Time to get the wrinkles out... let's talk ironing

A

Aunt Marg

SF VIP
Remember when ironing was part & parcel to all homemakers daily and weekly schedule?

When I was a young child my mom was forever ironing, and aside from ironing/pressing things like shirts, pants, tops and such, she used to sugar-starch and press her crocheted doilies.

To this day I loathe a crease running down the front of my pant-legs, because that's how my pants always were as a child growing up.

Nonetheless, I still iron regularly and actually enjoy it, and when it comes to items such as my husbands sports shirts, nothing looks snappier to me than a freshly pressed shirt, done proper.

Anyone else still iron regularly?
 

Yes indeed I do and a good iron and ironing board make a big difference.
Most of my cloths do not require ironing, but for those that do I break out the ironing board.
I find it to be a bit relaxing for some unknown reason. Rock music and a glass of wine also come into play.
 
Pecos said:
Yes indeed I do and a good iron and ironing board make a big difference.
Most of my cloths do not require ironing, but for those that do I break out the ironing board.
I find it to be a bit relaxing for some unknown reason. Rock music and a glass of wine also come into play.
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I couldn't agree more about having a quality iron and board at ones disposal to not only add to the ease of the chore, but having a quality iron makes for a better end result.

Relaxing? I'm totally with you, Pecos! :)

LOL, about the music and wine! I love it! Myself, on the other hand, I like peace and quiet when I iron, and aside from the sort of meditative experience ironing provides me, nothing beats the fresh heavenly scent in the air after I'm done! So homey and inviting.
 

Camper6 said:
I occasionally iron and I have three steam irons and none of them are any good.
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My original iron had no steam feature, just a plain old-fashioned iron which served me well for the better part of 35 years, however, when it moved on to iron heaven, I replaced with an iron with a steam feature, and all sort of hear settings, and so far so good, I've been thrilled with it.

Camper. What part about your steam irons are you unhappy with?
 
Haha j/k. I do still iron but very rarely. In fact,we have lived here since August and I have yet to bring my ironing board from the storage room. Guess I haven`t gone anywhere where I needed to iron my clothes. I usually only iron dress clothes. My mom ironed everything-even bras and pajamas Sheets as well. Guess those things all needed it back then. She would pay us to do it a lot too.
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
Haha j/k. I do still iron but very rarely. In fact,we have lived here since August and I have yet to bring my ironing board from the storage room. Guess I haven`t gone anywhere where I needed to iron my clothes. I usually only iron dress clothes. My mom ironed everything-even bras and pajamas Sheets as well. Guess those things all needed it back then. She would pay us to do it a lot too.
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How I remember the days when pretty much everything was ironed, though my mom never went as far as to iron bedding, but I had a great aunt that did.

I sometimes wonder if a lot of homemakers from back in the day ironed pillowcases and sheets and things, not so much for the esthetic value, but rather, to sanitize things further, seeing how the clothes washing process wasn't as efficient as it is today?

I remember being around the age of 9, when I started learning and helping my mom with ironing, and back then I hated it. LOL!
 
Aunt Marg said:
How I remember the days when pretty much everything was ironed, though my mom never went as far as to iron bedding, but I had a great aunt that did.

I sometimes wonder if a lot of homemakers from back in the day ironed pillowcases and sheets and things, not so much for the esthetic value, but rather, to sanitize things further, seeing how the clothes washing process wasn't as efficient as it is today?

I remember being around the age of 9, when I started learning and helping my mom with ironing, and back then I hated it. LOL!
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I grew up in the 50s-60s. We always had an automatic washing machine and dryer,so I don`t think it was a matter of sanitation. It was more a matter of my mom liking things to look nice. So she ironed all of our clothing (4 girls,1 boy,so lots of dresses)my dad` jeans were always on those pants stretcher thingies,hanging on the clotheline in the garage. When they were dry,she ironed them too. Like I said,all sheets and pajamas and even bras. We had a summer cabin as well,that we used year `round,so all the sheets from there were ironed as well. Almost always had visitors there,so lots and lots of sheets. My mom worked full time as well. Gosh-no wonder she was tired all the time!
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
I grew up in the 50s-60s. We always had an automatic washing machine and dryer,so I don`t think it was a matter of sanitation. It was more a matter of my mom liking things to look nice. So she ironed all of our clothing (4 girls,1 boy,so lots of dresses)my dad` jeans were always on those pants stretcher thingies,hanging on the clotheline in the garage. When they were dry,she ironed them too. Like I said,all sheets and pajamas and even bras. We had a summer cabin as well,that we used year `round,so all the sheets from there were ironed as well. Almost always had visitors there,so lots and lots of sheets. My mom worked full time as well. Gosh-no wonder she was tired all the time!
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There sure is no taking away from the dedication homemakers had back in the day. Yes, I remember those pants-stretchers! Thanks for the memory! :)

Boy, was my mom ever behind the times (not her doing though, we were poor), but we never seen an automatic washing machine in our house until around 1970, not saying that's why my mom ironed most everything.

I can't help but think about how busy typical homemakers were in the past, their days filled to the brim with all things home, and I don't ever remember hearing anyone complain, not ever. It was just the way... men worked outside the home, and women tended to the home, and all the women I knew who were at home fulltime, took their job as homemakers seriously, hence you own mom ironing and pressing everything.
 
