First, I suggest you start with a body and you can lay it over the tip of the ironing board similarly to a shirt. Carefully work on the front quarters. To prevent your jacket getting shiny, it pays to have a pressing cloth which could be made of linen, maybe an old t-shirt that you cut and generally want something that has no lint and no fuss. Simply put it between the iron and the garment and pull at the edges so you can see what's going on while you iron.
The next step up from this is to get a Teflon sole because it will prevent the fabric from getting shiny but you can see everything that's going on.
Once you're done with the front quarters, it's time to go to the lapels. Personally I really much prefer to iron lapels on a tailor's hem and a sleeve board because you get that natural rounding that the lapel has on your body. A quality handmade jacket is always identifiable by the lapel roll. Cheap suits or some that were pressed cheaply, have very flat pressed lapel area and you should avoid that at all cost because it makes it look cheap and you don't want that. To increase the lapel roll, you can even iron the lapel in the beginning part from the back which really helps to achieve this beautiful bespoke style roll. Don't iron over the lapel that's folded because otherwise, it's stiff and flat.
Once you're done with that, you could iron the back area of the jacket. That's easily done even on a regular ironing board with a regular iron. Just pay attention to the seams which is the center seam and try to not press hard on them but slightly on the side that way, you won't see the pattern of the seams on the outside of the fabric.
Next up it's time to iron sleeves and that's when a sleeve board comes in really really handy. Rather than ironing two layers of fabric at the same time, I prefer to have one layer of fabric but a sleeve is usually never just straight. There is a slight curve and you want to maintain that curve by ironing in that same fashion. Most sleeve boards I know are straight and so it's a little challenge but you can do it by following the patterns on the jacket sleeve. If there's no pattern, simply take that motion in a slight banana curve. Similar to a shirt sleeve, you simply rotate the sleeve and that way you ensure to have a nice even result without any wrinkles and without any military crease on your sleeve.
Now you can also earn the back area underneath the collar and also the collar itself. it's very difficult or next to impossible to iron a collar on a flat ironing board you need a sleeve board or no tailor's ham so it can roll and drape nicely and just iron little parts of it. If you have patch pockets you can use a sleeve board as well to iron them and then maybe the clapper on top to get a straight edge. At this point, you're basically done with your jacket.
Ideally, you put it on a hanger or even better and manikin so you can really look it over and see any areas that you might have missed but it just got wrinkles while you were ironing other parts. Again take a look at lapels, make sure the roll is there, there is no puckering or any waviness, look at the shoulders, look at the sleeves again, because sometimes you see creases on the inside of the elbow or usually Jackets crease above the bum around the waist level in the back.
Last but not least you may not be happy with the wrinkles in the lining. Now ideally use your iron and hover over it with a steam and pull it at the same time that will likely release most of the wrinkles. If it doesn't you can gently press it or use a steamer that produces even more steam than your regular iron and you should be good to go. Just be careful not to press too hard because otherwise, you may end up with wrinkles on the outside of the jacket which is a lot worse than in the lining.
Today, we discuss how to iron a suit jacket or press a sport coat.
First of all, the easiest way to remove wrinkles from a jacket especially if it's made of wool
is with steam.
The least expensive way is to hang your jacket on a hanger with wide shoulder pads and then
simply hang it in your bathroom, turn on the hot water, let it sit in there so you create
a lot of steam.
A lot of jackets hang there overnight, in the morning, at least the most extreme wrinkles
should have come out.
An even better and faster alternative to the bathroom is to invest in a steamer.
It has the advantage that you can de-wrinkle specific areas such as the sleeve head, sleeve,
or the back and honestly, it works really really well.
First, I suggest you start with the body and you can lay it over the tip of the ironing
board similarly to a shirt.
Carefully work on the front quarters.
To prevent your jacket from getting shiny, it pays to have a pressing cloth which could
be made of linen, maybe an old t-shirt that you cut.
In general, you want something that has no lint and no fuzz.
