In the heart of Emirati culture, the kandura is a symbol of tradition, grace, and heritage. This flowing white robe, worn by Emirati men, is more than just clothing; it represents a rich legacy. To keep your kandura looking its best, it’s important to know how to iron it properly. In this blog post, we will provide you with guidance on the best methods for ironing your kandura; keeping it in excellent condition.
Whether you’re a business traveller or just love exploring, the last thing you want is to arrive at your destination with a suitcase full of wrinkled clothes. Wrinkles take away from the enjoyment of your trip. In this blog, we’ll share a collection of tips to keep your clothes wrinkle-free while travelling, ensuring you always look your best on the road!
Ironing is synonymous with clean and fresh clothes. It helps keep the wrinkles away from our clothes and makes us feel good afterwards. However, while we focus on ironing our clothes, it’s easy to forget the importance of cleaning our ironing board. In this blog, we’ll take a look at how to clean the ironing board.
Like with everything we store in the house, ironing boards can be prone to dust, dirt and debris. If you don’t clean the ironing board, there is a high chance of all the dirt latching onto your clothes.
Before cleaning the ironing board, remove the cover and pad. In most cases, cover boards are fine to go inside the washing machine but always read the care label to be certain.
If your ironing board cover isn’t suited for a washing machine, proceed to manual wash. Spot the dirty stains and get one cup of water, one cup of vinegar and three tablespoons of baking soda in a spray bottle and start to spray the stained area. After a few minutes, get a damp cloth and wipe the ironing board.
To ensure you clean the ironing board effectively, get a good sanitizer, continue using a damp cloth and start wiping the top of the surface. Don’t miss any parts of the ironing board; be wary of any lurking cobwebs underneath the board. Wipe down the legs of the board and remove any cobwebs you see. Let the spray settle to ensure the best cleaning results.
Once you’ve cleaned the ironing board, replace your cloth with a dry one and start wiping it to dry it. Once it is fully dry, put back the ironing board cover and pad.
Your clothes are ready to be ironed again with no concerns of dirt or dust transferring to them!
It’s a general rule of thumb to clean the ironing board monthly if it’s stored in a good dust-free place.
A friendly reminder that at Laundryheap, we do offer ironing services. If your ironing board is not in good shape, just get in touch with us and we’ll iron your clothes to perfection!
To learn more about Laundryheap, visit our website or download the free app on iOS or Android.
Taking pride in your clothes comes down to the fine details. The suit or outfit you wear may look good at a glance but when you look in the mirror for a closer inspection, you realise there are wrinkles on your clothes.
The most common reasons stubborn wrinkles form; leaving them on the dryer for too long, not ironing them properly or not organising the piles neatly.
If you are guilty of the habits above, we’re here to help show you how to prevent wrinkles on your clothes!
Not organising your clothes is the cause of many problems. Not only does it make your room look messy, but it is also why your clothes get wrinkled. To prevent wrinkles, make sure you are piling and folding them up properly.
Only hang your clothes up in the closet once they’re dry because hanging them while they are still moist can cause wrinkles to form.
Secondly, don’t leave your closets crowded with clothes – save space. Too little room would only cause your clothes to rub against each other and thus they’ll be wrinkled.
If you are travelling, try to neatly pack your luggage because untidy packing leads to more wrinkles.
As always with clothes care, read the labels on your clothes to be on the safe side as some fabrics need less heat on the tumble dryer. To prevent wrinkles on your clothes, make sure you aren’t overheating your clothes and once the cycle finishes, take your clothes out instantly and hang them to prevent wrinkles from forming.
Fabric softeners are heroes in the laundry world. They keep our clothes smelling fresh and keep the wrinkles away. Also, fabric softeners increase your clothes’ lifecycle. So next time you start the laundry, add fabric softener, and watch the magic happen!
Now that you have the knowledge of what causes wrinkles and how to prevent them, your clothes should be in better condition!
If you need to help with getting the wrinkles away, just get in touch with Laundryheap and we’ll iron your clothes to perfection! Book a service, choose a collection date and we’ll deliver your clothes back to you within 24 hours!
To learn more about us, visit our website or download the free Laundryheap app on iOS or Android!
Much like laundry, ironing is a chore you either love or hate; there is no in-between. Regardless, it’s a chore that needs to be done with care and patience because if done correctly, ironing adds a smooth and cool look to your clothes. However, there are also ironing mistakes that need to be avoided.
Here are 4 common ironing mistakes!
Not checking the temperature is one of the most common ironing mistakes. With the right setting and temperature, you’ll get the clean results you want.
If you have made this ironing mistake, you’ll know that choosing the incorrect temperature setting can ruin the smoothness of the fabric. Also, it can cause marks and burns on your clothes!
Always read the labels and iron for a good, smoother, and fresher result to save you time and stress!
