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Original poster

Things you can’t get your head round, e.g Non ironers

230 replies

Supersares · 26/08/2023 05:33

Is it just me or does anyone else not understand how people who don’t iron manage ? Whenever someone tells me they don’t iron my brain can’t compute how they manage to have clothes looking crinkle free- without consciously buying clothes that don’t need ironing! I hang clothes on coat hangers, fold consciously to avoid creasing but still have to iron things like blouses, dh shirts and my dd school skirts, for example. Do I need to buy better quality clothing, is that the key? Can any non ironers out there share their secrets please 😀🤓

OP posts:
RudsyFarmer · 26/08/2023 08:36

I’ll iron shirts. Everything else just drops their creases on a hanger.

TheLadyInWestminsterAbbey · 26/08/2023 08:37

Perfectlystill · 26/08/2023 08:07

I iron twice a week. Husband's shirts, my shirts, children's t shirts, jeans, jumpers, dresses.

I iron our tea towels. If I am feeling magnanimous I even iron my husband's boxer shorts.

I don't enjoy ironing but half the time I don't mind it - I put a podcast on and do it in the kitchen so I can see and chat to everyone.

It is very satisfying to see a pile of stuff I've ironed. I then put it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days.

FYI I am not some sad 1959s housewife. I have a good full-time job in media and like running and going out drinking with friends.

But I think non ironed clothes look awful. And it makes me sad to imagine getting into non ironed sheets.

You and me Perfectly

I hate housework but I love ironing, it's so satisfying to have a pile of beautifully ironed clothes and linen. Always iron bed linen, I'd hate to get into a bed without ironed sheets.
And all cotton/linen clothes, though not casual T shirts etc.
I put on a podcast or something I've saved from the radio or sometimes something on iplayer to listen to while I do it and find it relaxing.

Once long ago I did a couple of agency nursing shifts for a very wealthy family in London. I was meant to be taking care of the lady of the house. First I had to iron a beautiful lacy linen over sheet to lay on the top of her bed before placing her breakfast tray! They had an ironing room with a TV and a roller steamer so you just folded sheets neatly and pressed a foot pedal and passed it between the rollers. I loved it - anything else to iron? It was the best couple of shifts, cooking lesson from the cook and watching the chauffeur polish the Rolls! 🤗

PuppyMonkey · 26/08/2023 08:41

I haven’t ironed anything since 2013, I was persuaded to give it up by my work colleagues who thought it hilarious when I moaned about having a big pile of ironing to come home to etc. I looked at them and thought they all looked fine so why was I bothering. This was a local paper newsroom, we all had to look smart and professional.

I think the key to giving up is to not care quite as much about things looking a bit creased. Generally, creases aren’t that noticeable once you’re wearing stuff and/or they drop out quickly.

I do spend a bit of time hanging clothes up properly after they’ve been washed and sort of stretching out fabric with my hand when wet. You get most of the big creases out easily then. Even with things like shirts, this works. If you tumble dry, hang things up immediately.

I never ironed the kids’ school uniform and they always looked fine.

People on MN will smugly claim they can always tell when someone doesn’t iron and it’s probably true, but you’ve just got to not care and laugh at them and say “that’s great what a marvellous super power you have” and carry on doing all the interesting things you now have time for because you don’t iron.Grin

glosspaintrules · 26/08/2023 08:42

We just give men's work shirts 15 mins in the dryer and hang up immediately. It has to be hung up immediately, then we run fingers over collars, cuffs and front edges to straighten up. I used to be a demon ironer, but now hardly ever need to.

With my dresses and tops, I wash in the machine on a lower temperature than the care label says, and a slower spin. Then hang up immediately in a warm place and let dry.

I think if you're careful how you wash stuff, that can be half the battle. Try to time a wash so you're there to take stuff out straight away, then it's not lying them damp and crumpled in the drum. Our machine has a rinse hold button, it will hold onto the last rinse water and every so often turn the drum. Then we press the button again when we're ready to unload.

isthismylifenow · 26/08/2023 08:45

Hmmthatsgoodchicken · 26/08/2023 08:18

I don't iron.
I don't overfill the washing machine and then I shake every item as I put it on the line.
i do have a dress that I don't know what to do with - it's creased like seriously creased. It got forgotten about in a suitcase pocket (I don't even know) I've washed it and shaken it. (It helped slightly)
its that weird non ironable fabric that shrivels if you go near it with the iron. I don't know whether to hang it in the bathroom for a few days when everyone has a shower and hope it drops it's creases. Or to invest in a steamer 😬 or put it in the wardrobe and never look at it again.

