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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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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:

bigTillyMint · 03/10/2011 16:15

I iron as little as poss - only the few bits that I, DD and DS need as DH has to do his own shirts.

And I am training DS (10) DD is a slob like me

mousymouse · 03/10/2011 16:18

I don't iron. I just don't wear things that need ironing. and I do the "strategic drying" as well.

dh does his own shirts, but he does the strategic drying thing and it looks ok (but he doesn't work in a bank and wears dark shirts which are more forgiving)

GetOrfMo1Land · 03/10/2011 16:23

I don't do a great big pile of ironing which takes hours.

I have a dressing room where the ironing board is kept - I iron what I want to wear that day, it only takes minutes.

DD and DP iron their own stuff.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 03/10/2011 16:24

All of you lot who don't iron must have loads of space to hang things then. A few of you have mentioned drying flat, which just can't happen in my house, there's no space. So we have to hang on an airer and things still look crumpled. I'm a complete scruff but I can't do unironed.

HauntedLittleLunatic · 03/10/2011 16:25

I iron Hama beads...

bigTillyMint · 03/10/2011 16:28

GetOrf at a dressing room.

GetOrfMo1Land · 03/10/2011 16:34

tilly it is a ponced up word for the box room where I keep all my clothes as DP is such a popinjay he has taken up all the wardrobe space in our bedroom

ledkr · 03/10/2011 16:35

boak at crispy sheets.
Why is ironing still predominently a womans task.I have no interest in dh's ironing needs,hes an adult.

PetiteRaleuse · 03/10/2011 16:49

I iron DH's shirts as am on maternity leave. When we both work he does it himself.

mousymouse · 03/10/2011 17:55

no, not much space, just a normal wing airer.

WTFlike · 03/10/2011 18:15

A hundred years ago people heated irons on the fire so they could press their clothes.

Iron your clothes you slatterns.

twotesttickles · 03/10/2011 18:46

I have a steam generator. I can iron six washing machine loads in an hour with it - that surely is quicker than faffing about with correct alignment on the line (as if I have a line, I have a whirly and it doesn't bloody whirl ).

inmysparetime · 03/10/2011 19:04

Seriously, just put your clothes on an hour before leaving the house, and your body heat makes wear creases anyway.
I don't even own an ironing board
I did iron some Hama beads this year though.

dreamingbohemian · 03/10/2011 19:20

No I don't iron sheets, good lord

I buy jersey sheets, they don't wrinkle at all and are soooo soft, plus they dry really quick

Isn't ironing bad for clothes?

I have a lot of clothes that have lasted 10-15 years and still look great, I think it's because I never put them in the dryer (when I had one!) or ironed them

Mokemum · 03/10/2011 19:46

I iron dh's work shirts, otherwise he'd have me take them to the cleaners and that is almost as much bother and I'd rather save the cash.
I even have a steam generator iron to help me through the trauma of 5 shirts a week - and it's not that I have a lot to do.
It helps that I think men in freshly pressed casual trousers look a bit bokey - like mama's boys. Men in sharply tailored, pressed suits are fine though.

verysmellyeli · 03/10/2011 20:32

What is this ironing of which you speak?
I had this very same conversation at coffee this morning with several friends, and really could not have predicted the ones who ironed and the ones who didn't. It is a revelation to me that some of these people, who I had previously considered quite sane, iron their husband's pants.

For the love of God, why?????

I do like to give things a cracking good shake before I hang them out, and always try and fold quickly. Don't have a dryer. Don't yet have secondary school shirts. Thank my MIL daily for training my husband to do his own shirts.

Mokemum · 03/10/2011 21:05

My sister irons everything (including her dh's underwear) but she refuses to do his shirts because it is the only thing he'll iron!

Riveninabingle · 03/10/2011 21:08

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Riveninabingle · 03/10/2011 21:08

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cat64 · 03/10/2011 21:28

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PhyllisDiller · 03/10/2011 23:06

I don't iron. I'm to busy to notice the creases TBH. The house is a much tidier now I don't iron as there are no more piles of clothes waiting to be ironed.

I used to iron pants and socks, but I have 3 DC's under 5 so it would be silly to do that now.

On a good week/or bad week depending how you look at it the iron comes out for 15 minuets (20 at the very max) and I speed iron 5 shirts for DH and perhaps the odd bit of school uniform.

Folding is the key IMO, I take a while to bring the washing it as I fold it up as I take it off the line.

I'd say iron your work shirts and little else, put your ironing board away after the shirts are done and have a glass of wine!!

Clary · 03/10/2011 23:42

Saycool I don't think anyone on here spends 3 hours a day ironing

More like 3 hours a week, surely? (tho tbh I've never timed it).

Teatowels I iron too, they fit much better in the drawer (clothes and towels space at a premium here.

Don't iron ordinary towels tho, no change so no point. I also iron sheets for which I blame a good friend who is a madder ironer than me. It is nice tho.

getorf luvvin your dressing room and use of word popinjay

mummakaz · 05/10/2011 12:36

I very rarely iron. If I tumble dry I take the clothes out as soon as it's finished, shake and hang up. When I line dry I take it out the washing machine as soon as it's finished, shake, hang up on line and put it away as soon as it's dry and not leave it in piles.

I do find if I leave clothes folded in piles they get more creases in them so end up having to iron them....

hiddenhome · 06/10/2011 23:12

I've found a compromise

What I do is hang clothes on hangers as soon as they come out of the washer. If I dry outside, then I hang them up as soon as they come indoors.

Once they're dry I just hang them straight up in the wardrobes without ironing them first. They get a bit crushed in there anyway.

Each evening I select what we're going to wear the next day and hang in up.

I get ds1 to quickly iron his own school uniform for the next day and I do ds2's and my outfits. dh doesn't iron his stuff and I just leave him to it.

My ironing takes about 10 minutes, that's all.

I still have ironed clothes, but it takes hardly any time at all. I absolutely refuse to stand and do piles of ironing, life is too short

I like cotton clothes and most of my stuff does need an iron tbh, but the dcs clothes tend not to. I like them to have smart school shirts though.

SparkyToo · 08/10/2011 08:49

I rather like ironed clothes, rather than unironed. I don't do boxers though - but feel guilty that they can't be that comfortable to wear unironed!

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