water will reach and get it soaked.

iSteam Steamer for Clothes [Luxury Edition] Powerful Dry Steam. Multi-Task: Fabric Wrinkle Remover- Clean- Refresh. Handheld Clothing Accessory. for All Kind of Garments. Home/Travel [MS208 Green]

 3. Spray With Water And Hang

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth by spraying with water?

To remove wrinkles from your cloth, spritz your cloth with water and hang it up to air dry and the wrinkles will disappear. This works especially on thin clothing materials.

 4. Use A Dewrinkle Spray

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using a dewrinkle spray?

Spray some dewrinkle spray on your cloth and stretch out (don’t tug too hard!) with your hands. Again, emphasis on mist, you do not want your cloth soaking wet. By the time the cloth is completely dry, the wrinkles would have disappeared.

Dewrinkle spray is known as wrinkle release spray. It helps to get wrinkles out of clothes without having to iron. Purchase one at the local store or online and have it handy, especially when you’re traveling.

How can you make a DIY dewrinkle spray?

Simply use a vinegar-water mix in the ratio 1 to 3 and mix it in a spray bottle. You can also add a little hair conditioner or fabric softener to the mix. If you’re worried about the smell, then you can use white vinegar as opposed to the normal vinegar.

Another alternative involves using a mixture of a bottle full of cold water and a cupful of fabric softener.

Cold Iron Wrinkle Releaser - 32 Ounce Fragrance Free - Ironing Alternative

 5. Use A Damp Towel

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using a damp towel?

Place the cloth on a smooth flat surface like a table or floor. Then place a damp towel on it and press down with your hands to straighten it out. Try this out only on colored clothes as white clothes will get stained.

 6. Hairdryer

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using a hairdryer?

Dampen your cloth and blast with hot air from your hairdryer. Make sure to use low heat and place the dryer about 2 inches away from your cloth to prevent the heat from damaging your cloth.

 7. Hair Straightener

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using a hair straightener?

Use heat settings just similar to using an iron, that is, low heat for silk materials and high heat for cotton. place the hair straightener over the wrinkles. Pull the garment taut and do this fast, to prevent burns. Make sure you wipe off all grease and hair oils that might be on the straightener before you use it on your clothes to avoid staining your clothes.

This works especially for sleeves, shirt collars, and other edges like hems and cuffs.

 8. The Dryer Trick

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using the cloth dryer?

Place your cloth in the dryer and throw in some ice cubes along with it. You can also put in a damp pressing cloth or rag (a clean one please)  alongside your cloth and let it spin on high heat. This will create steam that will straighten out your clothes. You can also mist your wrinkled cloth directly and toss it in the dryer.

One trick is to use a damp sock for thin fabrics and a damp towel for thicker clothes. You can also use a damp dryer sheet.

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A post-dryer hack is to remove the cloth while it is still damp, smoothen with your hands and let the cloth air-dry. 

 9. Teapot steaming

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using teapot steaming?

Just direct the spout of the teapot at the spot to remove the crease with the steam! Be sure to keep the teapot about 12 inches away to avoid scorching the garment.  

10. Books

How can you remove wrinkles from your clothes using books?

To reduce or remove the wrinkles on your cloth, place a heavy book on the wrinkled area and press down with your body weight to smoothen the creases and you’re good to go!

Don’t we just love books? They smoothen out the wrinkles in our minds as well as on our clothes.

Photo by Dom J from Pexels

11. The Bottom of a Pot

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using the bottom of a pot?

To remove wrinkles from your clothes, all you need to do is clean the bottom of your pot thoroughly and then boiling some water in it on your cooker. Once the water is boiled, pour it out and then place it on the wrinkled areas on your cloth.

Getting wrinkles out of clothes with a pot is probably the oldest trick in the book. And while it is pretty straightforward, you definitely want to exercise some caution while you use it.

It works like magic!… erm… not really… It works like an iron!

