To not know how to iron at 32?

[Boymum1005]

Not due to any pretentiousness. Was bought up on a farm, very outdoorsy childhood with a lazy single mum. Was always the kid at school/events with the unironed uniform, did my own washing from year 6 onwards… didn’t do my washing? - going to school in dirty clothes, old enough to use the washing machine = old enough to do your own washing.

DH bought up totally differently. Mother did everything for him, was still changing his bed and putting his clothes away when I met him living at home at 25. And of course everything was ironed pristinely.

MIL has made a few comments about DH’s shirts clearly not being ironed (he’s a workman so doesn’t wear shirts for office, just for social events). I tend to reply with a sarcastic comment about how if he wants his clothes ironed he can do it himself. He won’t. He says he will, but never does. It used to irritate the s* out of me, but now I’m becoming more conscious about looking scruffy. And I definitely don’t want my DS’s to grow up feeling like the scruffy kids.

So I ask the Mumsnet community - how do YOU iron?
Do you iron ALL clothes or just work/school/formal?
Daily/weekly/as and when needed?
Do you have an “ironing pile” or just instinctively know what will need ironing?

We have a small house with 2 DC’s so we do about 2 loads of washing per day. Where do you find the time?!

Any and all tips appreciated

I'm shocked by this thread 😳 😐
I iron as I go for me and the kids type of thing except all the school uniform and my work uniform gets ironed Sunday morning. It's quite nice I get an hour in the morning in the kitchen listening to whatever I fancy and everyone knows to leave me alone. Hub does his own if it needs it.

P.s. I was taught to iron well by an ex-military friend of my mum's who paid me to iron for her as a teen. It's all about stretching the fabrics c out as you go. ( and using the right heat setting for the material).

Practically everything is ironed and I don't mean just clothes:- Towels, bedding, tea-towels, flannels etc.
If it is ironed it sits better in cupboards & drawers.
Out of the dryer / airer and into the ironing basket, then it is a case of tackling it several times a week or (like this afternoon) a major session while watching the TV.
Other half and I do it 50% each, whoever feels in the mood.

I think the last time I ironed was 2012 when I knocked the iron onto my carpet and burnt it. That was the first time I'd ironed in years and I took it as a sign not to bother doing it again.

I dunno, I think people can choose to use their precious time ironing if that is what they personally find rewarding, but there are many things I would much rather do. Saying it's lazy not to iron implies that people who don't iron just sit on their arses instead - I do plenty of productive stuff with my time. I don't spend time watching tv either, so I wouldn't have the option of doing ironing while watching tv.

I do think sometimes that it would do people good to take a moment to question why having perfectly pressed clothes is so important to them. It's an idea that has been socialised into us - does it really matter?

I'm 39 and don't iron and iron couldn't either so ur not alone

I'm enormously aged and don't iron. Ditto my DSis and DBro. Our other halves do it watching sport or whatever and have it down to a fine art. We balance it out in other ways.

Those who think ironing is a mugs game, and why is it important to have neatly pressed clothes, washing them is a mugs game then. They are going to get dirty/smelly/sweaty, might as well not bother. I wouldn't have sent my DKs out in screwed up clothes anymore than with food or stains down them

That's completely different and you know it.

Dirty and smelly are not the same as slightly crumpled (and quite often not even crumpled at all because of sensible clothing choices and/or clever use of the tumble drier).

I hate ironing, and only do it for special events. Sticking to non-iron fabrics is just easier. Hurray for jersey fabrics!

I buy non iron whenever possible and hang shirts, tops and similar on hangers after washing but still some ironing is needed for cotton things, we don’t wear synthetic. I’m in charge of laundry at home so I iron DH’s shirts as well. And before someone jumps to conclusions I don’t mind - he does washing and vacuuming.
I do it once in a couple of days in front of tv so it’s not so boring, quite relaxing actually. The secret is to do it in small batches and not to over-dry laundry.

