Is ironing essential to look polished?

Yes I picked up on a few posters who seem to think an ironed visible crease on a sleeve is good. It would really annoy me, if I could be bothered to iron...which I don't!
For the youngsters out there, you need a sleeve board and/or a dressmaker's ham for a perfectly ironed sleeve 😀

I thibk this is a good point. You can look acceptable without ironing a lot of stuff. However with an iron it takes it I guess up a level.

I iron sheets and bedding and many think I am nuts to do so. But for me it is a pure feeling of luxury to slide in between ironed bedding that I don't feel for non ironed bedding.

To the poster that claimed those of us who iron don't have he time for anything else. I cook healthy meals and go to the gym. I still manage to iron. I like ironing actually 2 hours where the TV is all mine (that is the rule if you do the ironing you own the TV remote)

That's your perception & if that makes you happy then good for you, keep doing that. Our clothes are not rumpled , they're washed , line dried whenever possible , smoothed, folded , then ironed & hung up as soon as I can get to do it.

I agree.. sometimes I just dry my work blouses on the line and they’re reasonably tidy. But when I iron them, the arm creases are crisp and the whole shirt just looks better.

Me to I like how neat they look after and it gives me pleasure to see a neat stack of them.

I’m doomed!

Do you notice if clothes that don’t need ironing are not ironed? Can one only be polished if wearing clothes that need ironing?

More chemicals and waste.

Surely there is a middle ground... I iron school shirts, smart tops for office days, DH irons his work shirts.
For the kids I just stick their stuff on a hanger unless going somewhere specific.
Jumpers and cardigans etc do look better ironed but look acceptable without for every day wear and I'm too busy to iron everything!!
I think I am still traumatized from my scousewife mum who irons everything from knickers to socks and tea towels. I had an absolute stand off with her when eldest was a baby because I refused to iron babygrows.
I suppose it depends on what sector you work in, I need to look smart for work but not completely polished.

i iron tea towels, because i have a lot and they fit in the drawer better when ironed. I also think that the hot steam adds a layer of sterilisation into them.

I iron on Sundays, i listen to a podcast or two, and it usually takes about an hour - i iron t-shirts because we have a lot and they lie flatter in the drawer, but i don't think they need actual ironing, mostly the sleeves if they're crumpled.

I don't mind if people don't iron clothes, but i do always notice. And if they are asking if they look polished, and are unironed (or have unpolished shoes, or untidy hair... etc etc) then i will tell them they don't. If they don't ask, i keep it to myself.

Ah, @Wakemeupbe4yougogo - a pile of clean, ironed linen tea towels tells me I’m home!

Just buy polyester shirts

Thanks … But I’d rather put myself in the bin.

I even iron teatowels I'll get my coat...... >>>>>>

I'd say that ironing is one of the factors that help you look polished but it depends on the fabric. Firstly, clothes need to be clean, stain/hole/loose hem free, and not faded/discoloured. After that, it's definitely noticeable if a cotton shirt isn't ironed, but less so if it's viscose or polyester.

You can tell but I don't know anyone IRL who actually cares.

Just buy polyester shirts amd dresses and hang them to dry.
I did not iton in years and polyester works for vusi ess as I wash after every wear anyway.

It really depends on the material and whether you are line drying or tumble drying

I wear a lot of synthetic fibres/blends which I think look absolutely fine without an iron but I do (very reluctantly) get the iron out for pure cotton and linen

I don’t go out in rumpled clothes either. A line dried t shirt isn’t rumpled though. Maybe your drying/storage systems need some work. There a big gulf between ‘rumpled’ and ‘flattened with hot metal’.

I think you can get away with an un ironed t-shirt as long as all the wrinkles are shaken out of it as soon as it comes out of the washing machine, however an un ironed shirt is a definite no

Clothes that aren't ironed look scruffy and give a dirty impression. I can't go out in rumpled clothes or dirty shoes and I've always made sure my family don't either.

Agree.
You’re not sure what it is but the person looks smarter / more polished.

You can spot crumpled v not crumpled. Without extensive checking you can’t tell why. When I used to iron I took considerable pains not to get a crease down sleeves, for example. It’s part of good ironing, or so I was taught in Home Economics in the 70s.
Edit to add: ‘crumpled ones left to dry’? What do you think non ironies are do8ng? My clothes are hung up either on hangers or over a line/airer to dry. They aren’t crumpled or ‘left’. Ironing and drying are 2 separate processes anyway.

Coming from someone with a couple of family members in the armed forces, ironing has been conditioned into me, so I'm in the yes to ironing camp

haha. I have this discussion ALL the time with my much younger colleagues most of whom don't own an iron. Bosses are on my side for when they meet customers.

So boss got an ironing board and iron and we showed them the difference between an ironed shirt and their "you don't need to iron, just wash and dry and hang up" and finally they have got the message.

When not meeting clients, no issue. When meeting clients, we expect them to look clean, pressed, clean shoes and brushed hair. You have no idea how many of them were shocked at this...