Before taking your clothes and linens to the nearest commercial laundry services shop in Singapore, make sure to be clear with your clothes care instructions. Laundry services provide machine washing and dry cleaning services, as well as ironing and steaming services. Just make sure to provide clear instructions to ensure perfect condition of your clothes and linens.

Choosing Between Ironing and Steaming
If you’re trying to iron your clothes yourself, it will take some practice. Fortunately, irons have instructions on them for the best temperature setting for specific fabrics, but you should still follow the care labels on the items themselves to avoid damaging the material. All the natural fibers will shrink when exposed to heat, so use the lowest heat setting as much as possible. Ironing is good for uniform laundry and clothing that need creases.

The good news is: most laundry and reliable dry cleaning services in Singapore will already include ironing and folding in the package.

Before ironing your clothes, however, make sure to spray cool water on the surface to smooth out the creases and to iron only on the wrong side to minimize the damage. A steamer on the other hand are ideal for polyester, satin, silk, and jersey fabrics because these are prone to burning and shrinking when they come in contact with heat directly. The steamer will not touch the garment itself, but a jet of steam is released as it is held a few inches away from the clothing. Steamers can be used to smooth out ruffles, sleeves, pleats, delicate fabrics, screen-printed clothes, and expensive suits.

To avoid damaging your items, steam or iron your clothes using the following general rules:

• Iron or steam on the wrong side only.
• When ironing completely dry clothes, spray water lightly, because the moisture will help smooth out the wrinkles.
• Iron or steam when the fabric is still damp. Never dry the items completely before pressing or ironing.
• Iron or steam in a lengthwise direction to avoid stretching the fabric
• Pile fabrics such as corduroy and velvet, and dark fabrics such as acetates, silk, linen, and rayon should be ironed on the wrong side because they have textures.
• Most clothing from dry cleaning shops will not need ironing or pressing unless the natural creases are lost.

• Start with the sleeves and do the collars last when ironing or steaming shirts.
• When ironing or steaming pants, look for the main crease by matching the seams on the legs.
• When ironing or steaming skirts, always start at the top; but for flounced skirts, begin at the bottom by ironing or pressing each flounce first.
• Avoid further heat exposure on items already washed in hot water, even laundry for spa items.
• The spray starch is sometimes used by commercial laundry services if you give them specific instructions for ironing your dress shirt. The starch will create a crisp look to the item, but the laundry service staff will also remind you that using it frequently can cause flaking.