Your Iron May Have A Little-Known Feature That's A Game-Changer For Your Clothes

Whether you're removing wrinkles from your dress shirts or trying to get creases out of a tablecloth, your iron is there to get the job done, and it may have a feature that can make this chore even easier. Button grooves are often overlooked or entirely unnoticed on irons, but they'll help you navigate around buttons and snaps without fear. Some irons have a small notch or groove that goes around the plate, creating some separation between it and the rest of the machine. The gap provides room for you to maneuver the hot part of the iron under buttons without singeing them, taking your ironing routine to the next level.

Though these grooves on clothes irons are nothing new, it seems a lot of people never realized they were there. On a Reddit poll posted by Good Housekeeping, 22 out of 36 respondents had no idea that irons have a groove. Not every iron will have this nifty feature, but many brands carry steam irons with button grooves. If you're sick of ruining your buttons and having to clean melted plastic off your steam iron, using the button groove will be a game-changer in your laundry practices.

While there are tricks to make a shirt look starched without using an iron, a good steam and press is typically the surest route to a crisp, unwrinkled garment, and a button groove can play a key role in preventing damage. The groove isn't essential for ironing every piece of clothing, but it'll make a huge difference when working on dress shirts or other items with buttons or snaps. As you iron a button-down shirt, move the tip of the iron beside and around the buttons, so that they slip into the groove between the soleplate and the machine's housing. This keeps you from accidentally moving the hot portion over the buttons and lets you access every bit of fabric. Even when you're working quickly, keeping the iron flat and maneuvering the tip of it between the buttons should allow them to be protected by the groove.

While some people iron the backside of their garments to avoid button damage, the button groove on a steam iron could be worthwhile for other uses. Some people use it to help steam the collars of shirts. By slipping the collar into the groove and activating the steam function on the iron, you may be able to easily get out creases without having to unfold the collar and press down with your iron. Now, you can easily remove wrinkles from those tricky areas on your clothes while preventing yourself from accidentally melting any fasteners.