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Original poster

For those who don't iron

100 replies

bigfatgypsy · 02/10/2011 22:17

Do you really not iron 'anything'? What about shirts and blouses that crease?

I'd love to stop ironing but I don't see how I can. I have work blouses that I just can't wear wrinkled, and things like dd's school shirts just look messy if I don't iron them.

If I put everything in the dryer and then get them out in time I can just about get away with it, but I'm often at work all day so if I put them in first thing its ages before I can get them out and by then they're creased. And if I put them on the line the wrinkles just seem to set in.

How do you do it?

OP posts:
FromGirders · 02/10/2011 23:11

I have no wish to look like a fashionplate.
But most of my acquaintances (not necessarily close friends) would describe me as tidy and organised.

Original poster
bigfatgypsy · 02/10/2011 23:11

Thanks everyone, I'm willing to give it a try but I don't think I'll manage it ! I just can't let the kids wear wrinkled clothes, I can't! Even polo shirts - ok so they don't NEED to be ironed but in my eyes they just look messy if they haven't. The sleeves aren't smooth and there are lines in the backs Grin

It doesn't matter does it I suppose. I wouldn't mind if I was a total neat-freak but I'm really not normally. I just can't get my head round it.

OP posts:
TRYSOR · 02/10/2011 23:12

I am with you i iron nada and i do not lie either.
Sometimes i am too honest and people gsp at the things i say but i know most people re thinking it ;-)

FromGirders · 02/10/2011 23:12

Wearing 100% cotton today.

MrsRhettButler · 02/10/2011 23:17

i have a friend who doesn't iron anything and she says that people 'can't tell'.....

i can so tell! she has two dds and they wear skirts that are all crumpled, they just look messy.

she says its ok if you hang them straight on the line...
....i say its clearly NOT ok because all her clothes are creased.

she thinks i am just picky! Grin

40Weeks · 02/10/2011 23:17

I used to iron everything until discussing with friends who didn't, and then realized I had never noticed or thought that they looked scruffy, so gave it a go. Never looked back. Line dry where possible and then sling it all in the dryer for 10mins with those dryer balls, remove and fold and soon as poss. Hey presto. Dh has to do his own shirts though, can't get away with it for shirts.

CointreauVersial · 02/10/2011 23:19

I really truly iron virtually nothing, no word of a lie. DH has the odd posh shirt and I have a couple of dresses that really can't get away without being ironed, and that's about it. I shake stuff out and hang it really flat to dry, then fold neatly, and that does the job.

I barely have enough hours in the day to do the rest of the housework, why would I waste time ironing a school shirt for the DCs to trash in a couple of hours?

BonnyBanks · 02/10/2011 23:26

I iron for two main reasons: One - I like ( myself and my children) to look smart and well presented and Two - we don't have much storage space and I find that everything fits better in the drawers if it is ironed.

If other people chose not to iron, no problem - completely up to them. I don't judge but I certainly notice. I would never be so rude as to comment though.

Arkady · 02/10/2011 23:45

I haven't ironed in over 10 years.
DH irons his own shirt for weddings / job interviews, and wears a tshirt to work. DS1 has poloshirts for school. DS2 is 2 months old.

I shop carefully, don't own a tumble dryer, and hang things up smoothly to dry.

I'm with everyone who said the just ironed look vanishes in a few minutes of putting something on. Have always got to work by public transport, and it certainly didn't outlast the journey.

People honestly don't notice. A friend once announced he hadn't ironed anything for a fortnight (mostly because he'd stayed with his sister and she'd done a load for him). He didn't believe me when I said I hadn't ironed the whole time he'd known me, that nothing any of us were wearing at the time was ironed, etc etc. He was convinced that he would have noticed has this been the case, but he didn't. It was a revelation to him, and he now does about 1/4 of the ironing he used to.