Drying clothes is part and parcel of cleaning clothes, but ironing dried clothes tends to be on the list of ironing mistakes. Dried clothes lack moisture and consequently, the wrinkles are far more stubborn when they are left on dry clothes, which could damage your fabrics in the long run.
That’s not to say you should be ironing wet clothes but ideally, you should aim for damp clothes because they’ll have enough moisture. Ironing damp clothes makes it easy to reshape and remove creases. Always spray water on dried clothes to dampen them for better results!
When you think about ironing chores, it’s easy to overlook your iron board’s condition. Iron boards are no different to clothesline in your garden; if they’re in good shape, your clothes will be in good shape. If you neglect cleaning duties for your iron board, chances are your clothes may catch some dust and dirt.
We advise you to first store your iron board in a room with a lot of space and every month, clean and wipe it with a cloth!
When it comes to ironing, the organisation is the key to a fresher result. Managing a big laundry pile is the difference between good and bad ironing. Always make a habit of ironing the clothes with the lowest heat setting first.
Generally, heating the iron up is easier than cooling it down. The most common materials that need the lowest temperature are polyester and silk. Once you are done with this, change the settings on your iron to medium and high for the relevant materials.
Ironing mistakes are common and don’t feel too disappointed if you have made these mistakes in the past. Ironing clothes does require time and patience.
If you’re looking for a service that launders and irons your clothes, get in touch with Laundryheap to book a service!
Visit Laundryheap’s website or download the free Laundryheap app on iOS or Android!
Ironing can sometimes feel like a daunting task. If not done properly, you could end up damaging your clothing, sometimes beyond repair. Here are our top tips for successfully getting through your ironing.
Before you begin ironing, it’s important to first adjust the height of your ironing board. Depending on how much clothing you have to iron, you could be stood at your board for a while. Having your board too low can cause back and neck pain, so you want to make sure that it’s at a comfortable height for you.
After you have adjusted your ironing board, you need to make sure that your iron is clean. To clean your iron, begin by mixing a paste of 1 tablespoon of water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Apply this paste to the plate of your iron, firstly making sure that it is turned off and cool before doing so. Wipe off your paste with a damp cloth. Next, dip a cotton bud in distilled water and clean your irons steam vents. Pour out any stagnant water in your iron, and re-fill the reservoir one-third full with distilled water. Turn your iron to its highest setting and steam a clean cloth for a few minutes. This will allow the water to flush out the vents of your iron. Finally, pour out any remaining water.
Before ironing your clothing, it’s important that you check each garment’s care label to evaluate what heat setting is necessary for each individual item. Once you have checked all your garments’ care labels, you can organise them by heat setting. Begin with the delicate, low heat, items as these will be the trickiest to iron, before moving on to the medium and high heat items. It’s much faster for an iron to heat up than cool down, so avoid ironing your high heat clothing first.
If you live in a hard-water area, it’s best to boil your iron water before use. Hard-water can cause blockages in your iron, which can reduce its efficiency. You may also notice that if you don’t pre-boil your iron water your clothing may end up stained.
The average ironing board is 54 inches long, so make use of the entire length of it. If you are ironing longer items, iron them vertically down the length of the board to avoid constantly rotating your garment. If you have creases near the armholes of your t-shirts, you can use the slimmer end of your ironing board to place the top of your t-shirt over the board and gently stretch out the creases to iron over them.
It’s always best to iron your clothing inside out, especially if your garment is a darker colour. You may notice when you don’t turn your clothing inside out, that your garments are left with a sheen or iron marks. This is due to the heat from the iron. To avoid these marks, always make sure to turn your clothing inside out before you begin ironing.
It’s important to avoid ironing over decorative items on your clothing, such as sequins, embellishments, and fastenings. Not only is it unnecessary to iron over these decorative items, but it could also cause damage to your iron and/or clothing to do so. Simply iron around these items whenever possible.
Sometimes the heat from your iron is not enough to eliminate the creases in your clothing. When this is the case, you can make a DIY spray. To make your DIY spray, mix equal parts of white vinegar and water, and pour your mixture into a spray bottle. Have this mixture on hand for when you have to deal with those harsher creases.
If you are ironing a cotton item, it’s best to do so before your garment is completely dry. Creases in cotton can be extremely hard to get out, so, for the best result, iron your item whilst it is damp. The heat from the iron will create steam when it comes into contact with the damp material of your garment, making creases easier to fall out.
Have a selection of coat hangers readily available to hang up your clothing immediately after you’ve ironed each item. You have taken the time to carefully iron each item, so you don’t want to risk creasing your garment again. If your items need to be folded rather than hung up, fold these items on a flat surface immediately after ironing, and place them away from anything that may crease or stain them.
You may not always have the time for ironing, and, for those days, Laundryheap is here to help. We will pick-up your ironing, iron all of your items, and re-deliver them to you, within 24 hours.