I you don't have a steamer, I would try the hanging in the bathroom method.

Most fabrics can be ironed, just use the lowest setting on the iron.
You can put a damp cloth over the dress too, and just press the iron on to it.

It would be a shame for it to remain in the back of the cupboard for this reason.

SharonEllis · 26/08/2023 08:45

geoger · 26/08/2023 05:38

I don’t understand that either. No matter how carefully I smooth out creases some stuff just needs ironing.
I also don’t understand how people get by without using bleach in their home

Never use bleach - what is it for?

inonan · 26/08/2023 08:46

I iron around 90% of our clothes. Things I don't iron include; most knitwear, towels, underwear socks, gym wear (can't really be ironed and has to be air or line dried too). I rarely iron duvet covers, prefer line dry which takes away a lot of creases if stretched, as they're hidden under bedspreads anyway.

T shirts might be acceptable if taken straight from a warm tumble dryer, but they look better ironed with crisp arm creases. I iron everything else, as skirts and dresses really need ironing.

I bought a hand held steamer ages ago and that's used for anything that looks rumpled from being hung in the wardrobe, but I rarely use it. It wouldn't be good enough to take the place of ironing either.

Nannyfannybanny · 26/08/2023 08:46

Ironing isn't a battle,I can iron while watching TV no problems. I don't let it mount up. What are you doing that your clothes get creased up as soon as you wear them. How do you magically remove the peg mark from clothes dried outside!

Tracker1234 · 26/08/2023 08:48

I do iron but not obsessively! It doesn’t take long if you do something else like watch TV.

I have my tin hat at the ready but people who claim they don’t iron and are say customer facing. Do you know that a lot of people who meet you will look at your crumpled clothes and think if you don’t care about the way you look what will your work look like. For example if you were going for a job interview (all you non ironers) would you seriously turn up in an non ironed outfit?

Willmafrockfit · 26/08/2023 08:49

i got rid of the drier as i rarely used it
i am very careful at hanging up - on the line- then on the airer, on hangers in the window

YukoandHiro · 26/08/2023 08:49

I don't iron unless it's a crisp shirt for work.

I buy clothes that don't need ironing. I literally don't have time to add ironing into my housework rota and can't afford to pay someone to do it

Willmafrockfit · 26/08/2023 08:50

you peg in a particular place

SharonEllis · 26/08/2023 08:50

I iron because I buy mostly cotton & linen (plus a bit of viscose, which varies in its crumpledness) & I've been doing it so long I find it quite relaxing. For me there should be a correlation between ironers & people who don't use completely unnecessary & harmful chemicals like bleach & air fresheners (the most mis-named thing ever!). Am I the only one?

inonan · 26/08/2023 08:50

I only iron once or twice a week so it doesn't really impact on anything else. I can tell the people who don't iron, and sorry to say that their general grooming and attention to detail is often equally lacking.

YukoandHiro · 26/08/2023 08:50

SellFridges · 26/08/2023 05:48

I don’t iron or use much bleach.

Probably get the iron out a few times a year for specific outfits or items that need it. School uniform is all non crease style and comes out of the tumble dryer just needing a shake and hanging up. I genuinely don’t know why you’d bother ironing it. Too much time?

Bleach is only used down the toilet. Not even sure when or where else I’d need to use it.

I need to use bleach in the kitchen sink plug holes otherwise a fetid stench builds up. Old plumbing that we will replace when we eventually get a new kitchen, but that won't be for a few years

DustyLee123 · 26/08/2023 08:50

I don’t iron, but I do use a lot of bleach.

Piccalillipromises · 26/08/2023 08:53

Bleach has its uses, good for getting rid of any black mould spots round the bath (or anywhere else for that matter), giving tiled floors in kitchens and bathrooms a good disinfecting from time to time, and for soaking dirty dishcloths so they come up good as new (no way am I putting a stinking dishcloth in the washing machine!).