Lizzie00 said:
I’m partial to 100% cotton shirts here in the South & most of mine need to be ironed after laundering. But it’s a quick and easy chore with a proper iron and SO worth the tradeoff of cotton comfort.

I’ll update this after i get a life...lol
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I second that! A quality iron truly does make for quick and easy pressing!

100% cotton in our house, too! And boy, it's becoming not such an easy thing to find anymore, at least not like it used to be.
 
I gave up ironing years ago. After years of ironing military fatigues, I said "enough!" I do not buy anything that will require ironing. If it needs ironing, I don't need it. No exceptions.

If I ever took up sewing again, I would press seams, etc., but that is the extent to which I will ever iron again.

I HATE ironing, and the remainder of life is too short to do things I HATE!
 
When Dave was still working, he had a few shirts that required ironing, which I usually did in the evenings, while watching TV. He would tell me a story, as I laboriously pressed HIS clothing, about some woman who ironed for his mother, and how speedy she was. According to him, she could iron a shirt perfectly in two minutes or less. I told him that was BS, but he repeated the story a couple times. I finally told him if he told me that crap story one more time, I'd hit him with the iron. And I meant it and he knew it. I think that story made me almost as mad as I've ever been with him. When he retired, I told him the iron was retired as well. He can either iron his own shirts, or go wrinkled. Or buy permanent press. His choice. Let me just say that the iron remained untouched until this mask making thing.
 
Outside of a little bit of ironing I had to do as a kid, my first *serious* ironing was done on my late husband's fatigues and khakis. With a can of spray starch (I went through that stuff faster than hairspray) and an old non-steam iron in the other, I attacked those things like the First Army heading into battle. It wasn't just getting them ironed nicely, it was also that the crease had to be EXACTLY in the right place and I do mean EXACTLY. The pants crease had to line up exactly with the center of the boot or low-quarter laces and could go no further than one inch into the pocket. Creases on sleeves had to go through patches at EXACTLY the right place (i.e., the third feather on the eagle's wing and just to the right of the arrowhead and just skimming the …………..)

After that, I vowed NEVER AGAIN and the polyester-wrinkle-free era began when all you had to do was get the darn things out of the dryer promptly and besides, we were all free spirits and a little wrinkles never hurt anyone....right?

Now that I'm an old lady, I figure that any wrinkles on my clothes draw attention from the wrinkles on my face. Win-win!
 
Knight said:
When ironing is needed the steam iron gets distilled water because tap water is hard leaving calcium deposits. ruined clothes until that was resolved.
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Gosh, and here the new iron I bought warns against using anything other than free-running tap water. Go figure...
 
Butterfly said:
I gave up ironing years ago. After years of ironing military fatigues, I said "enough!" I do not buy anything that will require ironing. If it needs ironing, I don't need it. No exceptions.

If I ever took up sewing again, I would press seams, etc., but that is the extent to which I will ever iron again.

I HATE ironing, and the remainder of life is too short to do things I HATE!
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The two camps have always run strong on the issue, with the for camp - the camp I belong to, being perfectly at home with ironing and more than happy to do it, while the other camp - the loathe camp, vehemently against it.

I can totally understand your stance on the matter, Butterfly. :)
 
CarolfromTX said:
When Dave was still working, he had a few shirts that required ironing, which I usually did in the evenings, while watching TV. He would tell me a story, as I laboriously pressed HIS clothing, about some woman who ironed for his mother, and how speedy she was. According to him, she could iron a shirt perfectly in two minutes or less. I told him that was BS, but he repeated the story a couple times. I finally told him if he told me that crap story one more time, I'd hit him with the iron. And I meant it and he knew it. I think that story made me almost as mad as I've ever been with him. When he retired, I told him the iron was retired as well. He can either iron his own shirts, or go wrinkled. Or buy permanent press. His choice. Let me just say that the iron remained untouched until this mask making thing.
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ROFLMAO!

I'm with you on the time-frame deal, Carol, two minutes or less, I say pooh-pooh! :giggle:
 
jujube said:
Outside of a little bit of ironing I had to do as a kid, my first *serious* ironing was done on my late husband's fatigues and khakis. With a can of spray starch (I went through that stuff faster than hairspray) and an old non-steam iron in the other, I attacked those things like the First Army heading into battle. It wasn't just getting them ironed nicely, it was also that the crease had to be EXACTLY in the right place and I do mean EXACTLY. The pants crease had to line up exactly with the center of the boot or low-quarter laces and could go no further than one inch into the pocket. Creases on sleeves had to go through patches at EXACTLY the right place (i.e., the third feather on the eagle's wing and just to the right of the arrowhead and just skimming the …………..)

After that, I vowed NEVER AGAIN and the polyester-wrinkle-free era began when all you had to do was get the darn things out of the dryer promptly and besides, we were all free spirits and a little wrinkles never hurt anyone....right?

Now that I'm an old lady, I figure that any wrinkles on my clothes draw attention from the wrinkles on my face. Win-win!
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Okay, now that would have taken pretty much all of the fun out of it for me, too! :)

How I remember the old starched collars!
 
C'est Moi said:
My ironing has been relegated to "touch ups." Like when we have to wear our "Sunday Meetin' Clothes" for a wedding or funeral. Other than that... nope.
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Reserved for only the important things and times... I like it! :)
 

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