To book your Laundryheap order, simply head to the Laundryheap website, or download the free Laundryheap app.
Your dishdasha needs to be adequately cared for when being washed. This is how you should be washing it.
Before washing your dishdasha, you need to pre-treat any stains that may linger on the material. Depending on the stain, depends on how you must pre-treat it.
Ink- If you have an ink stain soak it in milk for 24 hours before washing it as normal.
Sweat/yellowing- To get rid of sweat and yellowing stains, mix three aspirins with two tablespoons of water until a paste is formed. Smear the paste on the stain and leave it for an hour before washing as normal. If you don’t have any aspirin, sprinkle a handful of salt on the stain and squeeze some lemon over it until it’s soaked. Rub the lemon juice and salt until the stain has been removed or lightened, before washing as normal.
Makeup- Whether your makeup stain is powder or liquid based, shampoo will lift the stain. Spread a small amount of shampoo on the stain, before rubbing it in with soap and water. Once the stain has lightened or lifted wash as normal.
Deodorant- Rub a denim item on your deodorant stain, being careful to not press too hard and damage the fabric. The roughness of the denim should lift the stain from your dishdasha and leave it stain free.
Wash darker coloured dishdashas in the washing machine, on a cold cycle, using a mild detergent.
If you have a white or lighter coloured dishdasha it is best to hand wash it to avoid colour fading. To hand-wash, fill your basin with warm water and use a mild detergent. If you do wish to use the washing machine, make sure that you wash your garment with similar colours to avoid colour running, and only on a warm cycle.
Never use a tumble dryer to dry your dishdasha as this will put the fabric under too much strain and result in it becoming misshapen. Instead, hang it out to naturally dry, ideally in direct sunlight.
Unlike with other items of clothing, you want to iron your dishdasha when it is still slightly damp, using the cool setting on your iron. This being said you need to iron at the right time- if you begin ironing when it is too wet then your ironing will be useless but leave it for too long and it will become too dry.
If you have left your dishdasha to completely dry before ironing, a steam iron will be most effective. The steam will add a bit of moisture to your garment and help smooth out the creases.
The best way to ensure that your dishdasha is adequately cared for is by using Laundryheap’s dry cleaning service. For just KWD1.00 you can get your dishdasha picked up, dry cleaned, and re-delivered to you within 24 hours. To book your Laundryheap service head to the Laundryheap website or download the free Laundryheap app.
Ironing stains are easily done and yet increasingly difficult to get rid of. Some ironing stains are unsalvagable and can only be aesthetically lighter rather than removed. These six methods will either help to lighten, or completely remove, ironing stains.
Before starting this method make sure that you check the stained items care label. Some clothing will come with a warning to not use bleach, in which case this method should not be used.
Once you have checked the care label, soak your item in diluted bleach. After 15 minutes, remove the item and wash it as you usually would. To get the most effective result, dry in direct sunlight. The sun’s natural lightening abilities will help lighten the stain so at the very least the mark will be less visible.
Begin by laying the garment on a flat surface. Soak an old cloth or piece of fabric in hydrogen peroxide and place it on the iron stain. Next, put a clean, dry, cloth or piece of fabric on top of the hydrogen peroxide soaked material whilst you let your iron heat to a high temperature. Once your iron is hot, gently rub it over the top piece of fabric. The heat will gently permeate through to the hydrogen peroxide and help work it into the stain. As you iron make sure that you check the progress of the stain. If you notice that your bottom cloth is getting dry, apply more hydrogen peroxide to it. Likewise, if your top cloth is becoming damp with hydrogen peroxide switch it for a new, dry, cloth as this will prevent rust stains transferring from the iron. This process can take a while, so patience is key.
Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the stain until it’s completely soaked. Place your item of clothing in a container of hot water and let it sit for 15-30 minutes depending on how severe the stain is. Remove the clothing item and dry as normal.
If your stain is mild soaking it in ice water for an hour could remove it. For this method, you need to ensure that your water is ice cold. To guarantee this either add ice cubes to cold water or leave your item in some water in the freezer. If you do leave your clothes in the freezer, make sure you only leave them in there for a maximum of 1 hour. Completely freezing your clothes won’t cause any additional damage, but can slow down the stain removing process.
If you decide on this method it’s important that you use white vinegar only- using any other type of vinegar could stain your clothing further. Soak a rag or sponge in white vinegar and rub it over the stain. Once the stain is completely soaked, leave the item to sit for 10-15 minutes before rinsing with cool water. Leave your clothing to dry as normal.
A heavy scorch mark can not be removed, however the damage can be made less visible. Using an emery pad, or any rough material, gently rub the burn mark, removing any dark singed material. Be gentle with your rubbing movements, being too aggressive can cause further holes and damage to the material.
