Is iorning a thing of the past?

[icenasliceplease]

The only time I find myself reaching for the iron these days is if someone is going to a wedding and a shirt, or outfit needs ironing. Or if one of us is going for an interview.
Otherwise, I'm careful how I wash and hang things. No creases. Job done.
I don't have an 'ironing basket' and never have a pile of ironing to get through every week.

Am I slovenly? or what?
My mother is a slave to the iron and spend hours and hours every week wading through a pile of ironing. Whereas I don't see the point. Life's too short. I've worked it out my mother spends, on average, 12 hours a week Ironing!

Do you iron?
Or not?

(Obviously if your job entails having an ironed shirt Monday to Friday, exceptions are made)

Get yourselves a military man. DH does all the ironing in this household even now he has left the Forces.

We have a 1600 spin washer and don't have a tumble dryer, so clothes do tend to be very creased and need ironing.

freshstart, no tumble drier here. I think there are 2 things that are key: taking stuff out of the machine as soon as it's finished spinning (all our stuff gets spun at 1200 rpm) and giving it a good shake when you get it out. When I say "shake", I mean holding the garment at the top for trousers, bottom for shirts and tops, and giving it a good flap, so it makes like a cracking sound.

Then get it on a hanger straight away. I hang stuff from the curtain rails upstairs, so that heat from the rads helps it dry, and crack the windows a bit so that the damp air escapes.

I run my thumb and forefinger along the sleeve creases of DP's work shirts, and they tend to stay in, even in cotton ones.

The "flapping" is a bit impractical for sheets and duvet covers, but I fold them in half and hang them from those hangers that have a springy clip on. Then, when it's just a teeny bit damp, it gets folded and put in the airing cupboard. All our bedding is cotton, and the only creases are where it's been folded.

In the summer, everything is line dried when weather permits. It's very windy where we live, and any creases get blown out.

Jumpers are given the "flapping" treatment and dried flat on an airer, but on top of a towel so they don't get lines from the airer.

I have trained my kids to iron their school shirts as soon as they start secondary school. (I iron PE kits if I get notice)
They iron their own clothes when they go out as they decide on outfits last minute so they know that it would be outrageous to ask me to do it. Chore-shy ds1 is excellent at ironing and very image conscious so irons to a high-standard.

OH irons for work, but I don’t as much as I should to be honest I grew up without an iron so the concept is very ‘extra’ to me... though I’m trying! I used to iron my work clothes before I worked from home and honestly it just took me forever. I’m never sure HOW ironed it has to be/what’s acceptable etc

Like LakieLady I give everything a shake, then hang it up.
Most stuff comes out of the tumble drier.
Sometimes dc can look more crumpled as they kick clothes around their bedroom floors for a couple of weeks days before wearing them, but I remove from washing machine, shake before putting in tumble drier, then remove from tumble drier, give a shake and hang mine up in wardrobe.
Stuff that won't go in tumble drier has a shake as comes out of washing machine then most gets hung on hanger to dry.

Haha @StopCallingMeShirley OH is ex military and he’s an avid ironer! He makes the bed perfectly too lol

love ironing do everything dishcloths underpants socks. Ironed stuff stacks so neatly

Shirts that need it - linen, a few cotton ones; not if I think I can get away without. Pillowcases, for some reason. Table napkins. That's it. I don't like ironing, but once I get started, listening to the radio, it's not that bad.

Also I do think you can tell when people don't iron and I do think it looks worse (sorry )

This. You can always tell when someone didn't iron and it looks scruffy. I iron everything.

This thread reminds me a bit of the one about cute children getting more attention/ being given more leeway....

I've seen how 'looking the part' in an office environment plays into getting the best projects/ promotions etc. Of course all the crinklies can deny it's important, or that they were passed over for this reason, but how would they know? Nobody would ever sit in an appraisal meeting and say, 'sorry, but you didn't get the job because your creases are in the wrong places.'
It's just another part of the overall 'first impression' that people make - is their hair clean and cut, are their teeth OK, do they look fit and healthy, what's their posture like, are they confident etc?

