AIBU the elephant pile in the room

[JesterA]

Recently our family has grown from 4 to 5. DD was a surprise, we also have DS1 and DS2 plus I have a male DP so the washing And ironing pile resembles an elephant it's soooo big. It doesn't matter what I do it never goes away it's always just there.
In my mother's house growing up she ironed everything, bedsheets even (seriously!), so I have always felt I should do the same, but I am not as organised as she is. So I guess my question is AIBU to just declare unless absolutely necessary, ironing just isn't happening any more?

Starbright Thanks! I also agree with your and other po about generations, I managed to talk my mother out of using 60 degree washes all the time, but giving up her iron is never gonna happen lol!

Nosey Viva!!!!

Ditch the ironing!

I don't iron at all.

My nan used to iron dishcloths and tea towels I shit you not 😳

My DD likes her shirts ironed so I showed her how,I also pointed out that with school shirts you can only see the front under her jacket.She is a quick learner!

When DH was alive and we both had to wear decent work clothes I used to send out my ironing. At the time it was about a fiver for a big shopping bag full. These days I don't iron at all. For posh now I buy dresses from Country Casuals that dry unwrinkled. Everything else is jersey.

I iron everything.

I have a system that works great:

If it needs ironing, the person that owns it does the ironing.

99% of the textiles we own is no-iron.

I have tackled half the pile this afternoon. I feel worse about the rest now.

Some one up thread said tea towels never need ironing. In the summer they dry nice and flat on the line. Over winter I've been putting them in the dryer (new toy) and they are all twisted and folded up at the edges
Now the buggers won't bloody fit in their basket under the sink unless I sodding well iron them. That dryer has saved me no labour, just shifted it from one part of the job to another.

I iron tea towels because otherwise they look crumpled hanging on the oven door and they take about ten seconds.

Those of you saying you iron for weddings and funerals are confirming that there is indeed a difference in appearance between ironed and non-ironed clothes. Some people don't care about that and that's fine. But if you do care then ironing is definitely not a waste of time.

I have a travel iron and a small fold up table top ironing board - useful for hama beads, scout neckers and guide neckers.......... and pretty much nothing else. :)

Havent owned a full size iron/ironing board in years. A friend who irons everything was astonished because she thought my clothes looked ironed - I think the fact I air dry everything helps. No tumble dryer. (dehumidifier instead)

I don’t iron a thing, if it’s winter tumble dry and into a hanger. In the summer straight from line to hanger. My mum used to iron knickers, I shit you not!

I really couldn’t give a shit about ironing.

I iron work clothes because I need to. Everything else? No. Sheets and tea towels?? No bloody way.

Iv not read past your first post so the thread has most likely moved on but il post anyway!

I iron almost nothing! Occasionally if I have a specific item for an important event like a funeral etc

What I am very good at is not leaving anything, as soon as it's finished washing I hang it up then I fold as soon as it comes off the line/horse so nothing ever lies crumpled in the basket or in the machine for ages before hanging it to dry.

I would only iron a shirt or dress for a wedding or interview.

I also have 3DC and stopped ironing a long time ago. I tumble dry everything and fold it as soon as it comes out. If anyone wants a shirt or something I iron it but otherwise I don't bother. Before I started doing this I also constantly had a massive pile. I'm happy to say those days are gone.

Sometimes I iron shirt collars or put a front crease in pants. That's about it.

My tea towels are made of terry cloth and look just fine without ironing.

The Organised Mum Method recently had a video about how to avoid ironing. I felt liberated because I've been ashamed of being an iron dodger for all these years but if she feels good about it, then I do too!

theorganisedmum.blog/2018/01/23/ironing-sucks-here-is-how-i-avoid-it/

Oh and when I feel guilty about not keeping up with the housework in the manner that my mother/grandmother's generation, I remember that they were able to do it because they left infants outside so they could get shit done... There's a definite trade off between childcare and housekeeping. You have to choose your own comfort zone there.

buy a GOOD steam generator iron cost about £150 cut ironing time buy at least half you only need to iron 1 side

Remember fabrics were different years ago. Pure cotton for shirts creased badly so needed a hot iron. Modern day polycottons not so much. Hurray!

Fuck ironing. Life’s too short.

it also the kind of fabric - dress shirts = woven = creases easily
t-shirts = knitted = doesn't crease as easily

Surely work shirts and blouses need ironing? Going into meetings with unironed clothes is rather unprofessional. I do some ironing or for shirts a man comes to collect when the pile is just too big.

I certainly don't iron towels, bedlinen or underwear.

Hillingdon I have intentionally bought work clothes that don't need ironing.

Not everyone wears a shirt or a blouse to work, or attends meetings and if they do, you can get them that don't need ironing. I believe M&S do them.

Just give them a shake and put on a hanger straight out of the washing machine and they're fine. I usually wear jeans and jumpers to work as my office is always freezing but on the days I need to look smart, I have machine washable M&S suits and they get the same treatment as described above and dry crease free.

Honestly I have non iron shirts from M&S for DH. They really do need an iron. Company both myself and DH work for would not allow jeans and jumpers and you can always tell the men especially who cannot be arsed to iron a shirt (even the non iron ones!)