The Simple Hack For Unwrinkling Your Clothes If Your Hotel Room Doesn't Have An Iron

Imagine you're traveling to a big event like a work convention, a wedding, or a family reunion. You pack your fancier clothing. But when you get to the hotel and unpack, you find that your nice outfit is full of wrinkles from sitting in your suitcase for hours. And what's worse — your hotel doesn't have an iron! If you're someone who travels to luxury hotels or a family home, you may have access to an iron. But not all places have one, and not all clothes can be ironed.

Luckily, we've got a tried-and-true unwrinkling hack for you — one that's easy to pull off, completely free, and actually tied to something you already do: shower. That's right, the steam from your shower doesn't just open your pores, it can also help tackle wrinkles. So grab your best clothes, throw them around, and let's get rid of some wrinkles.

You may know this one, but the best way to get wrinkles out of clothing without an iron (and this works at home as well) is to hang them in the shower while you wash. The steam from the hot water can loosen wrinkles, and a little tug on the garment after its been steamed should work on all but the worst creases. You don't even have to be in the shower yourself. You can simply turn up the water as hot as it will go and hang the item in the bathroom with the door closed, though that's not exactly the most environmentally friendly way to do things. 

You should steam your clothing this way for about ten minutes. You can hang the item at the far end of the shower in between the shower curtain and the liner, though be careful about splashing it with soap or water droplets. When you're done showering, leave your garment in the bathroom and close the door behind you while you dry off for extra steam time. Another great tip is to turn off the extractor fan in the bathroom so more steam builds up. 

What if you're low on time or have already showered? There are a few other ideas to solve your wrinkle problem. You can spritz your wrinkled clothing with water and use a hair dryer (already in most hotel rooms) to steam out the wrinkles. This works best on smaller areas, and you should make sure to keep the dryer far enough away that you don't scorch your clothing. There are also anti-wrinkle sprays on the market. If you're packing a garment that might wrinkle easily, use either a plastic dry cleaning bag or tissue paper to fold it, which will help prevent wrinkles in the first place. 

If you happen to be staying in a hotel room with a small kitchen, you can heat up a pot of water on the stove and use it to press out wrinkles like a makeshift iron. (Note: Test on a small piece of the fabric first, like inside one of the seams, to make sure it doesn't cause damage.) If you packed a straightening iron for your hair, you could use that on collars and cuffs. Even holding it close to (but not directly on) other wrinkles might help. Finally, try to stick with synthetic or blended fabrics that are less likely to wrinkle in the first place, like polyester or a cotton-poly blend.