Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 8 9 10 ··· 22 23

Original poster

At what age should a child start ironing?

558 replies

Boogers · 13/04/2016 19:13

H and I had a big argument last night about the things that DS(12) can and can't do. I said DS should be learning how to iron by now, to which H strongly disagreed.

I remember ironing my dad's hankerchiefs when I was about 7 or 8, and when I was about 12 or 13 I was ironing my school uniform on a Sunday evening (in autumn it was 5 shirts, 3 box pleated skirts, 1 blazer, in summer it was 5 dresses and 1 blazer).

DS had no issues with co-ordination or ability to sense hot and cold, there is no reason why he can't learn to use an iron. H says that he and his brother never ironed when they were younger (his brother is 40 and has never ironed in his life; his parents, my in-laws, do it all for him).

Who is being unreasonable here, me or H? Should I encourage DS to learn how to iron?

OP posts:

NattyNattyBooBoo · 14/04/2016 13:31

I can't iron. It's just something I can't do. I did it one about 25 years ago. It wasn't good and couldn't be bothered to practice. I get someone else to do it who is far better at it than I am. 😂

Kronfonnie · 14/04/2016 13:33

I'm loving the non ironing brigade we are the only household I know that never irons a thing.

CrackerChops · 14/04/2016 13:38

Good god, kids have it so easy these days. When I was a young lass, we used to get up at 5am, walk 20 miles to the coal pits and get stuck in to a good solid, honest day's graft. Then at 10pm, we'd walk the 20 miles back home, get a glass of water and some porridge, then it was straight up to bed. On our birthdays we used to get a tangerine each, if we were lucky. Did I complain? Did I buggery. Kids these days don't know they are born.

erm....sorry what was the question again?

Oliversmumsarmy · 14/04/2016 13:42

I don't own an iron. I also don't own a hoover.
I teach my children to only buy stretchy things and stuff that doesn't need ironing.

summerdreams · 14/04/2016 13:46

I bloody hate ironing. He is no way to young imo.

FirstWeTakeManhattan · 14/04/2016 13:48

I am at the competitive non-ironing.

I don't iron.
I don't know what an iron is.
No one in my family ESPECIALLY THE GIRLS could identify an iron in a line up.
We threw our ironing board under a train
I would rather wear a clump of hay than an ironed shirt
If something needs ironing, we immediately set fire to the fucker

I don't mind ironing. It's calm and the only time i get to think quiet thoughts. DH mainly does it though as he doesn't mind it either.

Delacroix · 14/04/2016 13:58

I'll teach both genders of kids all the chores, yes, but ironing is a non-issue to me. I haven't ironed once in adulthood. I hang things straight to dry and they dry without wrinkles.

Ironing's in the same category as polishing the family silver to me. I mean, yeah, some people still do it and think it's hugely important, but I see it as defunct and outdated.

FirstWeTakeManhattan · 14/04/2016 14:01

I mean, yeah, some people still do it and think it's hugely important

Or they work in a professional city environment where they have to wear a suit and tie and an ironed shirt?

green18 · 14/04/2016 14:03

Please tell me how to wear a white cotton shirt without ironing it or a pair of beautiful linen trousers. Standards perlease!!!!

whois · 14/04/2016 14:06

Ironing is an outdated skill, and the real important skill nowadays is to learn to buy only non-iron clothes

Word.

Pr learning to hang up your shirt in the bathroom whilst you take a long hot shower in the mornings :-)

whois · 14/04/2016 14:08

Or they work in a professional city environment where they have to wear a suit and tie and an ironed shirt?

To be fair, most people that work in the city have a cleaner who does ironing! Or they at leas use a laundry service for shirts. I don't think I know anyone who irons their own shirts!

LittleLionMansMummy · 14/04/2016 14:10

Hanging clothes out to dry is a good way of cutting down on ironing. The weight of the water seeping downwards, combined with the heat of the sun or strength of the wind, does a good enough job.

Believeitornot · 14/04/2016 14:10

I work in a professional office and if anyone rocked up without having ironed their clothes I would judge them.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/04/2016 14:10

Please tell me how to wear a white cotton shirt without ironing it or a pair of beautiful linen trousers

I don't wear white clothes because I drop food or other staining things on them. I don't wear shirts that often either as I am always freezing cold so have layers on even in summer.

Linen trousers look like a creased mess as soon as you have sat down anyway. I would not buy something if I thought it would be creased even after hanging up to dry.

Believeitornot · 14/04/2016 14:11

And I do my own ironing and I'm a senior manager as do pretty much all of my colleagues.

FirstWeTakeManhattan · 14/04/2016 14:12

To be fair, most people that work in the city have a cleaner who does ironing! Or they at leas use a laundry service for shirts. I don't think I know anyone who irons their own shirts

I'm sure some do. I also know plenty who don't

Anyway, my DH does iron his own, so I'm not paying someone else to!

BarbaraofSeville · 14/04/2016 14:15

I work in a professional office and if anyone rocked up without having ironed their clothes I would judge them.

Even though you couldn't actually tell by looking at them whether the clothes had been ironed or not? How odd.

Balletgirlmum · 14/04/2016 14:16

You can always tell if clothes have been ironed or not.

thebestfurchinchilla · 14/04/2016 14:20

I agree, you can tell. My DH runs a studio/ smart office, he irons his own shirts. There is no way, even with line drying , which I always do weather permitting, that he could get away with not ironing them, nor would he want to. Who wants to look like a rag bag?

thebestfurchinchilla · 14/04/2016 14:21

I suppose if you are large in body and only wear stretchy things, the flesh would stretch out creases. But if you're slim, even a T shirt needs ironing as the sleeves and neckline wouldn't hang right.

FirstWeTakeManhattan · 14/04/2016 14:27

Even though you couldn't actually tell by looking at them whether the clothes had been ironed or not? How odd

Of course you can tell

It might not look bad at all - the old tumble dryer and straight on a hangar trick will get you by, but it's not going to look like an ironed shirt.

I barely iron, but I can definitely tell when a shirt sleeve and cuff have been ironed or not!

Kidnapped · 14/04/2016 14:29

There was a thread on here a while back where the OP put up a picture of her partner wearing a T-shirt. One half of the front had been ironed and the other half had not been.

Every single person on the thread could tell which side had been ironed.

lavenderdoilly · 14/04/2016 14:33

My dad taught me how to iron. I used to iron for beer at uni. It was a social thing. We'd hang out and natter while I ironed supplied with cups of tea (beer later). I don't iron much now if I can but will teach dd around age of 10.

albertcampionscat · 14/04/2016 14:58

I'm trying to think of anything more useless than ironing tea towels. I know! Ironing t-shirts and jeans, both of which look much much worse ironed. C'mon, imagine the Ramones or Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire in IRONED clothes.

thebestfurchinchilla · 14/04/2016 15:00

alber With respect I have no intention of looking like the Ramones or Marlon Brando....

Flip

1 2 ··· 8 9 10 ··· 22 23

Swipe left for the next trending thread