A
clothes iron, also called a
flatiron or simply an
iron, is a
small appliance: a handheld piece of equipment with a flat, roughly triangular surface that, when heated, is used to press clothes to remove
creases. It is named for the metal of which the device is commonly made, and the use of it is generally called
ironing. Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in
polymer fiber materials. With the heat and the weight of the ironing plate, the fibers are stretched and the fabric maintains its new shape when cool. Some materials, such as cotton, require the use of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds. Many materials developed in the twentieth century are advertised as needing little or no ironing.