Ironing before packing - am I wasting time?

[Flounge]

Going on holiday at the weekend. I saw DH putting several unironed shirts and t shirts into the case.

I told him he should iron them and he looked at me like I have two heads. He said why would he iron them when they get creased in the case and he has to iron them on holiday before he wears them anyway.

I then said he should get the car cleaned before we go and he looked really confused. Not a priority and it’s just going to sit on the drive for 10 days, and he’ll take it if there’s time.

Who is right here? Am I wasting time on pointless tasks and making life more difficult for the sake of it?

AIBU?

I iron when things have been washed & dried, so they're ready to wear or rolled & put in cubes when going away.

I don't iron anything so can't relate.

Why do you think the car needs washed?

I do iron my clothes and then roll them when packing. Stops them getting wrinkled. Last thing I want to do is iron on holiday.

Iron on holiday?

Clean the car before going,why?

What madness is this ?

By iron on holiday, he literally runs it over a shirt for about a minute to remove obvious creases, so he doesn’t look like a scruff.

Yes, I can beat this though, I thought OP was talking about the inside, which I never clean or tidy, but I have once, just once in 9 years cleaned the outside of the car and it was at a car wash last month. I dont know what came over me

Nothing wrong with the paint at all, no rust. Looked brand new. The dirt must have protected it

I run my cars into the ground anyway. Mines 16 years old and I'll run it until it dies.

I was trying to think there if there was anything I owned that would need ironing ever. The answer is NO. All my clothes are wash, dry, hang up. I make sure the fabric is uncrushable, it's not that hard to find. Even ordinary t shirts don't need ironing if they are smoothed out and hung up properly.

I can't think of anything worse than ironing. My DP on the other hand, even irons his underpants. I kid you not, but he was in a profession where neatness and inspections of uniforms was every day. Old habits die hard. But as long as I don't have to do it, that's fine. We are retired so he has all the time in the world to iron his smalls, shirts and whatnot. I on the other hand watch him from the sofa with tea and cake in my hand.

I have barely ever cleaned the car I've owned for the last 15 years. It gets an annual wash when the local scouts are out doing it to raise jamboree money. It has no rust. I'm sure it looks less attractive than my neighbours vehicle which gets washed more than the average teenage boy, but given i'll run it into the ground I'm not fussed about the resale value!

Iron?

Unreasonable. You're going on holiday, not to hang with the Windsors.

And before packing them?

Hahahahano.

The car is just going to sit there. Why are you making your pre holiday workload so much more than it needs to be?

The creases will drop out once he’s had it on for about 2 minutes anyway.

I always see comments about scruffs who don’t iron but I’ve honestly never been able to tell.

That's still ironing 😂 surely once he had it on for 5 minutes all the creases would drop anyway? Even my most houseproud fastidious friends don't touch an iron on holiday.

We're the same. Washing the car once a month would cost £35 where I live, sod that.

I would iron things as well, as then they’re less creased when you arrive. I don’t want to be ironing whilst on holiday.

I wouldn’t iron before packing, I wouldn’t see the point - it’ll get creased in the case.

totally fail to understand the car washing.

I iron before I pack, it makes packing easier.

I iron most of our clothes anyway, I have a lot of fabrics that crease badly and really need it, so I would carefully pack ironed clothes but I have never ironed anything on holiday.
Our car gets washed once a year, it gets a complimentary wash with the annual service.

You can just ask for an iron at reception, even Travelodge has them.

I also don’t get the logic behind the car washing either. Are you wanting it to look nice and sparkly clean and shiny so that people can admire it while it’s sat on your drive? I don’t get it lol.

I never understand the logic of why some people want everything to look ‘perfect’ before going on holiday. You’re going on a holiday and coming back. You don’t need to preserve everything in case some historian might come and find it and take it to a museum. You won’t be gone forever!

Has he told you what housework you need to do before you leave?

I definitely wouldn’t clean a car and then leave it at Gatwick Airport or shared for 2 weeks. What would be the point of that?

Yes. These are two non issues. His clothes have nothing to do with you, the car is fine and you won’t be there anyway.

add me to the never iron, never clean the car lists!

I iron mine, but then all my summer/warm weather things are cotton, linen, or a mix. I pack them in such a way that they don’t need ironing again after I arrive.

I do iron.
When packing I fold everything neatly and sometimes roll as well. I also pack to avoid things getting squashed. About 99% of the items arrive at my destination in a presentable state and generally only need hanging up or unrolling and put in drawers or on shelves.
As for the car, it would not be a high priority and I might prefer to wash it on my return, if it was dirty.

Each to their own - I iron my clothes anyway so when packing everything is ironed, rolled and put into packing cubes. I clean the house and change bedsheets before going away as I like coming back to a clean house but I wouldn’t bother with the car. I’d leave your DH to pack however he wants to.

I think if you normally iron things then you'll probably want to iron them before they go in your case. They wont come out perfectly, but the ironing will still definitely make a difference. We'd never normally iron t-shirts anyway though!

Definitely understand why you need to clean your car before you go away. What's your thinking??