DH works in an office and wears a bloody t shirt about twice before washing it so 90% of my ironing is his! I have about 7 jumpers/dresses I wear in winter than I wear on rotation and only wash is visibly dirty - very rarely.
Most of my ironing is his tops and my little girls tops if they need ironing.
I get stuff out of wash and separate into can get put away - pjs, underwear, some of my clothes etc, and a another pile for ironing.I iron as said DH's clothes and bedding mostly.

I iron if it looks really wrinkle otherwise I don’t especially if I’m going to be sitting for quite awhile where it is going to get wrinkled anyway. I find getting my children’s uniforms out of the dryer once the cycle finishes and hanging them up causes few wrinkles.

I learned at about 11 from my parents since I was helping iron their clothes for work and my own for school.

@Nannyfannybanny Another one saying clean clothes versus ironed clean clothes is not the same thing. None of us non-ironers send our children out grubby but either try not to use the tumble dryer or can peg out most clothes bar linen out so they show no creases. Linen sheets don't need ironing.

Linen sheets are an absolute joy.

Since wfh since pandemic, and the odd day I do go in office now I don't need office clothes any more, all I iron these days is school uniform! for one primary ages dc, which takes hardly any time at all.

crosstalk,I actually stopped ironing sheets when I had my third child. I really couldn't care less if other people don't iron. I don't iron for fun,I don't mind it,it's just another part of life. I am actually very fussy about how things are pegged up on the line. My oldest daughter (am actually at her house) doesn't use pegs because she can't bear peg marks on her clothes.

I don't understand how people manage without ironing! Apart from underwear, probably 95% if everything I wash needs to be ironed. No matter how carefully I hang things up when I take them out of the washing machine they look awful if they're not ironed.

Haven't owned an iron for 30 years, in my early twenties a wizard stayed at my house and told me she never ironed. She taught me how to shake clothes when drying and her magical ways.bI remember being gobsmacked.
Since then I haven't bothered.
Anything stuffed in draws and cupboards are either crumple free clothes (quite a lot of it is camping/activity type clothes) or stuff people don't see.
Everything else is dried on hangers or washing line and shaken every now and then if it's important.
You can get very smart shirts/blouses and trousers that are quite hard to crease.

If I want to wear something that needs ironing then I iron it on the spot. Occasionally I'll drag everything out and stand in front of the TV with the ironing board and do a load, but often with our small wardrobe it needs ironing again by the time I wear it, so as we go along works better.

I grew up in an anti ironing household. I understand where you’re coming from.

Do you iron ALL clothes or just work/school/formal?
School uniform, work trousers and shirts, other tops that feel like they need it.

Daily/weekly/as and when needed?
Sunday afternoon/evening. With the TV on in our bedroom. We sometimes fight over who gets to have the half hour of peace and quiet to themselves with their choice of TV.

Do you have an “ironing pile” or just instinctively know what will need ironing?
Ironing pile which builds during the week. We have enough of each item of ironed clothing (e.g. school shirts) to be able to put them in the ironing pile between washing and Sunday ironing.

Other stuff
Buy an ironing board if you don’t have one. Use lots of steam when ironing - it makes it faster.
Have lots of hangers ready for the ironed clothes and a place to hang them (e.g. door handles, clothes airer) while you finish.

I iron once a week either in front of the TV or listening to an audiobook. I find it pretty relaxing tbh. I iron everything apart from towels, underwear and bottom sheets. It takes me two to three hours.

I don't. Nothing we own needs ironing. Shake, hang or fold. I couldn't be arsed with ironing.

I had to buy an iron recently, for Hama beads, it's the only time it's used.

We iron in this house, you can tell the difference between ironed clothes and un-ironed. Mightn’t matter to some but it matters to me. A crisp cotton shirt looks fresher and smarter when it’s ironed. Same with anything made from natural fabrics - cotton, linen, silk, wool, etc. Jeans, t-shirts, shirts, blouses, jeans, dresses all look better when ironed.

Only thing I wouldn’t iron are gym clothes. I can see how someone who mostly wears leggings and sweatshirts doesn’t need to iron though.