I love to iron! I do. To me, there's nothing as pretty as a line-up of crisply ironed shirts awaiting replacement into the closet. It represents order and control, albeit temporarily. I love irons, too! I am lucky enough to have an iron that's also a steam generator, I adore it. I have a travel iron, a heavy old-fashioned iron for messy jobs (fusing), a regular steam iron and a Clover mini-iron. They each have a place and a purpose. Kyle was at least seven or eight years old before he even knew that the ironing board could actually be folded up and put away! It was always standing tall somewhere near my sewing machine, I can still recall the astonished look on his face when I showed him how the legs collapsed flat! (He also thought every home had an Olfa mat and a rotary cutter as normal operating equipment; but that's another story altogether!) Sometimes my ironing basket gets full, no worries--that's a joyful day for me! But, for the most part I keep on top of the ironing. Generally I iron before dawn, a few pieces a day. It's almost like sewing... it keeps me centered. I'm planning on using the linen tablecloth for Easter dinner and the matching linen napkins trimmed with battenburg lace. (There's a method to my madness... oops, you're on to me!)Life is Good!
8 comments:
An appropriate post to follow up on the "steamed" theme. I like the idea of ironing - crisp shirts and fabric. The lovely smell of frehsly pressed clothes. The warmth. The lack of wrinkles. The simple domesticity of it.
The smell I can duplicate okay, but it's that lack of wrinkles that gets me. I can't seem to get that to happen.
You're welcome to come over and iron anytime!
I used to iron just about everything - but that has faded over time. The cleaners can do so much better of a job *s* Leaves me more time to sew.
I agree that the cleaners usually does a better job. However, I have discovered a starching product that gets exceptionally close. As opposed to spraying on the starch, this starch comes in a bottle like laundry detergent. You dilute the solution and soak the clothes in it and then ring them out. As you iron, the clothes are dried and come out extremely sharp. You control the stiffness by the extent to which you dilute it. I've noticed that this also reduces sticking and marking, perhaps because there is no overspray getting on everything, but I'm not sure.
The only drawback is that it obviously makes more sense to do alot of ironing all at once. This is a bummer for me, because I have fallen into a routine with my daughter when I do my daily ironing for the next work day. I pull out the ironing board and that harsh and totally unique sound of an ironing board being opened calls in my daughter. She then turns on the radio and jumps on the bed while I iron. How did this start? I don't really remember. But it takes ironing from being a task to being fun.
So perhaps a compromise would be to iron all my shirts on Sunday, but still break out the ironing board for slacks each night, since they aren't starched.
(Yes, I cook too!!)
P.S. To confess, I not only love a row of ironed shirts, but I actually arrange them according to color. Obviously, all white together. All blues together with the added OCD factor of sorting them from lighter to darker.
It's a sickness. But I figure it's better than other available vices.
Mrs. G: I cannot say that I share your love of ironing but I do iron out of necessity. Perhaps it's because it takes too much time? Or because my mother gave me the chore of ironing and we had a full laundry basket? (not going to talk about laziness here...no no) :) But I can share the looking at the row of completed ironing, DH's shirts. And like another comment, my OCD comes out when I line them up organized by color. I can't say that I hate ironing, I just don't love it. :)
Growing up, Tuesday was ironing day (because Monday was laundry day). My mother would sit, yes sit, at her ironing board for hours, sprinkling the clothes with water then carefully rolling them up into little sausages and piling them neatly on the end of the ironing board waiting for their turn to be pressed. She ironed everything: shirts, undershirts, pants, sheets, handkerchiefs. In fact, my first lessons in ironing were on my father's handkerchiefs....nice square pieces of fabric with no buttons, pleats, or sleeves. I've come so far since then.
I iron every week or two, and in between if necessary. I have been known to buy Hubby a few more shirts if his collection wasn't big enough to allow enough time between ironing sessions! I like to iron in the afternoon when I'm chilled because it warms me right up. I put on my telephone headset and talk to my far away sister while I iron, or Oprah keeps me company. It's my routine.
I don't sort the shirts by color, but I do sort them by ones worn with suits and ones that are more casual and worn with khaki's. I love when Hubby comes home, looks in his closet, and proclaims,"Wow, look at all these freshly pressed shirts. How will I decide which one to wear?". That's his routine.
I'm a fast ironer....it amazes my children. They find the job tedious and slow. But I taught them all well and they can all iron a perfect shirt in their own due time.
I realize now that I could have made my own post all about ironing! Who would have thought that your post, Mrs. G, would have stirred up so much emotion and memory centering around a household chore?!
I couldnt believe my eyes! Someone who enjoys ironing??
It is a chore & a bore to me, except on really cold days, when it can warm me up.
But I do love ironing my newly purchased quilt fabrics, after I have washed them - it means I can fondle & admire them even more. And admire the softly folded neat pile, pre stashing them away.
a few days ago, kyle was at my house...and happened to be looking for something in my kitchen. he opened one of the many little pantry type doors, and out came the built in ironing board. in my opinion he was overly excited with his discovery....but after reading this, i think it all makes sense now! :)
I only iron sewn seams!! ( Well, not quite, maybe the odd blouse in summer) I don't have a husband so I don't need to do the shirt thing and if my son wants anything ironed - what teenager does these days? - he knows where the iron is. It's kind of funny really. When I did do lots of ironing I used to put my ironing board away after each use. Now the ironing board is permanently up, it only gets used for patchwork!
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