Friday, May 1, 2009
The ironing pile
Today one of the things on my To Do list was ironing. I usually try to do this weekly, but I have to admit that I haven't ironed since Good Friday. Needless to say, the pile was... huge. I ironed 12 dress/button-down shirts, 4 pairs of pants, and 1 crib skirt. And I only did half of it. There are still 2 skirts, 2 shirts, more pairs of pants, and 1 dress waiting to be ironed-- hopefully tomorrow before the pile grows again!
(Interesting note: only 2 shirts, the skirts, and the dress belong to the girls and I. Everything else belongs to the guys of the family. Hmmm... Who says girls are more high-maintenance???)
I can never decide how to approach ironing. I hate having to iron when I'm already rushed in the morning so I decided quite some time ago to simply do the job weekly, like they used to back in the good old days. The problem with weekly ironing is that it isn't uncommon for Daniel to pull out a shirt that was nicely pressed when I hung it up only for it to have Closet Wrinkles. You know what I'm talking about.
And so I end up touching things up all the time anyway.
What's the secret here? How do you take care of ironing?
(And please don't tell me you "just don't buy things that need to be ironed," because I'll just tell you right now that isn't an option for us. I absolutely love linen and wool and cotton, and Daniel loves his button-downs!)
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Ah, the dreaded ironing pile ! I admit I have started doing it on a need to wear it basis. Ugh. When we lived in Madrid, I had a large enough laundry room that the ironing board was always up and it I actually did the ironing. Now that I have to drag it out, put it up and then iron, well let's just say I don't do keep up with it like I should. I never minded ironing but lately I dread it......too much back pain (wait, there is the perfect excuse for me not ironing) Linda
ReplyDeleteI try to catch things just coming out of the dryer, shake them out and hang them up. They may not be technically perfectly wrinkle-free, but it's usually good enough! I am also EXTREMELY lucky in that when I married Dan, he had already been ironing his police uniforms for a year +, and he has (as more of an ironing perfectionist than I) continued doing his own ironing ever since!
ReplyDeleteI used to swear by Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I used it on all kinds of nice/casual clothing and they were presentable if not nice. Now life is different. I live in a world of crisp creases down the center of pants. Shirt sleeves must have a crease running exactly through the middle of the patch at the top and ending precisely in the middle. Ugh. Oh, and they need to be starched too! I tend to do ironing twice a week now. Saturday is always an ironing day. That way I can do Ryan's uniforms as well as church clothing for the rest of us. I will do another batch at the beginning of the week. Even though I have enough uniforms now to last the week, I find that the amount of ironing is a little daunting, so I like to break it up! Oh, and I still do keep a bottle of Downy in the cabinet. It gets used on my clothes sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI have an ironing lady. I'm not joking. My grandma takes ALL of my ironing each week. And she brings all of it back to me!! Could I be more spoiled? Oh, and she does all my mom's ironing too! I'm just enjoying it as long as I can. And no, I don't feel bad. She loves to do it and I, as a result, get out of my most dreaded "chore".
ReplyDeleteOne of my greatest memories is watching mom iron and teaching us to iron. I am not why this is so but it is! And since it seems to be somewhat of a lost art, I appreciate it all the more!My father is a bit of a stickler when it comes to pressed button down shirts, which he wears daily. Growing up he wore a full suit, tie and all, to work each day. Dress code has changed since then and now tie and coat are not required. A polo will suffice. Mom always ironed everything! We NEVER dropped them off to be ironed. I was very little ironing hankies and cloth napkins. Practice for the real items.All this to say, that when it is such a part of your regular attire I think an ironing day (or two) is required. Mom always had an ironing basket that she kept in the laundry room. She would pull it out a couple of times a week and iron. I don't remember her doing touch ups in the morning unless it was really bad. I know she starches heavy and that helps. The crease is most important! The better the crease the more pressed the items looks so the "closet" wrinkles go more unnoticed. Besides, after sitting down for a mere 5 minutes wrinkles are inevitable!As for us, I iron on demand. We don't have a whole lot that requires ironing. I need to start ironing a few of the boys church clothes but for now just send them on their way, wrinkles and all. This does bother me. I do need to get my own ironing basket started! Happy ironing! Bronwyn is probably alomost old enough to start on those cloth napkins. She will love it and it will be an excuse to get the board and iron out. (which is always the worst part!)
ReplyDeleteI love ironing more than any other household chore.
ReplyDeleteIn college, I spent Friday and Saturday nights in the student lounge ironing shirts and jeans for ppl who were headed out to party. They would just keep coming and coming with their wrinkly stuff and can of preferred starch. I felt like with the disappearance of each wrinkle I was ridding the world of all it's problems. It was therapy.
*sigh
Now I hardly ever get to iron. Eric insists on ironing his own stuff and the kids have limited things that require pressing.
If I had a lot, though, I would have an ironing night once each week. I would set up the board where I could see the tv and pop in an old Turner Classic movie. And I would enjoy this time more than anything! Am I weird?
You may just have to let go of the 'closet wrinkles' or find a way to cut back on those. I know my m-i-l reserves one bar in a guest-room closet where she hangs ONLY ironed button-downs. They never touch, thus- less 'closet-wrinkles'.
None of this helps, I'm sure- but it was fun to reflect!
Closet wrinkles come from clothes crammed into closets. And, I do have to say I look for shirts with a non-wrinkle finish, which includes the button-downs that are Bob's favorites. When we were first married he told me not to buy clothes that needed ironing because I had better things to do with my time. I must say I took him up on that advice! They do make cottons these days that have a pretty much wrinkle-free finish. Ironing around here is on a need basis. However, if you do like linens there is no way to get out of the job!
