Eliminate Ironing Woes on Your Trip by Packing Smart Clothing Choices

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Nothing says “drudgery” like ironing your clothes in a hotel room. There you are, in a confined and unfamiliar space, facing a pile of nice slacks and button-down shirts. The board is clumsy and annoying to set up, and each iron is a little different from all the others. You pour the water, heat it up, and drag it across your fabrics. This is the plight of so many clotheshorses and business travelers, who are compelled — or even required — to look nice on the road. Meanwhile, most of us are lucky to even find a handy washing machine, much less flatten the wrinkles in our clothes.

Complementary irons have gotten less and less use in recent decades. In part, this is because ironing in general has declined. We no longer live in the “Mad Men” days, when ordinary people wore suits and dresses wherever they went. Media have often declared the “death of ironing,” especially among U.S. millennials and younger generations, and one survey reported that only about half of respondents iron at all. Many of us wouldn’t even know how to fill an iron with water or press it into fabric without burning a hole through it. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of “steamers” on the market, like this HiLIFE Steamer for Clothes, which require no board and are (literally) handy for small batches of laundry.which require no board and are (literally) handy for small batches of laundry.

But there’s another reason ironing is no longer necessary: wrinkle-resistant garments. An entire genre of fashion revolves around crease-free textiles, and they were essentially designed for people on the move. If you’re already carefully selecting your clothes for, say, a carry-on only vacation in Europe, you’ll thank yourself for avoiding irons altogether.

Before you depart, consider buying clothes that are created to stay smooth while you’re globetrotting. Search the Internet for “wrinkle-resistant travel clothes” and you’ll get thousands of hits, much of it under the “shopping” tab. Entire forums are dedicated to keeping vestments un-rumpled, and to the many labels that specialize in these magical results. They go by many names, from “minimum-care” to “crease-resistant,” but whatever their preferred nomenclature, they’re easy to find. Note that wrinkle-resistant fabrics tend to be a little pricier, but you’ll save lots of time and energy when your’e traveling.

If you don’t have the budget for all this specialized attire, there are other options as well: Many materials just don’t wrinkle that much, especially if you pack them carefully; wool (and synthetic wool) can wrinkle, but it’s much less susceptible than, say, cotton and silk. As a rule, nylon and polyester are very resistant to wrinkles, although those tiny little folds can still appear, depending on how you use and wash them.

There are other strategies available to you, as well. For cold-weather travelers, sweaters can cover up crinkled shirts, as long as you collar looks crisp and your sleeves aren’t exposed. Wrinkles are typically less obvious in patterned or textured clothing, and scarves and shawls can distract from furrowed fabric. For formalwear, many travelers use packing cubes or dry-cleaning bags to retain crispness; if you’re careful, you can roll up your clothes, which should cut down on creases while in transit. There are even ways to pack a dress so it stays wrinkle-free during travel, regardless of material.