Simply put it between the iron and the garment and pull at the edges so you can see what's
going on while you iron.
The next step up from this is to get a teflon sole because it will prevent the fabric from
getting shiny but you can see everything that's going on.
Once you're done with the front quarters, it's time to go to lapels.
Personally, I really much prefer to iron lapels on a tailor's hem and the sleeve board because
you get that natural rounding that the lapel has on your body.
A quality handmade jacket is always identifiable by the lapel roll.
Cheap suits or some that were pressed cheaply have a very flat pressed lapel area and you
should avoid that at all cost because it makes it look cheap and you don't want that.
To increase the lapel roll, you can even iron the lapel at the beginning part from the back
which really helps to achieve this beautiful spoke style roll.
Don't iron over the lapel line that's folded because otherwise, it's stiff and flat.
Once you're done with that, you can iron the back area of the jacket.
That's easily done even on a regular ironing board with a regular iron.
Just pay attention to the seams which is the center seam and try to not press hard on them
but slightly on the side, that way, you won't see the pattern of the seams on the outside
of the fabric.
It's especially important with thinner, more flimsy fabrics.
The same is true when ironing, for example, the corners of your back beds.
If you want a crisp result, you can use a clapper to get that nice crease.
Next up, it's time to iron sleeves and that's when a sleeve board comes in really really
handy.
Rather than ironing two layers of fabric at the same time, I prefer to have one layer
of fabric but a sleeve is usually never just straight.
It always has a slight curve and you want to maintain that curve by ironing in that
same fashion.
Most sleeve boards I know are straight and so it's a little challenge but you can do
it by following the patterns on the jacket sleeve.
If there's no pattern, simply take that motion in a slight banana curve.
Similarly to a shirt sleeve, you simply rotate the sleeve and that way, you ensure to have
a nice even result without any wrinkles and without any military crease on your sleeve.
Stay clear of the sleeve head which is better ironed using a tailor's hammer.
You can really prop it in there, try to adjust it, pull things flat, ideally over the sleeve
board because that way, it drapes more easily, nothing is in your way, and you can just focus
on ironing.
It's a lot easier that way.
Use steam, gentle motions, and don't press too hard on it so you remove all the wrinkles.
When you're done with that, slightly adjust the tailor's ham so you can iron the front
part of the chest as well as the back.
Again, think of the jackets when it's worn.
From the top here, you want to go and iron in lines down and keep that same shape, same
in the back.
You have that center seam and so you go into shape, it drapes over the body.
Gently use steam.
Now you can also iron the back area, underneath the collar, and also the collar itself.
It's very difficult and next to impossible to iron a collar on a flat ironing board.
You need the sleeve board and the tailor's ham so it can roll and drape nicely and just
iron little parts of it.
If you have patch pockets, you can use a sleeve board as well to iron them and then maybe
the clapper on top to get a straight edge.
At this point, you're basically done with your jacket.
Ideally, you put it in a hanger or even better, a mannequin so you can really look it over
and see any areas that you might have missed but it just got wrinkled while you were ironing
other parts.
Again, take a look at the lapels, make sure the roll is there, there is no puckering or
any waviness.
Look at the shoulders, look at the sleeves again because sometimes you see creases on
the inside of the elbow or usually jackets crease above the bum around the waist level
in the back.
Last but not the least, you may not be happy with the wrinkles in the lining.
Now ideally, use your iron and hopper over it with the steam and pull it at the same
time that will likely release most of the wrinkles.
If it doesn't, you can gently press it or use a steamer that produces even more steam
than your regular iron and you should be good to go.
Just be careful not to press too hard because otherwise, you may end up with wrinkles on
the outside of the jacket which is a lot worse than in the lining.
Alright, now you know how to iron a jacket at home.
If you haven't already done so, please check out part 1, 2, and 3 of this ironing series
where we talk about the equipment, how to iron dress shirts, and how to iron dress pants.
