My Mom's Ironing Technique

[fmdog44]

I have to laugh as she had this large glass bottle with a corked top attached to a thin steel bulb. She or my dad punched holes in it to allow the water to leave. It looked like the bottle weighed 10 lbs. as she shook it to sprinkle water on whatever she was ironing. I never understood her ironing our sheets but that may have been the thing to do back then. I recall seeing her nap very rarely during the day and she had a large house and lot to car for.

 

[Treacle]

My grandmother used to put a flat iron on the coal fire to warm up and then iron and repeat the process. No electric irons then. Sheets, clothes etc were great. Can't say the same for modern irons!!!! Maybe I've just bought the wrong one

 

[peramangkelder]

Mum would sprinkle water on the creased clothes and then roll them so the dampness went right into all the creases
The bottle had a metal cap not unlike a spray nozzle for a garden hose and you would fill the bottle with water and away you go
Mum used an electric dry iron....no steam irons in the 1950's....not in Australia anyway

 

[Aunt Bea]

We had one of these stuffed into an old soda bottle.

 

[Keesha]

I had a friend from Edinburgh who used to iron her bed sheets. Not something I’ve ever done in my life.
Even when I put bedsheets on the line I don’t iron them. I’ll stick them in the dryer for a few minutes.

 

[Pinky]

We had one of these stuffed into an old soda bottle.

View attachment 110782

That's exactly what Mom had! The iron had to be heated on the stove .. hot work in summer.

 

[jujube]

My mom would iron the pillowcases but not the sheets. Too many beds in the house to do that! Ironing the pillowcases became my job eventually; that and anything else that was totally flat.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I remember those sprinkle bottles well.

Bedding was never ironed in the home, as there was 5 of us kids, however, between everything else, I honestly don't know how my mom managed as well as she did, though she went from morning until night, and even when she was stricken with a cold bug or the flu, mom pressed on and never complained, which will forever earn my respect for her as to how resilient she was and dedicated to ensuring the family's needs came first and were always taken care of, right down to the last detail.

Mom sugar-starched all of her doilies and tablecloths (the crocheted kind), and I remember her iron had no steam feature. Just a plain old-fashioned iron with no frills.

 

[Ceege]

If it was washed, it was ironed. My mom even ironed cleaning cloths. Also socks and underwear. Sheets, too.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Regarding ironing bedding and such, I believe such is a throwback to the old days when hand-washing was the way, and certain things didn't come out as clean and sanitized as they do today when laundered in a modern washing machine, so ironing worked as an additional method of killing any residual bacteria, etc, left behind in the washing, and/or to provide a sense that whatever was ironed was absolutely pure and clean.

At least that's my take on it anyway.

 

[JaniceM]

If it was washed, it was ironed. My mom even ironed cleaning cloths. Also socks and underwear. Sheets, too.

I remember all that, too.
Even as a child, I thought ironing underwear and dustcloths was kind of excessive.

 

[Treacle]

My grandmother ironed everything, socks, underwear, hankies, towels, dusters, sheets (no duvets then). She had a twin tub washing machine and would only wash on a Monday never Sunday (sacrilege). Used a blue sachet for the whites, and they really did come out white, but the ironing was unbelievable with all us kids. It seemed to me that my grandmother had adopted the adage : 'a thing worth doing is worth doing well' or it could be that in those days her role was cooking, cleaning, domestic duties all learned from previous generations and my grandfather was considered the breadwinner. Can still see the piles of ironing. Oh just remembered we didn't have tumble dryers then and also the fibres of the clothes were different then eg more cotton than polyester, so perhaps more had to be ironed. Just a thought

 

[Aunt Marg]

If it was washed, it was ironed. My mom even ironed cleaning cloths. Also socks and underwear. Sheets, too.

Had an aunt that used to iron diapers until my mom set her straight. Everything would be soaked when my cousins would wet. I was changing crib sheets and pyjama bottoms constantly, because ironing the diapers flattened the nap, decreasing the absorbency.

 

[Aunt Marg]

My grandmother ironed everything, socks, underwear, hankies, towels, dusters, sheets (no duvets then). She had a twin tub washing machine and would only wash on a Monday never Sunday (sacrilege). Used a blue sachet for the whites, and they really did come out white, but the ironing was unbelievable with all us kids. It seemed to me that my grandmother had adopted the adage : 'a thing worth doing is worth doing well' or it could be that in those days her role was cooking, cleaning, domestic duties all learned from previous generations and my grandfather was considered the breadwinner. Can still see the piles of ironing. Oh just remembered we didn't have tumble dryers then and also the fibres of the clothes were different then eg more cotton than polyester, so perhaps more had to be ironed. Just a thought

Yes, the blue sachets!