Martha Stewart uses a discreet towel trick for perfectly ironed shirts: 'Once you see how important this terry cloth is for ironing, you’ll never iron without one'

'When I was thinking about home-keeping sessions for this show, I thought I would just do a 101 on shirt ironing,' Stewart says at the start of an archival clip. You may wonder what more you can learn about ironing – after all, the process typically involves just an iron and a board, and the rest is fairly self-explanatory. In true Stewart style, however, her method isn't ordinary, and so a 101 is needed. The most significant difference comes in the form of a terry cloth towel.

Stewart says that placing a terry cloth on top of your ironing board is one of the best ways to get wrinkles out of clothes, and it protects your buttons, too. 'The reason I iron on a terry cloth towel is because I find that the padding helps me avoid any additional creasing. The fabric also dries out faster as you iron,' she says. 'Once you see how important this terry cloth is for ironing, you’ll never iron without one. It just helps you get every single mark out of the fabric.'

Though the towel initially blends to the top of her ironing board (making it hard to miss), it's one of the most impactful ways to achieve 'perfectly ironed shirts' every time.

The terry cloth trick is our favorite takeaway from Stewart's ironing 101, but there are more laundry hacks to make the process more successful. Most notably, she explains how the process can begin 24 hours before you set out your ironing board.

'First, you start with a well-laundered and damp fabric shirt. I usually use a spray jar [like this one from Amazon], and then I roll the shirt up in a ball and keep it for up to 24 hours wrapped in a towel. Then it’s ready, nice and damp, to iron. Cotton and linen require that the fabric be almost wet to iron it really perfectly. Then, start with the sleeves,' Stewart demonstrates.

'Start with the inside of the cuff; I’ve already done one of the sleeves. Notice I’m working on the terry cloth-covered ironing board. I have a good, sturdy ironing board and a good heavy iron.'

Whether you're using a terry cloth or not, Stewart says you need to work fast so as not to scorch your fabric. She recommends pressing the iron smoothly but quickly. 'The towel acts as a little cushion for the buttons, too – it enables you to iron the backs of the buttons with the fabric very easily,' she comments.

After finishing, you should hang your shirt immediately on a hanger. 'I only button one button because I hate to wrinkle a shirt when trying to unbutton it,' Steweart adds. 'Then you have the perfectly ironed shirt.'