Ironing Linen, or Deciding Not To

CARE GUIDE

Clothes on a hanger in a bright bathroom, where shower steam relaxes linen creases

A few minutes of steam does more for linen than most people expect.

Linen creases. That part is settled. The real decision every time you take a shirt or a pair of wide-leg pants out of the closet is how much of that crease you want to keep, and the answer changes with the day ahead.

Start With Where You Are Going

A morning at the farmers market and an afternoon on a porch call for soft, rumpled linen, and pressing it would almost look out of place. A dinner, an office, or a wedding where you will be photographed calls for a cleaner line. Decide first, then reach for the iron or skip it.

Leave It Relaxed

If you are keeping the creases, take the piece out of the dryer or off the line while it is still faintly damp. Give it two sharp shakes, smooth the collar and placket with your hands, and hang it. The weight of the damp cloth pulls most of the deep folds out on their own, and what stays looks lived-in rather than slept-in.

Steam It Halfway

For something between rumpled and pressed, hang the piece in the bathroom while you shower. Ten minutes in the steam loosens the creases, and a gentle tug on the hem and the cuffs finishes the job. A handheld steamer does the same thing faster. Work from the top down and keep the head an inch or so from the cloth.

Press Only What Shows

You rarely need to iron a whole linen shirt. Press the collar, the placket and the cuffs, the parts people actually look at, and let the body stay soft. On wide-leg pants, press the waistband and the front of each leg from the hip down. Everything else will crease again within the hour anyway.

When You Do Iron

  • Iron while the linen is still damp, or mist it with water first. Dry linen fights back.
  • Use the linen or highest setting your iron offers, and turn dark colors inside out to avoid shine.
  • Move the iron along the grain of the cloth instead of in circles, which stretches the weave.
  • Hang the piece right away so it cools in shape rather than folding new creases into a warm garment.

Store It So You Iron Less

Linen kept on a hanger with a little room on either side needs far less attention than linen folded into a packed drawer. Pants hang well folded over the bar of a hanger along the leg, and a shirt holds its collar shape longer with the top button done up. If you are building a closet around linen, our About Us page explains how we choose pieces that work through more than one season.

Thank you for shopping with us, and for letting good linen into more of your year.