Is ironing essential to look polished?

[IsIroningEssential]

Does anyone manage to pull off that styled, chic elevated look that I keep seeing on Instagram without ironing? Any tips to skip the ironing stage please? 🙈

Yabu - you need to iron everything
Yanbu - you don't need to iron

I even iron teatowels I'll get my coat...... >>>>>>

Just buy polyester shirts

Thanks … But I’d rather put myself in the bin.

Ah, @Wakemeupbe4yougogo - a pile of clean, ironed linen tea towels tells me I’m home!

i iron tea towels, because i have a lot and they fit in the drawer better when ironed. I also think that the hot steam adds a layer of sterilisation into them.

I iron on Sundays, i listen to a podcast or two, and it usually takes about an hour - i iron t-shirts because we have a lot and they lie flatter in the drawer, but i don't think they need actual ironing, mostly the sleeves if they're crumpled.

I don't mind if people don't iron clothes, but i do always notice. And if they are asking if they look polished, and are unironed (or have unpolished shoes, or untidy hair... etc etc) then i will tell them they don't. If they don't ask, i keep it to myself.

Surely there is a middle ground... I iron school shirts, smart tops for office days, DH irons his work shirts.
For the kids I just stick their stuff on a hanger unless going somewhere specific.
Jumpers and cardigans etc do look better ironed but look acceptable without for every day wear and I'm too busy to iron everything!!
I think I am still traumatized from my scousewife mum who irons everything from knickers to socks and tea towels. I had an absolute stand off with her when eldest was a baby because I refused to iron babygrows.
I suppose it depends on what sector you work in, I need to look smart for work but not completely polished.

More chemicals and waste.

Do you notice if clothes that don’t need ironing are not ironed? Can one only be polished if wearing clothes that need ironing?

I’m doomed!

Me to I like how neat they look after and it gives me pleasure to see a neat stack of them.

I agree.. sometimes I just dry my work blouses on the line and they’re reasonably tidy. But when I iron them, the arm creases are crisp and the whole shirt just looks better.

That's your perception & if that makes you happy then good for you, keep doing that. Our clothes are not rumpled , they're washed , line dried whenever possible , smoothed, folded , then ironed & hung up as soon as I can get to do it.

I thibk this is a good point. You can look acceptable without ironing a lot of stuff. However with an iron it takes it I guess up a level.

I iron sheets and bedding and many think I am nuts to do so. But for me it is a pure feeling of luxury to slide in between ironed bedding that I don't feel for non ironed bedding.

To the poster that claimed those of us who iron don't have he time for anything else. I cook healthy meals and go to the gym. I still manage to iron. I like ironing actually 2 hours where the TV is all mine (that is the rule if you do the ironing you own the TV remote)

Yes I picked up on a few posters who seem to think an ironed visible crease on a sleeve is good. It would really annoy me, if I could be bothered to iron...which I don't!
For the youngsters out there, you need a sleeve board and/or a dressmaker's ham for a perfectly ironed sleeve 😀

Maybe there’s a ‘crease erase’ filter on Instagram and in real life they all look like a ‘bag o washing’’

I detest ironing however I still do it. I can't bear clothes not ironed. I even iron my husbands work clothes and my sheets. a bed looks so much better when the sheets are ironed. I only go into the office once a week so need to look smart then. but even my wfh clothes are ironed. it's the difference to looking presentable and tidy and ut actually takes little time and costs little. my boss is a male and does all the ironing in his house. I don't wear much synthetic fibres like polyester or viscose as it doesn't agree with me.

Yes I think you can tell if someone has intoned but a crease down the sleeve is not great. I always use a sleeve board IF I iron.

I always iron everything and still don't notice on anyone else if they do or not. I have no idea how different all our clothes look or not. I iron because I far prefer how clothes fit neatly in drawers all ironed than how they look once worn.

I completely agree with you. A friend once tried to tell me I didn't need to waste my time ironing school uniform because she doesn't and her boys look fine - no they don't, they look a crumpled mess and I can tell those shirts have never seen an iron! (I didn't say that out loud as that would be very rude). Un-ironed uniform might be okay by her standards but it's not by mine.
It's not a time thing either, I work full time and she's a sahm with school aged children. It takes about an hour a week to iron everything that needs doing.

It's just much nicer to have ironed clothes. I find it helps them last longer too and keep their shape.

I am absolutely obsessed with ironing school clothes. For a start 'non-iron- shirts' are a nonsense. They always need a press of some sort.

Ds1 has a range of SEN and is bullied alot. I can't necessarily control that, but i can control that he is always clean, washed, smells good and has a neat appearance.

Yes.

@Bjorkdidit My DS moved out a few months ago. He visited yesterday and I instantly noticed that his shirt was not ironed. He used to iron his shirts when he lived here but seems to have got lazy with it since he moved into his own place - even though I gave him an iron and ironing board!
He does wfh so he can get away with it most of the time but I disagree that you wouldn't notice!

the range of "what doesn't need ironing" is variable. Even those polyester "no iron" shirts look much better when ironed.

I think, as with all our youngsters when meeting our customers, it's a matter of respect. If they turn up looking as though they just rolled out of bed, we're not getting the business. and for a lot of people looking as if you just rolled out of bed also has a wide variance.

I line dry my clothes but I must have the wrong kind of wind as there's no way a T shirt could ever look ironed or unrumpled when it comes in off the line

Yes but straight off the line isn't crisp and polished looking either.
It might not be a rumpled mess but 'straight off the line, too lazy to iron' is not the look the op is going for.

I think you do need to iron. I iron and wouldn’t wear anything that wasn’t, and I can tell when people haven’t ironed it’s really obvious a lot of the time