ReplyDelete@MrsNelsonAndMamma2 - What fun memories!Yes, I do find ironing pleasant in its own way. That said, I do not like working for an hour at something, only to have to do it again a couple days later! Maybe I'll have to figure out a way to make my own starch-- that way I can keep things ironed well and still make sure only natural products are going on our clothes.
ReplyDelete@LisaMCriscitello - I used to enjoy my weekly hour of ironing. Yesterday, however, I kept being interrupted to deal with kid-thing after kid-thing (it has been that kind of week, you know!!), and then to think that the clothes I had would get wrinkled by hanging in the closet anyway... FRUSTRATION!
ReplyDelete@nymrsb - I know... the overstuffed closet problem. Unfortunately, closets are something this house is very, very low on, being an old house and all. Although neither Daniel or I have many clothes really, we share the tiniest closet in the house. And that's also where I keep things like my wedding dress, our winter coats when they're not in use and don't need to be on a hook in the mudroom, etc. So maybe I'll just have to look into those wrinkle-free finishes! Where do you find them most easily?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to mention. At least one of my ironing times is done during nap time or after bedtime so that I can watch my recorded episode of House. Ryan doesn't like the show at all, so I watch it by myself... but it DOES help the ironing to pass more quickly! Also, my preferred starch is to use Sta-Flo mixed with water. You buy it in a big bottle. It does have some preservatives in it, but in my opinion it is more natural than the aerosol cans! It is also a lot cheaper! I just mix it in a spray bottle and use it on the clothes. For Ryan's uniforms I use a heavy concentration (2 parts sta-flo, 1 part water) because it seems to last longer, but on other clothing I try to dilute it a little more. Oh, and a trick that I have found for dark clothing and starch is that you turn the clothes inside out to spray them, then iron them immediately on the right side. They still feel a bit damp, but it works nicely and doesn't leave starch flecks everywhere!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Abby - I usually set the ironing board up in the living room and watch a show or listen to music while I iron. I can't say I really have tons to do - but since Rick wears a different dress shirt at least 6 days a week, of usually results in quite a few + table cloths, etc. I am also like Lisa - there is something very satisfying in ironing. My problem: actually getting the board set up and getting started!
ReplyDeleteBack inthe day when I had mounds of ironing and there wasn't anything like wrinkle-free I did iron one day a week. I always watched TV while I ironed I did feel it made the time pass more quickly. I can remember huge pile of trousers (four sons and a husband make for really big ironing times). Once I remember I used pants stretchers for my husbands pants. These were cumbersome and had to put on exactly right or the creases came out in the wrong places. So today I am very grateful that I have so very little ironing to do due to most things being wrinkle-free and I tend to really let it pile up before I tackle it. Reading so very many answers to your question made me want to bless all of you women that care that your husbands look good when they go to work. What a blessing you are!!! Of course for those that hubby prefers to do it himself I also say Amen! Gramma
ReplyDeleteI don't iron much...when I did I used a portable fold up board on the kitchen table...I try to get it out of the dryer before it wrinkles...I do have a hanging thing on the back of the closet door to put dress shirts so they aren't wrinkled from the closet. It's a compromise, I don't like it that much. Have you ever tried a steamer? I have some dresses that really can't have an iron because of the fabric and also it's good for ties if they get wrinkled. As for regular times for doing things, I follow you!! I need that and don't have it for many things. Even if I ironed Doug's shirts, as soon as he gets in the car they get wrinkled...we got a few shirts at Kohl's for a really good price after Thanksgiving, and I noticed they don't look very nice after they are washed...
ReplyDeleteDoug had a few shirts he really liked that were 100% cotton, and he loved me ironing them....it was only summer shirts, so I did do that for a while. I guess it was once a week. Short sleeves, not so much to iron! Do you have a Rowenta iron? That makes it easier too, to have a really good iron. I learned that working at Hornes. Email me and tell me Gabriel's punishment for the car window!
I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses. I've never been one to iron, I try very hard to get things out of the dryer when they're damp and hang them, I usually do it on an as needed basis. However the idea of using natural starch product was intriguing so I googled it and came up with the following:http://www.drugstore.com/qxp158009_333181_sespider/earth_friendly_products/all_natural_spray_starch_non_aerosol_fabric_treatment.htmhttp://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=692750http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061021212101AA05mREHappy ironing!
ReplyDelete@Newshoundfortruth - We didn't really punish Gabriel for actually breaking the van window because he genuinely didn't seem to understand what he did (he hadn't even been trying to throw at vehicles but was throwing rocks across the road into the neighbor's yard when the van happened to drive by). And he won't be paying for any expenses that are passed along to us because he really didn't understand the repercussions of his actions (though he will in the future, hopefully, because we took quite a bit of time to teach him) and also because he really doesn't have any way of getting money since he's only 6! That said, he does understand that whatever Mom & Dad have to pay will effect our whole family negatively and he's pretty bummed about that...Daniel did spank him specifically for throwing driveway rocks because that is a subject that has been covered many times before now!
ReplyDelete@brietta - That makes sense.
ReplyDelete@brietta--At Penney's the Stafford brand for shirts and St. John's Bay for pants. L.L. Bean also has pants and shirts that have a wrinkle/stain free finish. They seem a little expensive but when you figure the use you'll get (assuming no drastic change in sizes!) they are well worth it.:)
ReplyDeleteDOWNY WRINKLE RELEASE! no ironing needed. I have told mike that ironing was not part of the wedding vows....I hate it! My mom bought me this in highschool because I just went wrinkled and this works great! Just spray and tug!
ReplyDelete