Clary · 03/10/2011 00:20

OK sazzavoom you don't iron, but someone in your house irons a man's work shirts. You don't wear cotton shirts you say. Your DC don't go to secondary school I guess (DS1's school shirts look awful unironed IMO). So I'm going with my first option for your DH and my second for you Grin

Agree bonnybanks re things fitting better in drawers if ironed. Also I maintain as ever that it can't take that much longer for me to iron my T-shirt than it does for the rest of you to hang it out oh so carefully and stretchingly on the line, put it into the dryer for 10 minutes and then at once fold it up quickly and carefully... I'll just run it over with the iron thanks Grin

startail · 03/10/2011 00:30

Shirts and school blouses are hooked over the hinges of the clothes horse, just as if they were hung on a coat hook, but with more air circulation. They come out much less creased dried like this than tumble dried or hung by their shoulders on the line.
The DDs mostly wear jumpers at school and DH spends an hour in the car so prestige shirts are a waste anyhow.
I confess that the very few shirts that refuse to look reasonable after this testament go to the charity shopBlush

startail · 03/10/2011 00:33

Testament, treatment MNHQ we need a iPod pissing about with my post emoticon

Concordia · 03/10/2011 00:34

i have only ironed twice this year - once for selling stuff at nct sale! and the nigth before going back to school i gave DS's polo tops a go and did some iron in labels. DH doesn't wear shirts at work.

Concordia · 03/10/2011 00:35

i really believe life is too short to iron.
my mum used to iron knickers adn tea towels.
i decided to go to other extreme.

Concordia · 03/10/2011 00:35

we tend to use hangers rather than drawers though, that helps.

startail · 03/10/2011 00:40

Oh and my absolutely has to be ironed spiral cut cord skirt DH irons. Else I another who generally tries to buy things that don't need ironing.
I notice DD1s very best dress in my laundry basket, grr that has an absolutely flat straight skirt, not nice soft gathers like most of mine. I fear I will have to get the iron out and I seriously am not absolutely sure where it isBlush

gotobedsleepyhead · 03/10/2011 00:43

I once started a thread on mumsnet about ironing - it went on and on. I was definitely in the non-iron camp. However I will admit I have ironed the odd outfit for myself and dd if they look awfully creased, however I try not to buy anything that will need lots of ironing & I try to do smart drying, hanging & folding to avoid it wherever possible. Dp won't let me do his work shirts as he says my ironing is rubbish.
I have just remembered mil is coming to stay in 3 weeks and likes all her bedclothes to be ironed so goodness knows what I am going to do then!! Perhaps dp would like to do it....

AmberLeaf · 03/10/2011 01:20

Tumble dry. No ironing at all

NotADudeExactly · 03/10/2011 01:42

In our household, there are two types of clothing that get the honour:

  • DH's work shirts, only on days when his line manager is in
  • All my handmade stuff

To be fair, when I had a job that required perfect grooming it was one that provided dry cleaning as a staff benefit. This definitely helped.

BonnyBanks · 03/10/2011 08:20

Concordia I iron tea towels and (the children's pants) .... It doesn't take very long...

dreamingbohemian · 03/10/2011 08:28

I honestly never iron. We don't even own an iron!

I only buy clothes that don't need to be ironed -- I think they are more comfortable anyway (would rather wear a soft jersey jumper than a stiff cotton blouse)

There is also an art to hanging wet clothes so they don't wrinkle

But, neither of us have corporate jobs. I accept that if we did, we would have to pay someone to iron do some ironing.

Woodlands · 03/10/2011 08:31

I don't iron. My DH irons his own work shirts (I do offer to do them occasionally but he doesn't normally let me). I just don't really have any clothes that need ironing, and those that do I don't wear very often. When I was pregnant most of my maternity clothes seemed to need ironing, so I did a lot then. But since then - no.

SayCoolNowSayWhip · 03/10/2011 08:43

Life is way too short for ironing. Who on earth has time to spend 3 hours a day ironing?! Shock TBF my DH doesn't wear shirts to work, and DD is only 11 months so don't need to worry about school uniform. I hang things up, the creases fall out. I wash on an anti-crease setting.

These people who iron underpants and teatowels ? I'm not judging, I just don't understand.... Confused

AutumnHues · 03/10/2011 09:20

I only iron if I really need to so that would be the odd school PE shirt that got creased in the wash.
What I try to do is fold things neatly when dirty put in laundry bin, wash them, then hang on line or airer, when dry put away.
I don't work outside of the house so I don't have to look perfect!
My husband is a factory worker so he also doesn't wear shirts.
So it's only ds school stuff really that might need it.

notcitrus · 03/10/2011 09:23

I don't iron - I don't wear shirts much either as I can't do the buttons and having large breasts means it's really hard to find ones that fit.
MrNC now wears shirts to work but they won't look ironed by the time he's cycled for 45 min so no point.

I'm kind of hoping ds ends up at the school where they wear polo shirts rather than the one with white shirts, but will deal if I have to. Actually MrNC is better at ironing so with luck he'll do it. :)

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