My mother likes to bleach pretty much every hard surface in her house to within an inch of it's life though, now that I really don't understand!

Applesandpears23 · 26/08/2023 08:54

I have large boobs so I never buy shirts with buttons only stretchy patterned fabric. These don’t need ironing.

My DP works in jeans and a jumper (tech industry). The kids have non-iron tops for school not blouses.

We don’t iron. I also don’t wear make up or heels. Shocking I know!

DelphiniumBlue · 26/08/2023 08:55

Cotton shirts need ironing but poly cotton ( like school shirts) don't really need to be ironed, especially if you hang them outside to dry. Inside, you can just pull them around to stretch out any wrinkles . Its not perfect but it's good enough. I used to iron school shirts, but after finding them in the floor, stopped doing it. Anyone who wants to iron their clothes can, that includes DH and DC from about 10 or 11.
I have a few dresses that need ironing, but tbh creases drop out once you wear them anyway.
So I don't do no ironing, but very little. My sons ( now adult) do look a bit scruffy, but that is their concern, not mine.

43ontherocksporfavor · 26/08/2023 08:56

Yeah I don’t get the non iron ‘movement’ I mean I hate ironing and I fold where I can but I like linen and cotton etc and they need ironing!
My other one is households that have treat cupboards. Whole drawers or cupboards of chocolate, cakes and crisps. Ok I’m thinking of the TV shows where the salad drawers on fridges are full of chocolate so maybe extreme examples but have heard from my DC that similar happens in friends’ houses. We have biscuits but just one packet a week with the shopping, I make cakes occasionally and buy chocolate occasionally and eat it. I just don’t get the need for shedloads of junk especially with kids in the house.

Namechange666 · 26/08/2023 08:57

LMAO!

I am a non ironer. I think most of my clothes are of the stretchy or looose variety that doesn't need ironing.
My partner does his own ironing. Anything that does need ironing doesn't get worn very often haha.

natura · 26/08/2023 08:57

Tracker1234 · 26/08/2023 08:48

I do iron but not obsessively! It doesn’t take long if you do something else like watch TV.

I have my tin hat at the ready but people who claim they don’t iron and are say customer facing. Do you know that a lot of people who meet you will look at your crumpled clothes and think if you don’t care about the way you look what will your work look like. For example if you were going for a job interview (all you non ironers) would you seriously turn up in an non ironed outfit?

Yup. We are all unemployed. Every last one of us.

katepilar · 26/08/2023 08:57

geoger · 26/08/2023 05:38

I don’t understand that either. No matter how carefully I smooth out creases some stuff just needs ironing.
I also don’t understand how people get by without using bleach in their home

What do you use the bleech for?

YukoandHiro · 26/08/2023 08:58

Piccalillipromises · 26/08/2023 08:53

Bleach has its uses, good for getting rid of any black mould spots round the bath (or anywhere else for that matter), giving tiled floors in kitchens and bathrooms a good disinfecting from time to time, and for soaking dirty dishcloths so they come up good as new (no way am I putting a stinking dishcloth in the washing machine!).

My mother likes to bleach pretty much every hard surface in her house to within an inch of it's life though, now that I really don't understand!

The bleach doesn't actually get rid of the mould - it just bleaches it so you can't see it. Better to use a specific mould remover product which kills the pores

MrsFiddle · 26/08/2023 08:58

I am an ironer and would hazard a guess that people who don't iron sleep in poly cotton bed linens and sweat shirt type fabric things , leggings, poly cotton T shorts etc as you can get away with that. Personally there is nothing I love better than the feeling of a fresh bed 100% cotton - takes me about 5 mins maybe to iron? I was brought up by my Mum to be clean and tidy and that all that is required is a bit of effort. We did not have a lot of money. To me anything else smacks of slovenly in my mind - the kind of people who also don't wipe around their light switches. This springs to mind as I recall years ago going to someone's big posh house and the dirt on their doors around handles and light switches was mind blowing. It doesn't take long to iron and I only do it maybe once every two weeks.