I was talking to my friend Amberlina the other day. She told me a hilarious story about how she went into her laundry room to iron something and couldn’t find the ironing board on its normal hook on the wall. She went to ask her husband if he’d seen it {because, honestly, who the heck loses an ironing board} when he told he it was hanging where it always was. He walked back with her and showed her the ironing board hanging in a new spot behind the laundry room door. “Well that’s why I couldn’t find it,” she said. “I moved it almost 2 years ago,” he replied.
Clearly Amberlina doesn’t iron. Martha would be appalled! When I asked how she survives, she said a spray bottle and a low heat tumble in the dryer is all it takes for all clothes she doesn’t have dry cleaned. So this post full of ironing tips is for her. Just in case.
- Start with a perfectly flat ironing board by placing your ironing board cover on the board while it’s still damp, and letting it dry in place for a perfect.
- Use aluminum foil under the ironing board cover so you can iron both sides at the same time. The foil reflects the heat and irons the underside while you iron the top.
- Never use tap water. Instead, use distilled water in your iron to keep deposits from clogging it up.
- Iron in batches. It takes awhile to lug out the ironing board and set up the iron. Makes sense to spend 30 minutes and iron a bunch at once, hang ’em up and you’re good to go for awhile!
- Iron everything inside out. This helps prevent a shiny sheen that the irons leaved behind.
- Never never ever iron a dirty article of clothing. If it hasn’t been freshly laundered, all of the dirty soil and ick basically gets baked into it. Yuck!
- Iron in straight strokes, not in a circular motion. It’s easy to accidentally stretch out your clothing by ironing in circles.
- Lay a towel down and place any embroidered or raised designs facing down towards the towel, and then iron as usual.
- Use paper clips to hold pleats firm and in place while you finish your ironing.
- Don’t iron the biggest mass first, instead, iron the smallest part first. So hems, colors arms and cuffs before body.
- Hang up your clothes right after you press them or all that hard work might be for nothing!
And there you go Amberlina {and all of the rest of you novice ironers!}. So now I must know. How often do you iron?!
~Mavis
photo credit
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Liz says
Around once a month. In between, I use wrinkle remover.
I like the look and feel of pressed shirts.
Stacy says
I do get into moods when I iron quite a bit. I recently found a handheld steamer at a thrift store and WOW!…is it ever so much faster and easier to steam an item than to iron it.
I keep the item on the hanger (literally hang it from a cabinet handle) and steam from end to end.
Still occasionally want the iron if it’s for something specific, but, steaming is my new habit.
Delores says
I haven’t ironed in years. I got rid of the ironing board and we have a mat that goes on top of the dryer that we use when we need to. Well, when the kids need to. They are learning how nice it is to just hang something up right away from the dryer instead of let it sit there and then have to iron it before we go to church. 🙂
Shari says
Last time the iron was out was when #2 kid graduated from college and needed his gown ironed. 2012.
Tammy says
When we moved, we bought a used washer/dryer. It cost less to buy used BUT the set was a more expensive set than we would have purchased if we were buying new. It has a wrinkle release setting (steam in the dryer). It is very effective at getting wrinkles out! I do have some clothes that need ironing (my husband’s dress shirts, for instance), but I generally do not have a lot of things to iron. Maybe I’m a dork, but I really enjoy ironing. 😀
That’s hilarious about the moved ironing board!
Barb says
Every day that I wash clothes, I iron them (other than towels, sheets, socks, underwear), I take them out of the dryer after 15-20 minutes and drape them over the ironing board until I get off work, then they get pressed and hung up to finish drying, and the next morning they get put into the closet.
rachel says
My father-in-law wears a dress shirt to work every single day and so he does a massive ironing job every three weeks while watching Netflix. I used to iron every Saturday or Sunday after I washed all my work shirts and pants. Then I became a stay at home mom and haven’t ironed in years. In fact, I totally feel for your friend because I don’t think I know where my husband put our ironing board. If it can’t get wrinkle-free in the dryer, it’s not being brought home from the store!
Marcia says
When I’m making a quilt that requires me to iron the seams, or to press out the fabric before I cut.