However, with this trick, it is advisable to also clean the bottom of the pot before you place it on the cloth you plan to de-wrinkle.

12. Steam from a Kettle

How can you remove wrinkles from your cloth using steam from a kettle?

You only need to pour some water into the kettle and bring it to a boil on a stove. Once the water is boiled, you can use the steam coming out through the spout to remove the wrinkles.

However, we recommend holding the spout at least 20 centimeters away from your cloth.

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Alternatively, if you want a quicker and travel-friendly option, you can invest in a fabric steamer.

Image by p_kennedy123 from Pixabay

5 Ways to Prevent Clothes from Wrinkling in Your Travel Luggage

Nothing could be more annoying on a business trip, for instance, than to arrive at your destination only to realize that your clothes are wrinkled.

Most times, wearing them may even be a complete disaster and may kill your investors’ interest at first glance.

To prevent painful situations like this, there are a few things you may want to take note of when you pack your clothes for the next trip.

Image by Stela Di from Pixabay

1. Wrap Your Clothes in a Bundle

When it comes to packing for a trip, the usual routine is to fold the clothes into a travel bag.

But we have observed that folding may introduce wrinkles to your clothes. This is why bundle-wrapping is recommended.

This method involves wrapping important clothes around other clothes that may not be necessary on the trip to avoid fold lines and creases. However, rather than use other clothes to bundle-wrap your travel clothes, you can invest in folding boards instead.

2. Place Tissue Paper Between the Folds of your clothes

If you insist on folding your clothes as opposed to bundle-wrapping them, then it is advisable to place tissue paper between the folds of your clothes to prevent wrinkles.

3. Use Packing Folders

One of the ways to avoid wrinkling your packed clothes on a trip is to use a packing folder.

Typically, a packing folder will keep your clothes straight and neat. And because of the material they are made from and their suitcase-design, your clothes won’t get wrinkled even if a hurricane is happening outside these packing folder.

This travel buddy is particularly useful for dress shirts. So, if your trip is work-related then you definitely need to have a folder of this sort.

Dot&Dot 18 Inches Packing Folder Backpack Accessory to Avoid Wrinkled Clothing (2-Piece Set, Black)

You can also opt for packing cubes to keep smaller clothing items like your briefs, camisoles, and socks wrinkle-free.

4. Use Garment Bags

Garment bags have been saving clothes from wrinkle storms for years and they still do.

So, if you don’t have a garment bag to your name, then you may want to consider investing in one.

By the way, even though you may not have all your clothes in the garment bag, you can, at least, place important clothes in it to prevent them from wrinkling.

For instance, your tux or the dinner dress you plan to wear at the closing ceremony of the event you plan to attend can go into the garment bag.

But whatever you do, ensure that you have the right garment bag size for your clothes before your trip.

Check out this affordable and highly-rated set of 5 breathable garment bags with a clear window to let you know what is in each bag. This set also comes with a shoe bag to hold a pair of shoes.

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5. Invest in Wrinkle-Free Clothes

Don’t want to bother with a folding board, packing bags, packing cubes, and garment hangers? Choose clothes that are wrinkle-resistant.

As a guide, clothes that stretch or have some knit in them are some of the best wrinkle-free clothes.

You can check with your favorite clothing label for some of these clothes so that you can plan ahead of your next trip.

Meanwhile, it is quite possible that some of your travel clothes are wrinkle-free. But you want to run a quick test on them to be sure about this. All you need to do to find out if your cloth is wrinkle-free is to squeeze a section of it for up to 30 seconds.

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If it doesn’t wrinkle or it actually does wrinkle but straightens out in no time, then, that, my friend, is a wrinkle-free cloth ready to ride with you on your trip.

Quick Recap

There’s a number of hacks that can help you have wrinkle-free clothes without ironing. From dryer hacks to steaming and rolling, these are sure ways to help you look put together, without having to touch an iron.

These tricks are also useful when you need to remove wrinkles from tablecloths.

