Do I really have to iron the school shirts?

[ThirdChildFourthPile]

DS is going to secondary school so it's proper shirts, ones that appear to need ironing.

I've just ironed 4 of them and I hate it. There must be another way?

I'm crap at it, I don't like doing it, and it makes me really hot.

Is there a magic spray or a trick that means I never have to see the iron again?

Yeah DH irons his own work shirts and doesn’t see it as a waste of time (approx half an hour on a Sunday evening) for the benefit of looking smart and professional at work. I’d probably see it as a waste of my time ironing his work shirts though

A pound to a penny nobody notices, duck

As the MD he has a standard to set and wouldn't want any of his staff, especially ones who have direct contact with customers and clients wearing crumpled shirts!

I just taught Dd (11) to iron her blouses. I should've taught her years ago as my Mum taught me.

I used to iron 13 shirts and 3 or 4 pairs of trousers every week. Plus everything else but, uniforms should be pressed.

Dh is a ceo, his standards are just fine and dandy, thank you

Well I'm not fussed about ironing shirts if I can get away with it! My DS has just started secondary school and I have 8 non iron shirts which I'm hoping to get away with shaking and just drying but we will see!

As for posters who can't be arsed to do a clean shirt for their kids each day - I wouldn't say 'neglectful' but I would say you're obviously not bothered about other folk noticing your child smells/ is the crumpled dirty one. Jumpers and trousers can go for three days or so but a shirt you wear next to your armpits -- surely non negotiable that you provide a fresh one each day? Why on earth wouldn't you

Bloody hell, why can’t people accept that other people are different to them? DH likes to go to work in an ironed shirt. He works in financial services (also a CEO ) and its accepted in his industry. He would feel scruffy if his shirt was unironed. He doesn’t feel that ironing his shirts is a waste of his time, as it’s something he values. He doesn’t particularly like watching TV so would consider that a waste of his time. Because he’s different to some other people. See? If your DH doesnt value ironed shirts and sees that as a waste of his time then fine, we’re all different.

My point was that he absolutely doesn’t present as a scruffy oik who doesn’t bother to iron...

Maybe my non ironing cheats are just fairly effective?
But hey, let’s agree to disagree.

No but it simply isnt possible to look pristine in a non ironed shirt. Just depends what you want I guess.

Well as long as he doesn't mind his staff wearing clothes that haven't been ironed it's fine Iamagreyhound. But DH leads by example I guess.

Maybe my washing machine is better than yours?

I always iron school shirts- takes 2 minutes to run an iron over one. 5 shirts a week (elder starting uni so no shirts), takes 10 minutes, 10 minutes do 5 pairs of trousers- 20 minutes of school ironing a week (for one child).

Ds is 14, and teenagers really need a clean shirt each day. Nothing worse than kids smelling of stale BO. Even when showering each day and using anti-perspirant, they still smell. I user to work with 11-16 years olds and the smell sometimes when you had a room full of them was nauseating.

Oh, don’t be such a twat, GreatDuck. I can assure you that you would not pick my dh out of a lineup as being the one in an unironed shirt.
Lead by example

If you insist Iam although I don't see how that's possible. There IS a difference between clothes that have been ironed and those that have not. Even if they aren't creased to buggery you can still tell!

The non ironers are SO defensive. Same on every ironing thread. You can set your watch till they appear

Yep, lead by example. Scruffy MD = scruffy employees 🤷‍♀️

GreatDuck I cannot even begin to tell you how little I care for the judgement of anyone who would blame a perfectly capable 14yo’s mum for the state of her shirt. Not the child herself, not her father, not some random other minion who’s supposed to do her ironing for her, but her mother. Fuck that, and fuck the patriarchy it rode in on.

Actually I'd do my 14 yo shirts if they didnt. Women iron for their husband all the time-that I wont do. But for a kid yes I would. It reflects on the child and their home/background. I think teachers are more likely to make an effort with kids they think have a chance at success through encouragement at home and the parents respect and value of the education system. Not sending them clean or smart gives the impression you dont care. Which will reflect the effort a school is prepared to put into teaching them imo. Obviously they will get the basics, but nothing extra on top. If the parents arent bothered why should they be?

That post was so full of shit it practically turned my screen brown, onetimeposter
Seriously?!!

Ooooh my DP is also a CEO. He wears t-shirts to work. Do I win?

(He has ironed shirts for meetings with investors though. Washed and ironed by the shirt service.)

Patriarchy? I iron my DC's clothes shirts because they're too creased to wear. I like them to look presentable. DH does his own ironing but as their mother it's not that big an effort to run the iron over a school shirt.

Yeah, to an extent. We all make instant judgements of people based on the first few seconds of seeing them, and that influences how we unconsciously treat them. I do believe appearance makes a huge difference. Why else are there dress standards for work (particularly well paid work) and for formal evening do's? If you go through the city practically every banker is immaculate. This focus on appearance: It's why mums lose confidence when they become scruffy and unkempt, quite naturally, after giving birth. It's why people wrongly think fat people are lazy

Of course judgements aren't nice but why would you not give your kids the best chance possible? Would you send them in shitty Gola trainers when every other kid wears Nike?

@onetimeposter I think a teacher would be more concerned about a child's home life if they weren't clean, rather than judging their ability to succeed.

My ds is 10 and sweats something terrible after a full day. He needs a clean shirt every day. The cuffs and neck get dirty too.

Of course judgements aren't nice but why would you not give your kids the best chance possible? Would you send them in shitty Gola trainers when every other kid wears Nike?

Thing is, my DD doesn't really want Nike trainers. She's not a sheep like that.

She's also really really smart. Her teachers love teaching her. They actually set up a special maths class just for her and three other students this year. You can only be in that class if you're smart enough.

Nothing to do with clean shirts. Sorry.

Crikey this thread has got to win the prize for the having the touchiest posters on MN on it.

DD didn't need a clean shirt every day until puberty, and then she very definitely did. I have never been able to master the MN technique of being able get clothes completely crease free without ironing - line drying, drying indoors on a ganger or tumble drying - none of these techniques work for me. Shirts still come out creased.

I just used to iron the front of DD's shirts as she always rolled her sleeves up.

I don't know why dirty smelly unwashed shirts are being conflated with unironed shirts. It's not the same thing at all. I don't think ironing matters, but I think most teenagers need a clean shirt daily.

Onetime poster, your posts are full of crap. And I can't believe that you are now talking about buying expensive branded trainers as a essential act of parenting. Are there really people who think like this?