If your clothing has been stained beyond repair and you are considering throwing out the item, try and reuse it for an alternative purpose. Consider making a tote bag or pillow case- anything to limit the clothing pollution that comes with throwing away clothing.
The best way to treat any stain is by getting it treated at a dry cleaners. Book your slot on the Laundryheap website or by downloading the Laundryheap app.
There is nothing worse than waking up the morning of a job interview, to find your smart shirt is wrinkled and there is no iron in the house. Similarly, you could be on a business trip and discover the hotel iron is out of use 15 minutes before your important meeting.
As harrowing as all these situations sound, there is no need to panic. There are many ways to de-wrinkle your clothing without an iron in sight. Not many things give off a worse first impression than wrinkly clothes, but this list will ensure you don’t need to freak out next time you find yourself without an iron.
Hair straighteners don’t just straighten hair, crazy right? In fact, in the 50s and 60s, women would straighten there hair with an actual iron. We are here to reverse that trend and bring it to the year 2020.
Using the hair straightener as an iron can be especially useful on the collar, cuffs and placket of your shirts. So, next time you are in a rush and need to straighten out the collar on your favourite business shirt, look no further than your trusty hair straighteners!
Don’t have hair straighteners at hand either? That’s OK. How about trying the hairdryer? Another great way to de-wrinkle your clothes is by using a hairdryer to shoot concentrated bursts of hot air onto the wrinkled area of your clothes.
This technique is particularly efficient when used on dresses with annoying creases in them. Firstly, you lightly dampen the wrinkled area of the dress. Next, you set the hairdryer to the lowest available setting and blow on the dress from 1-2 inches away. Be sure to keep the hairdryer a fair distance away, as you don’t want to scorch the fabric. Do this until the wrinkles straighten out.
This technique is probably the most well known of all the options on this list. Often the first plan of action when there is no iron available, the shower trick is particularly useful when travelling and finding yourself at the mercy of hotel appliances.
So, if your hotel room lacks an iron, instead of asking for one at the front desk, why not just hang your creased clothes in the shower? Just turn the heat up and let the hot steam fill the room – this will help your clothes release any annoying creases. Afterwards, your clothes might be a little damp from the steam. Just hang them out to dry for ten minutes, once you come back, you won’t ever want to use an iron again!
Using a cooking pot to get rid of tough creases is one of the oldest tricks in the book. That’s right, the same pot you would boil your potatoes in, makes for the perfect ironing tool.
All you have to do is make sure the bottom of the pot is nice and clean, boil some water and then pour it out. From there, you use the bottom of the pot in the same way you would use an iron, running it over the wrinkled areas. The steam from the pot will run out, so you have to make sure you are quick to ensure you have enough steam for all the creases.
Without a doubt the strangest suggestion on this list, but bear with us. Try throwing a wrinkled item of clothing in the tumble dryer with a few ice cubes and run on high for a couple of minutes.
As the ice starts to melt it will create steam, this will de-wrinkle your clothes, leaving you with a creaseless shirt. Don’t believe us? Try it yourself.
A clothes steamer is the most effective way to iron clothes – even more so than using a conventional iron. Most retail stores use clothes steamers to remove creases from their clothes as opposed to irons.
The only downside to a clothes steamer is that they don’t come cheap, buying a clothes steamer will cost you considerably more than buying an iron. Also, be careful not to burn yourself on the steam!
The moist towel process is a simple, easy-to-do tip. All you have to do is place your wrinkled garment on a clean surface. Next, put a moist towel flat on top of the garment. Using your hands, press your hands on the towel and smooth out the affected area. It’s as simple as that!
If you are an avid reader of our blog, you will already know that we love vinegar! If not, check out our The Benefits of Adding Vinegar To Your Laundry or How To Remove Stains With Vinegar.
White vinegar works well when trying to eradicate wrinkles from your clothes. All you have to do is mist your clothes with one part vinegar and three parts water. Finish off by leaving the clothes to air-dry for crisp, smart looking clothes.
If after reading this post you still don’t feel confident ironing your clothes without an iron, then maybe it’s time to seek professional help. Laundryheap can collect your clothes in 30 minutes and have them returned to you within 24 hours. All with no delivery fees.
Raise your hand if you want to know how to cut down on ironing…
If you’re someone who despises ironing or has trouble finding the time to iron, here are a few time-saving, quick-tips to help you cut down on ironing.
You can buy a steamer, OR use an iron with one already built in, so if you’re one of the lucky owners, don’t worry about investing.
The blow dryer works the same way as a steamer, except there’s no steam (duh). To get rid of a few wrinkles and creases, just hang the garment up and blow away. As for the hair straightener, let’s just say it’s a portable iron but for smaller, easy to reach areas.
Unless I absolutely HAVE to buy a piece of clothing that needs to be ironed, I tend to look for clothes that are easy to wear and won’t crease so easily.
