How to Get Creases Out of a Shirt Fast (When You Are Already Late)

It is ten minutes before you need to leave, and the only clean shirt is creased. You do not need a perfect press, just a shirt that looks presentable. These quick fixes work in a few minutes, starting with the fastest.

First: focus on what people see

Under a jacket or a jumper, only the collar, the cuffs and the front of the shirt are visible. Do not waste time on the back or the sleeves if you are covering them up. Fix the collar and the front placket first.

Fix 1: mist and tug (two minutes)

Put the shirt on a hanger. Mist the creased areas lightly with water using a bottle that gives a fine spray, then pull the fabric gently taut with both hands, working down the front and along the sleeves. Hang it somewhere warm while you finish getting ready. Light creases relax as the fabric dries.

Fix 2: the hair dryer (three to five minutes)

Mist the crease lightly, then blow warm air over it from about ten centimetres away while pulling the fabric taut. Keep the dryer moving so you do not overheat one spot. This works well on a collar or a placket.

Fix 3: the shower steam (ten minutes)

If you are showering anyway, hang the shirt in the bathroom away from the water and close the door. The steam relaxes light creases while you get ready. Give it a firm shake afterwards.

Fix 4: a flat iron or straighteners on the collar

In a real emergency, a clean hair straightener on a low setting can press a collar or the edge of a cuff. Make sure the plates are completely clean, and test on the inside of the collar first.

Make sure it never happens again

Morning creases are almost always caused the night before, or the day the shirt was washed. A shirt that dries crumpled sets those creases into the fabric. Two habits stop it:

• Dry shirts smooth instead of letting them dry in a heap. Our guide on drying shirts without creases explains how.
• Get the week's shirts ready in one go, so the morning is never the moment you discover a problem.

The easiest way to do both is an automatic ironing machine. You put the shirt on damp after the wash, and it dries and irons it in around 8 to 12 minutes while you do something else. One customer described exactly the morning routine it makes possible:

"I simply turn it on before I jump in the shower, and by the time I'm out, my shirt is perfectly pressed."

More quick methods are in our guide to ironing a shirt without an iron.