This is brought to you by a Reddit post on ironing pillowcases. And sheets. And duvet covers. Also starching shirts. Do people do this anymore?
My mother had an ironing board and an iron and a huge basket full of clothes she was going to get around to ironing any day now. I used to raid it to steal fabric for the little animals I made and the clothes for my dolls. (I made a lot of stuffed animals, but also shirts and shoes and hats for my dolls. I could never figure out how to make pants, but luckily all my dolls were all babies.)
I do remember her ironing my father's handkerchiefs. He had these big white cotton handkerchiefs, and he carried one every day. Men from the 1950s, it was another world. Anyway, she had to keep him supplied with those, so she would crack out the iron when he was getting low. Oh! And she had this thing she put on a Coke bottle -- a real glass coke bottle -- which had holes in it, so she could sprinkle the laundry while she was ironing it. Whaaaat!
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| Yes, like this! |
When I moved out, I bought myself things that had always been somewhere around the house -- screwdrivers, and tin snips, tape, a mop -- but I never bought an iron and I've never needed one. Once when my mother came to visit, she wanted to iron something, so she went out and bought a travel iron and a little ironing board. But when we moved we left it behind.
Generally I only wear clothes that don't need ironing, like shorts and teeshirts, though I did have a linen shirt once. If you hung it up carefully and let it drip dry, it wouldn't wrinkle until you'd been wearing it five or six minutes. I did love that shirt.
And I remember when I graduated high school, my SIL made fun of me because I hadn't ironed the robe before I put it on. (Could you even iron those things? They were 100% polyester.)
Why would you iron sheets? Does it make them feel nicer?
Do y'all iron? and if so, what?
13 comments:
I ironed a lot of my father's handkerchiefs as well. So did my mother. My father said ironing was women's work and did not do it and would get very upset if he ran out of ironed handkerchiefs. Such a selfish jerk.
My DC2 is learning how to use hir sewing machine and just this morning commented that we don't have an iron which would make some things easier. But zie said we didn't need to get one. (I'm like, if we're going to walmart for more cloth ANYWAY...)
My father also would get upset if he ran out of freshly ironed handerkerchiefs!
I do iron occasionally but only if I can't avoid it! But mostly shirts and dresses. Never linens! My spouse irons his work shirts. Also I do iron while I'm sewing, it amkes a big difference in the quality of the finished product.
Yes with the handkerchiefs! Dad used to carry them and Mom spent hours ironing handkerchiefs and dress shirts and her nursing uniforms (actual white dresses, not scrubs). I don't recall when my husband stopped carrying handkerchiefs but I'm glad he did. He irons his own dress shirts, which I appreciate. I used to love sewing clothes, especially with natural fibers, and yes an iron is necessary for many sewing projects, but I no longer wear clothes that need to be ironed or dry-cleaned. Ironing sheets? Never. But I do recall Mom ironing Dad's boxer shorts. I mean, why?
Boxer shorts! Yes, why? I'd forgotten about sewing. They taught me to sew with a pattern when I was in Home Ec in Kansas, and yeah, ironing was vital for that.
I only sew buttons now, though, and broken seams. You don't need irons for that.
I don't iron anything. Though I only do hand sewing these days and I will do 'finger pressing' for some of those things. I'm with my paternal grandmother on this--she switched to polyester pantsuits as soon as they were available so that at least she wouldn't have to iron her own clothes. (Okay, I don't have any polyester pantsuits, but you know what I mean.)
I do have handkerchiefs, mostly made of squares from old nightgowns (I love flannel hankies best) or boxers (fun patterns). I do not iron them. But then I don't arrange them prettily in a jacket pocket; I just stuff them in a shorts pocket.
I've never starched anything and basically feel very lucky to live in a city that's culturally casual.
I'm also clueless about why one should iron sheets. But the Rebel Badge Book (of adult merit badges) has a requirement in its Adulting badge to make your bed every morning and change your sheets every week for a month. And also, 'if you have an iron, take time to iron them after drying--trust me it makes a huge difference.' It makes me think I need to get rid of my iron before doing this badge! And why wait until they're dry? It seems like ironing them while damp might be quicker. As I said, I have no clue.
I decided to get a clue did some googling. Supposedly they make the sheets feel softer. And because they straighten the fibers, they may help sheets last longer (that's the opposite of what I would have guessed). The heat kills germs and reduces allergens. However, I'm now even more clueless about why you get them completely dry because then you're supposed to steam them or spray water on them to dampen them.
The heat killing mites was what I was thinking, so that makes sense. But yeah, my mother always sprinkled what she was ironing with water, which would make them damp again.
When no-iron button-down shirts became a thing, my mom stopped ironing my dad's. I learned to iron with his shirts, doing each section in a very particular order. And in the 90s I had a lot of rayon tops that needed ironing. I remember taking a folding travel iron to France in 1993. These days the only thing I get the iron out for is blocking and ironing needlework. My spouse does have a lot of linen button-downs, though, and while they go to the dry-cleaner's, he does use hotel irons on them as needed when he travels for business.
Linen is the only thing I own that would require ironing! And I don't own it anymore.
I’m old. I use cotton handkerchiefs and I iron them, mostly. I also iron the bottom bed sheets and pillow covers because they feel much nicer when I do. Otherwise I do not iron.
Can you explain why they feel better? Because they're smoother, maybe? I'm really, really loathe to start ironing things, but on the other hand comfortable sleep matters a LOT to me.
My grandmother ironed sheets. And pretty much everything else. But, she started out life as a housemaid, at about the age of 14. She was probably required to iron sheets as part of her job.
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