Before washing pleated clothes, turn them inside out; set your washing machine to its 'delicates' cycle.
To drip-dry a garment quickly, roll it up lengthwise in a towel and squeeze out the excess water from one end to the other; then hang to dry.
Ironing
To hold pleats in place while ironing them, pin the tops and the bottoms of the pleats to the ironing board. Do not iron over the pins.
For sharp creases, turn pleated garments inside-out and iron them from top to bottom over a damp cloth. For longer-lasting pleats, lightly spray the edges with starch before ironing.
To prevent pleats underneath from marking the fabric on top, insert strips of brown paper and fasten them under the folds with paper clips. Make sure you do not snag the fabric.
Iron pleats in delicate fabrics through a double thickness pressing cloth.
In an emergency, you can press pleats by keeping the garment under your mattress overnight. (Remember that the sides of the garment will also be creased.)
To pleat curtains without ironing them, fold them while they're wet and hang them from trouser hangers.
