Ironing. Everybody knows what it is. Far fewer people know why they're doing it, what actually works, or just how much there is to know about something so ordinary.

The Ironing Book takes an unexpectedly deep look at the everyday business of getting wrinkles out of clothes. From heat, steam and fabric behaviour to shirts, trousers, delicate materials and difficult details, it explains how to iron properly-and why the techniques work.

Along the way, Rowan and Subashni Holmes explore the equipment, mistakes, myths, laundry habits and garment-care decisions that can make ironing easier or considerably worse. There's advice on choosing and maintaining an iron, dealing with scorch marks, shine, leaks and blocked steam holes, understanding care labels and fabrics, and preventing wrinkles before the iron is even switched on.

Practical enough to keep beside the ironing board, but written for anyone curious enough to wonder why humanity has spent centuries pressing clothes flat, this is far more information about ironing than anyone strictly needs-and rather more interesting than it has any right to be.