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

[Supersares]

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 😀🤓

I can't not iron, it feels wrong not to. When I read how people avoid it by folding and smoothing and hanging it sounds more kerfuffle than ironing it.
Odd socks is another wrong thing to me, I can't wear them I feel uncomfortable. I'd rather wear no socks or an unwashed pair out of the washing basket. My adult DS never wears matching socks though, I try hard not to look at his feet!

I can't get my head around people piling dishes in the sink. It seems so counter productive.

@isthismylifenow

I'm glad it's not just me! I have a colleague that buys loads from Vinted and doesn't see the problem!

All my clothes are line dried and with more modern fabrics there's not much that needs ironing if you hang it up to dry properly. I avoid linen.
I do iron the odd item if it looks creased and I certainly never stand doing a pile of ironing for hours on end any more.

when I lived in a tiny flat I ironed bedding.
to dry it.
as hadn't space to store a spare set and no tumble dryer either.

agree with pp, I buy clothes in fabrics that are ever so slightly stretchy or are supposed to be crinkly. (jersey/t-shirt fabric, rayon).

This is incorrect. We have silk duvet /pillows and linen bedsheets. We just find the creases acceptable (esp on the mattress sheet where the fabric is pulled taut anyway).

I would agree. I iron most things, but 100% cotton bedding stretched out on the washing line dries with very few creases and I don't really iron it now. I have a couple of silk pillowcases and confess I sometimes iron those.

I cheat...I send husband's shirts and all bedding out to be ironed.
I try and fold clothes straight from coming off the line or dryer.
I will iron the odd thing if I must.

For what it's worth...not British

I'm an ironer.

When people, often said with a slight hint of superiority say 'oh I don't have time for mundane things like ironing' I'm afraid I often think 'yep, you can tell!'

We call our iron ‘the church bell’ because it comes out every couple of years and means we’re either off to a wedding or a funeral. DH only ever wears shirts to these events otherwise he’s in T-shirts and hoodies ( work clothes the same). DS wears a polo, and sweatpants or jersey shorts to school… doesn’t need ironing just like his play clothes and I wear a vest and dungarees or harem pants everyday because I work from home or I’m gardening so I can. All these things just hang on a hanger wet and are fine. I don’t use a drier even in winter but I have plenty of space to dry stuff properly and then I hang it. The entire family fills one double wardrobe and a chest of drawers because we’re just not interested in fashion or hoarding shit (other than books, instruments and art apparently 🤦‍♀️) but yeah the funeral suit and formal dress shit gets ironed but absolutely nothing else.

Now who’s being superior?

We know you can probably tell and we don’t give a monkey’s TBF.

I think ironing might make a comeback. In the past it was a way to ensure things were fully dry and sanitised. But with energy costs soaring people are using tumble driers and heating less. Damp homes and clothes are a health risk.

I think the reason that the older generation ironed tea towels and underwear was because it was a health issue for older generations than them and drummed in as good practice. Before antibiotics, indoor plumbing and electricity, bring a good housekeeper was much more important. In recent years it’s been about aesthetics and people rightly deprioritise it.

I hate ironing because it's boring and takes up precious time and nothing as it turns out actually even needs to be ironed.

For what it's worth...not British

Is that relevant? My grandmother isn't British and irons everything, even socks. Busy woman in the past with her career, too.

I've never thought of ironing as a line of infection control. Ironing tea towels makes much more sense from this angle.

We have a treat cupboard!

I wash tea towels at 90 for this reason. People used to boil their kitchen linens.

I've always just thrown tea towels in with the regular washing - most of which wouldn't appreciate a boil wash. I've never really thought about it before 😬 on the upside, we're all fine.

All towels and tea towels at 60c here. 90 seems a bit extreme these days.

To me anything else smacks of slovenly in my mind - the kind of people who also don't wipe around their light switches.

I am definitely slovenly then

Is good for the washer to have a hot wash so it feels like two birds with one stone.

I like to know the kitchen stuff is properly clean.

I don't even own an iron
I don't work so wear casual clothes but the same applies if I dress more formally for an occasion
I do buy good quality cotton tops( mostly secondhand)
I remove straight away, shake and dry on hangers with a splash of fabric conditioner.
Even when I had 3 young boys I didn't bother as the next minute they were rolling around on the floor
I think I've always looked presentable, and I've more important things to worry about

My towels get ironed. Bathroom ones as well as kitchen ones. But then I do live in Africa and mango worm (Putzi fly) is a real thing.

But I may be a tad paranoid but after I found a web nest on a towel on the line, everything is ironed.

I have dogs and they are carriers.

(I don't iron the dogs... But they do get a fairly frequent wash in season) 😀

@MidnightOnceMore

You know soap girls germs right? No need to burn energy boiling tea towels 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Getting socks to match, I've found is just having them matching in the first place, washing frequently (so pairs are together washing and drying), and if you have an odd one, keeping it to one side (e.g. on a radiator) as the pair should be in tye next wash. And if a sock has a beyond rescue hole, making sure the pair is thrown. Oh and I never wash socks and duvet covers in the same wash cos they get stuck. It's not foolproof, but find this makes it easier.

I promise you I don't iron anything day to day. I think it's important to have a 9kg/10kg washing machine drum. Non-iron shirts are fine. Duvets pulled taught are fine. I do own an iron, it comes out occasionally e.g. Black tie work dos/ weddings. I've never owned an ironing board. I'm in my 40s.

Don’t iron (except to press seams when sewing). Don’t use fabric conditioner and have never owned a tumble dryer. I used to work in a corporate job and always looked smart.

I use bleach sparingly (about once a month in the loo) and NEVER to clean up after incontinent animals; it just makes them wee in the same place again.

Oh yeah, and I only wipe my light switches if I think they need it, which isn’t often! Clearly I’m a sloven, and I’m very happy to be one. I’d rather spend my time reading a book than cleaning.