How To Iron Curtain Panels

Disclaimer upfront: I am not an ironing expert.  I don’t even like ironing.  But, consistent with my 2012 Home Goal to bring services like dry-cleaning home, we just bought a new iron and ironing board.

I am kind of crushing on my new iron.  It is a Rowenta Professional.  My first though when I saw it at Target, was goodness it is big and heavy.  You see, I have never owned an iron that cost more than $20.  That might have contributed to my dislike for ironing.  The Rowenta was on-sale for $85…yikes, but it was a necessary investment so my husband can launder his shirts at home.  We will save more than double the price of the iron per month in dry-cleaning costs.

Needless to say I was anxious to see how this pricey iron would perform on my no-sew shower curtain curtains.  It worked just fine for the hem tape, but the big test was ironing the curtain panels to perfection.  The awesome power of steam worked wonders on the deepest wrinkles the shower curtain had from lingering in my linen closet for a few months.  My old iron no longer had the ability to produce steam or spray water…it is a wonder it took me this long to replace it.  I used it as an excuse to not iron.

Sorry if this post started to sound like an iron infomercial (it’s not, I am just sharing my own opinions), but now back to how to iron curtain panels:

Ironing Long Curtain Panels:
Use That Curtain Rod to Your Advantage

It is too bad curtains (or shower curtains) don’t come out of the package all ironed and ready to hang. Steamers are great, but many of the home models do not have a long enough hose to reach the top of the curtain panels. So I prefer to use the good old-fashion ironing.

The best way I have found to get curtain panels perfectly ironed and hung is to relocate your ironing board to the window where you want to hang the curtains. I set up my ironing board in the highest position. I start by ironing the top of the panel working my way down. Once the top of the panel hanging over my ironing board touches the floor I take a break from ironing and hang the curtain panel from the curtain rod.

At this point a little more than the top half of the curtain panel is ironed. With the panel hanging from the curtain rod and draped over the ironing board, I continue ironing from the middle of the panel down. When you are done you will have perfectly ironed curtain panels and you’ll be all set up to hem your curtains in place and get that perfect dusting-the-floor-length.

So back to the infomercial…just kidding.  Seriously, though, a good iron or at least one that works properly is helpful in getting perfectly ironed curtain panels.  Oh and my husband has laundered and ironed his shirts twice since we got the new iron…so it has already paid for itself.