How to Have Wrinkle-free Clothes Without Ironing — Related FAQs 

What Fabric Is Wrinkle Free?

Fabrics that are synthetic in nature are usually wrinkle-free. These synthetic fabrics are made from nylon, polyester, olefin, and acrylic fibers.

These synthetic fabrics have great resistance to wrinkles. This is because of the following factors:

1.    They do not easily absorb water like natural fibers.

2.    They have more complex weave construction.

3.    They are treated chemically unlike some natural fabrics like linen.

4.    They have more weight than other fabrics that wrinkle easily.

However, some natural fabrics like cotton can also be chemically treated to be resistant to wrinkling.

What Is Wrinkle Free Cotton?

Wrinkle free cotton is cotton fabric that does not wrinkle. Natural fibers are easily wrinkled, especially cotton and linen. But nowadays, some cotton fabrics are treated to make them resistant to wrinkles.

To create wrinkle-free cotton, a chemical resin such as formaldehyde is applied to the cotton fabric. This resin chemical reacts with the hydrogen bonds of the cotton fibers to create a permanent press. Without this treatment, these weak hydrogen bonds break when the cotton fabrics are soaked in water, forming wrinkles.

This helps the fabric to keep its shape and pleats even after being laundered. Additionally, the chemical treatment increases the crease recovery of cotton, too.

Does Cotton Wrinkle Easily?

Cotton wrinkles easily. This is because cotton fibers have weak hydrogen bonds. They easily get disturbed when they come in contact with water molecules.

When the cotton fibers are wet, these weak bonds make the fibers inelastic and they break easily. Then they rearrange and form new bonds thereby causing creases.

To prevent the breaking and rearranging of these bonds, some chemicals can form permanent bonds with these hydrogen bonds from forming new bonds. These permanent bonds make the cotton become wrinkle-free.

Why Does My Shirt Wrinkle So Easily?

Your shirt wrinkles so easily because of the following:

1.    You wear your shirt while it is still warm. After ironing your shirt, allow it to cool before wearing it.

2.    When you get sweaty, your shirt is more likely to wrinkle. Try to keep your skin as dry as possible.

3.    You did not starch your shirt properly. When you spray starch, allow the shirt to soak up the starch for 2-3 minutes before you iron.

4.    Your shirt does not fit properly. Over-sized shirts tend to squeeze up when worn.

What Fabric Does Not Need Ironing?

Fabrics that do not need ironing are synthetic fabrics and treated natural fabrics. Synthetic fabrics are derived from chemicals and have superior properties to natural fabrics.

The synthetic fibers that do not need ironing are polyester, spandex, nylon, acetate, and acrylic. These fabrics do not easily absorb water, and therefore do not crease easily.

Some synthetic fibers like rayon are not resistant to creasing. This is because they are a mixture of synthetic and natural fibers.

Some natural fibers like cotton can be chemically treated to make them resistant to wrinkles.

How Do I Stop My Shirts from Wrinkling When I Drive?

 To stop your shirt from wrinkling when you drive, do the following:

1.    Use the air conditioner in your car to make sure that you do not sweat.

2.    Lean forward while driving as much as you can.

3.    Wear thicker cotton shirts any day you intend to drive. Thick cotton shirts are more crease-resistant than light ones.

4.    Spray your shirt with anti-wrinkle spray before you wear them.

5.    Do not starch your shirt heavily if you intend to wear it and drive.

How Do You Keep Clothes from Wrinkling When Packing?

To prevent your clothes from wrinkling when packing, do the following:

1.    Roll up your clothes instead of folding them.

2.    Place the clothes that can wrinkle easily closer to the surface of your luggage.

3.    Do not stuff your bag up too much.

4.    Place your rolled-up shirts in a plastic bag. This will reduce the friction between clothes and reduce the forming of wrinkles.

5.    Use your underwear and toiletries to fill up empty spaces in your luggage. This will help to hold your rolled clothes in place.

6.    Travel with as many wrinkle-resistant clothes as you can.

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