15 shirts a week

[theonlygirl]

DS2 starts big school in September, meaning there will be 15 shirts in the laundry each week. DH 5, DS1 5, DS2 5.
no issue washing and drying them but it will be a cold day in hell before I stand ironing their shirts. I don't use a tumbledryer so they all definitely need ironing.

Option 1 - make them iron their own.
Option 2 - drycleaners

Curious to know what others do

I'm always curious as to how clothes hung on hangers never have creases in for other mumsnetters. This has never worked for me, even when I tweak and pull them into shape. Even "non-iron" shirts look creased after washing.

I think the secret's in the shaking. I hold them by the shirt tails, and give them a really good flap, so they make a cracking sort of sound. It makes quite a difference.

Leaving them in the machine after it's finished makes the creases seems to sort of "set" the creases, so get them out straight away. The shorter the spin you can give them, the better, but there's a bit of a trade off between spin speed and the length of time it takes. A short, fast spin seems to work best for me.

When weather permits, line drying is great. My garden's quite breezy, and it blows the creases out.

It's in the first paragraph of the OPs post

I have never ironed a school shirt for any of my 3 children. They look just fine if you wash them then hang them to dry sensibly.

Because it’s unhygienic to wear one shirt all week.

Stick shirts on hangers to air dry, don't use iron, feel virtuous about the good you are doing for the environment and your bills by not wasting electricity on pointlessly removing creases.

It really isn't.

Non iron shirts, dry on the hanger. Dh can iron his own.

It’s not. Although I presumed her second child was 11 as going to ‘big school’. Some others think big school is primary so who knows. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I certainly wouldn’t be standing close to a teenager wearing a shirt for a week.

Not unless her DH is 5, it's not.

No it’s not.

I had 3 in secondary at one point. I can now iron school shirts in about 2 mins. Mind you my kids are mingers and wear the same shirt twice. Unless covered in shit obv. Come to think of it DH also does same. We aren't dead or shunned for being smelly

Husband irons his own and take turns to iron the kids or teach them how to iron them ?

Oh I feel your pain, have four sons and a Dh. I DONT iron its against my principles😉
For school etc non iron shirts short blast in tumble dryer then on a hanger, DS2 as he got older started wearing designer shirts so would iron his own (far better than I could)
Be aware that a jacket/sweatshirt/jumper over a shirt can hide a multitude of creases!

I take them out of the machine and hang them up and they dry perfectly and don't need ironing.

DD gets through 5 a week due to being a sweaty smelly teenager. They aren't allowed to take their blazers off during the day unless the temperature goes through the roof and even then the HT is very reluctant to let them remove them.

I haven't ironed anything for 20 years now.
I do wash DD's school shirts separately as a white load as I used to just put everything in together, but I don't iron or tumble dry them.

Once they hit senior school ALL off my 4 kids have been responsible for washing there own uniform and ironing it. The boys requested no iron shirts, they washed them, put them on a hanger and then shook them silly and let them hang dry. They chose not to iron at all. They looked fine. And I can't say I Blame them. The girls lasted a year or so before they requested non iron shirts for September. And it would be a cold day in hell before my DH would iron his own shirts so he gets them too or dresses down with a polo shirt that he tumbles for a minute to remove any creases.

1. DH can iron his own
2. DS if teenagers can iron their own
3. If you are doing the bulk of ironing DH should be doing another chore to balance, garden or windows for example.
4. Buy a tumble dryer so if short of time you have a back up.

As PP have said, if they stay in the machine after it's finished it seems to make the creases worse. Also I reduce the spin to 800 - that seems to work too. Then I do the shaking and tweaking.

Of course you could just be more particular than I am, but it's what you can live with and what you can't. Some people seem to quite like ironing - I didn't like it at all, that's why I haven't ironed anything for years. I only use the iron and board if I am altering or sewing something. In fact earlier this year I noticed that my ironing board which I've had since 1980 had gone rusty, so I bought a new one, should see me out!

@LibertineCapsAndCowboyChaps Your DH would tumble his polo shirt for a minute rather than iron it? Fuck me that’s got to be a false economy on time, energy and money. My dryer takes more than a minute to warm up, the iron is faster. Tell him to just put his top on rub his hands together to cause friction and smooth his hands over his top the heat of his hands and body will get rid of the creases.

our washer has a 'no iron' setting that dh uses for his shirts.
hangs the up to dry.

the dc are at a school without uniform (so, so much less hassle imo) but when they did had the choice of polo shirt or dress shirt. they much preferred polo shirts.

Non iron shirts, hung on a hangers, no need to iron.

Exactly! There's teaching them to iron and then there's insisting they iron.

I’ve always done the ironing and DH does his share so I’ve no problem with it - he has 14 shirts a week between work shirts and polo shirts - buy a steam generator - life saver!

Dh irons his own so has developed a sweater over collar uniform.😂He maybe ends up ironing about once a month.
Kids have non iron shirts that are fine if they are taken out of the wash straightaway and hung up or draped properly. In cooler weather they can rewear shirts.

When DH wore shirts in the office he did all the ironing. Now they are back in the office but "dress down Friday" all week, no one irons. Non iron shirts are your answer