Otherwise, never.
Carrie says
I don’t iron but my hubby irons his work pants and shirts. He likes to iron right before he puts on his clothes so he irons 1-2 items every 3-4 days. He doesn’t iron his polos and won’t re-iron pants. We also line dry our clothes so “non iron” shirts still have to be ironed.
Lisa Millar says
Yay – its not just me! I was going to say my Hot Ironing Tip was to marry someone who irons. Problem solved!
My husband irons his work clothes pretty much just before going to work
I don’t go anywhere much that needs me wrinkle free, so I don’t care. I think I possibly iron twice a year 🙂
Tracy says
I don’t love ironing or polishing silver, but I do both, routinely. I love the look of sterling silver items around the house and I love a crisp, ironed shirt and freshly ironed percale sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers. I agree that a steamer is really useful for certain items, but a good heavy iron is indespensible for sheets, tablecloths, napkins, etc. Call me old fashioned!
Mama Cook says
Oh Tracy! I love this!!! My daughter was paid once while being a Nanny to iron the sheets. I thought, “how pretentious!” That is, until I slept on ironed sheets!!!!! Heaven!
Lace Faerie says
When I was in college and didn’t have anyone else to take care of, I would iron my sheets every week after laundering them. Yes, it was worth the effort! Wish I could muster than energy these days.
In high school, I made spending money by laundering and ironing my fathers’ heavily starched dress shirts. He liked them stand up on their own stiff! $1.50/shirt, paid monthly for a few minutes of work once a week was easy money! Especially when he started flying around the states for work, he took 2 shirts per day to always look sharp and un-rumpled.
Beryl says
Well I guess I’m an odd ball…I love to iron, and because I quilt I leave the ironing board up ALL THE TIME!
Julie C says
I do not iron. I gave my iron away a year or so ago, after it sat untouched for probably close to 10 years. I’d say 95% of the clothes we buy and wear are wrinkle free and don’t require ironing. For the remaining 5%, if the dryer, steamy shower or wrinkle releaser doesn’t get it out, I take them to the dry cleaners. I have the dry cleaner put extra starch on them, and as long as they don’t get too dirty, I just spot clean them and hang them in the closet. My boy’s have had dress shirts that stay crisp for a year or two. Granted, they’re probably only worn a handful of times per year, but that’s how we roll.
Karin says
I’m with Amberlina, spray bottle and dryer for all but the most special occasions!
Lindsey says
I haven’t ironed in 34 years, since I married a man who doesn’t mind ironing (or vacuuming!)
Linda Sand says
I sold my iron in 2008. Paraphrasing my sister-in-law, “If it needs ironing it doesn’t belong in this house.”
Ellen in Clackamas says
Unfortunately I do not have a dryer and have very tiny closets (house was built in 1923–they didn’t have as many clothes then!) so even if I hang stuff up right away from the laundramat they still get wrinkled–so I iron every single work morning. I get my coffee and lunch ready while iron is heating up –only takes a couple of minutes. When my Big Dog was alive he knew when he heard the sound of the ironing board coming down it was time to come to kitchen for his daily treat. I miss seeing him waiting there :(.
Teckla says
That’s hilarious about her “losing” her ironing board! I iron very seldom! With wash ‘n wear, knits and the dryer, not much needs it these days. So only once in a blue moon! Or some really special event!
Before I moved this last time I used to leave the board up because I quilt, but no space in this duplex. Currently working on a DIY small ironing table made from a wooden TV tray to use with my craft/travel iron right next to the sewing machine. Thanks for the giggle; made my day!
PeggyK says
I iron lots of things: my husband’s shirt and tshirts, my pjs, tops. Jeans you name it! No longer iron sheets though and never ironed towels. There is something nice about freshly ironed clothes. I leave the ironing board up in the guest room unless we are having company. and I go thru a high-end (and yes I spend a bundle on a high-end iron – probably more on one iron than people spend in an entire lifetime of irons!!) at least every 18 months.
Not sure about the al foil on an ironing board. But in the days of having to dress up for work, paper clips worked to hepl keep pleats ‘pleated’.
