How To Apply Your Iron On Patches

Do you need some information about how best to iron patches on to your clothing? It's easy to do, but with our hints and tips you can get the best from your new patches!

First, select the patch you want to iron on and the garment you'd like to attach it to. If you don't have a patch yet, check out our patch section. 

Position your patch carefully where you want it to go on your garment and lay it flat on the ironing board - sometimes your item of clothing may need a quick iron to make the surface you're attaching the patch to as flat as possible. For this tutorial, I put my patch on the back pocket of my dungaree shorts, but it can go wherever you want! However, to extend the life of your patch I would recommend avoiding garment seams and if your item of clothing does not lay flat, e.g. a snapback cap, then you might want to consider sewing it on instead.

Make sure you choose an item of clothing that you can iron. Check the washing instructions carefully to avoid burning your clothes and use the maximum heat setting possible for your garment. Remember to turn off the steam setting if you have one.

Once you are happy with the position of your patch cover it with a clean tea towel or pillow case.

When your iron has heated up, iron over the tea towel and patch for 30-40 seconds.

Remove the tea towel and turn your garment inside out so the patch is face down on the ironing board.

Iron the underside of the patch for a further 30-40 seconds.

Hurrah! You've ironed on your patch! If you need to wash your garment, turn it inside out if possible and wash it on a gentle setting. To further secure your patches you can sew round the edges: for merrowed edged patches, the iron on backing doesn't extend to the very edge of the patch so this will help them lie at flat as possible.

Now that you've ironed on one patch, there's no need to stop there! I recommend ironing on one patch at a time to make sure you get the best positioning (they're hard to move once they're stuck on) and when you're ironing on another patch, make sure to cover all your patches with the tea towel so they don't burn.

Happy patching! If you've caught the patch bug, why not have a look at our patch collection?