A few years back a male friend of ours went for a promotion for a Board-level job within the FTSE 100 company he'd worked at for 20 years. It was in London and he used to cycle to and from the station at each end. As a result, his work clothes were usually in a backpack and he showered and changed at the office
A 'sharply dressed' fellow colleague and friend awkwardly took him aside and told him that he (the friend) had been asked to gently advise our friend that a different level of smartness/attire would need to be demonstrated for him to be even considered for the post. A discussion then ensued about keeping suits in the office and using a commercial laundry/pressing service nearby!

Irons and iPads do indeed work independently.

As a teenager I volunteered for the ironing because I knew I could watch TV while doing it and would have to do another job if I didn't do the ironing.

As an adult I know that if I don't iron there are no other jobs that magically appear to take up my time. My time is my own.

I iron most things including the bedding. I don't use my tumble drier unless I have too though. I don't particularly like ironing but I like creased clothes even less.

Life is too short and I hate ironing. DP has his shirts laundered and ironed at a launderette. I take anything else that needs ironing there too. Worth every penny. There are lots of clothes around these days that don't have to be ironed. We tumble dry most things as the weather is often lousy and it saves having to iron a lot of stuff.

bigbaboonbum "OH is ex military and he’s an avid ironer! He makes the bed perfectly too lol*

Mine is crap at making the bed. In his defence, I am usually in it when he leaves for work, and he still gets up early even a weekends.

Obviously if your job entails having an ironed shirt Monday to Friday, exceptions are made

Yep, that is our exception. Nothing gets ironed in our house unless someone is getting paid

DP is ex military and you could shave with the creases he puts in trousers

I agree with the pp about appearances being important. my DH manages an office and he had to give one young lad several warnings about appearance. he had creased clothes often and often needed a wash. He was poor in other areas too and he was not kept on. I think if you look smart, clean and tidy you perform better. if I was going out with my DH and his clothes were creased it would tell me he didn't care much.

I will iron uniform at the beginning of the week for daughter (shirts etc) and then only iron anything else when it’s about to be worn.
I actually don’t mind ironing but it became a real chore when I would spend all day Sunday ironing all the weeks washing for the children to simply shove it in their drawers or throw on the floor. I now find better use of my time

You need an iron. How else do you do hama beads?

I find this fascinating. I used to iron absolutely everything including pants! I still iron tea towels (nothing better than getting a fresh pressed teatowel out to use!) and bedding when I can be arsed - Unironed bedding looks dreadful (well mine does!)

Somethings just need ironing and no amount of shaking is going to make them look good.
I don’t iron everything but I do iron things like shirts, smart trousers( not jeans) good t shirts( not the scruffy ones I wear under jumpers)

And yes you can tell if someone doesn’t iron

As household tasks go I like a bit of ironing. You can do it while catching up on crap tv! I like the order from chaos of a neat pile of ironed garments.

I don't iron as much as I used to since having DC and am careful with hanging but I ALWAYS iron sheets. Nothing like getting into lovely ironed sheets (preferably having been dried on the line outside first).

The last thing I ironed was some candle wax off the carpet!
Before then I think the false collar and shirt "tail" of one of those sweaters with a fake shirt underneath.

I don't iron DS2's uniform (year 4).
DS1 did his own.
No one else in the house!

My mums horrified I don’t iron but she spends hours on it getting all hot and bothered and achy with her back.

When I was a kid Sunday’s were taken up by the ironing board and huge piles of clothes stacked on the sofa and her getting more and more pissed off that she had to iron everyone’s clothes. Utter madness.

Sod that.

I iron all my kids clothes as they look so much better . It's very obvious when people don't iron kids clothes . They look scruffy and shabby when not ironed so I prefer to always have my kids looking smart when out and about . I don't spend hours ironing though . I iron as we wear and find it much less time consuming and kids always look smart