Ranee says
I had a friend that “ironed” by laying the pants folded flat under her couch cushions! She did all her husbands dress pants that way. It was a very firm cushioned couch, but it worked! (MN)
kim says
I iron everything. I love that crisp look, so I am weird.
Lauralli says
We iron nearly daily at our house. I hang a lot of our clothes up to dry and then they pretty much have to be ironed–yes, even the kids t-shirts (not undershirts). I’m convinced the dryer kills clothes by making them shrink and look faded out. While I do love ironed sheets, I only do that for company (and just the top part of the sheets after they are already on the bed!) When building our house we made sure to leave ample space in the laundry room to keep the ironing board up all the time. I don’t use a fancy iron but it must put out great steam or I won’t have it! I’ve been looking for a steamer at thrift stores as I think I will like it but there aren’t very many good reviews for them online. I’ll try the foil tip. Also, we use an old pillowcase as our “pressing cloth” to put over screen print to keep from melting it onto the iron.
Pamela says
I’ve ironed nearly everything I wear since high school. No matter what the fabric content. In school I wore a uniform and it needed it. Over the years I have worked jobs that required “dress” clothes and now I wear a uniform. All go out the door ironed! I set it up while watching tv and it goes pretty quickly.
Melissa Diaz says
I’ve lived with my boyfriend for 4 years, and we’ve never had an iron. The steam option on our dryer is as close as we get–in fact, there’s an iron mark on one of my favorite dresses from the one time I used a hotel iron to try to get the wrinkles out of a dress right before attending a wedding–I guess I’ll need lessons when we finally DO get an iron!
Julie says
I don’t iron very often probably the odd linen thing in the summer and a shirt or two of my husbands a year if we go to a wedding or a funeral, been away from home for nearly six months and haven’t ironed one thing. I’m a mean folder so everything is folded straight from the washing line, if it’s likely to need some creases removing I bring it in damp and pop it in the tumble dryer for a couple of minutes or so. Sad to say when my mum was alive she loved ironing and even though I didn’t think they needed it she would come over once a week and iron most things! Those sheets did feel good but they didn’t feel good enough for me to iron them for the past couple of years or so since she’s been gone ☹️
Rebecca in MD says
I iron all of my work outfits, curtains, and tablecloths. We only use tablecloths for special occasion dinners, and the curtains get washed and ironed at least twice a year.
My Mom lived with me for 18 years and used to iron the curtains while I washed the windows. She is gone now, but I think of her and miss her extra when I am ironing my curtains. Working together used to make the process go so much faster, and she enjoyed helping me.
Jennifer says
Not sure about the foil tip. Foil reflects light and radiant heat when it’s surrounded by a layer of air. But in this case, it’s being heated by direct contact with the fabrics, which are in direct contact with the iron. So the foil is being heated by conduction, not by radiation. Metals are usually great conductors, which means that whatever energy that is absorbed readily is also released readily…to whatever is in contact with it. I think the heat that reaches the foil would, in a practical sense, just pass right through the foil. If it significantly relflected heat, you could put foil on your hand and iron the foil without burning your hand. I wouldn’t try it. I have read this tip all over the internet, but science websites don’t seem to support it.
Leslie says
I love ironing! But, ironically, I am not very good at it. I still enjoy it, and I get to do more of it every time I make an inappropriate crease. 🙂
Helen in Meridian says
I have a Rowenta but don’t iron too much. BUT I do hang most clothes direct from 2nd spin, to remove extra water, on my Huggable Hangers and straighten them with finger ironing. I have a Joy Mangano My Little Steamer, sold on HSN.com, Target and now Macy’s on large items like duvets or table cloths that get creases down the folds. Sometimes I use my sis’s iron…a damp wash cloth thrown in the dryer with the item for 5 minutes or less. My dh was raised with his mom’s iron rite. I purchased one at the thrift store and once a year or so he irons the napkins and pillowcases. I find that if I just neatly fold the cloth napkins, and put them partway down the pile of napkins (we use cloth every day), that the pressure irons the napkins perfectly.