I'm not teaching my kid to iron. Do I need to? - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

I'm not teaching my kid to iron. Do I need to?

Anonymous

So I don't own an ironing board, but I do have an old iron up in the cupboard. Plus a steamer I will occasionally drag out (maybe 3 times a year).

A couple years ago, I had to put down a towel to iron on a decal on a shirt. And today, I showed DD the steamer for the first time. She didn't seem very intrigued.

I remember ironing a ton of my own clothes in high school. Now, I either dry clean or pass on items that get too wrinkly. Mostly I don't buy them in the first place. I am vigilant about hanging things up to minimize wrinkles.

So here's my question, if I teach her to do laundry and bake from scratch, can I be off the hook about teaching her to iron? Or should I be feeling neglectful and add it to my to do list?

I see ironing kind of like cursive. Most schools don't even teach it anymore.

General

53 replies

Latest reply was from

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Hahaha....this cracked me up! Ok - so my mom didn't teach me how to iron because she doesn't iron anything. She just gives all laundry for ironing (it's common in India, laundry services collect clothes from home, iron them and bring them back the next day).

Yet, I iron everything. I could use the same service (it's readily available here in my building) but I actually *like* doing it myself. I do it for an hour or so every Sunday morning while I listen to music (headphones plugged in) and it's part of 'me' time.

Go ahead and give ironing classes a miss. If your daughter ever decides to iron, she'll learn it herself

kkards

Veteran

i see ironing the same way....but...everyone once in a while, it is a useful skill....so on the rare occasions that you do drag out the ironing board...i'd give the kids a quick lesson

unfrumped

Veteran

I think it's more relevant to teach, insofar as you can, things about fabrics and care and how there is initial cost and upkeep cost.
For example, it would be counterproductive to encourage her buy say, yay, look at this on-sale acetate-rayon skirt, or !00% cotton (inexpensive, cotton-lawn type fabric) and then wash & machine dry and say, oh look how it shrank, wrinkled etc (unless you are doing an intentional lesson!). But researching and experimenting carefully about what is reallly washable, how things look--that goes with your plan of teaching how to do laundry--how to launder for best results and then to discuss, well, this is what some wrinkles look like--if you like the crisp look, you will have to.... buy very specific highly wrinkle-resistant fabrics, or iron, or send out.

My mom sewed and she didn't manage to get too far in teaching me to sew, but fabric evaluation and care is one of the most valuable things she taught me.

RobinF

Veteran

I hate ironing but I also hate dry cleaning so some ironing is necessary (shirt collars etc). That being said I don't think I taught my kids how so they will just figure it out if necessary. Is it different for guys maybe? My husband probably irons more than I do.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I say a basic ironing class because it could be very helpful like writing cursive. You have me laughing also. I usually just use my portable steamer. and the dry cleaners is cheap cheap now we have a 1 price cleaners.

retailgirl

Veteran

I love to iron but seldom do it anymore...knits, non-iron shirts and dry cleaning took care of that! When I was in Jr.High, cotton Oxford button down collar shirts were all the rage. My mother said that if I wanted to buy some with my baby sitting money, I could, but that I'd have to iron them. So she taught me how, shoulders and yoke first, sleeves, (with or without a crease!) body and then collar. This would be the mid 1960's. I still think it's a valuable skill to have.

kimlee

Veteran

My mother never taught me to iron - even though she ironed all of my father's work clothes, her Sunday best, and a few items for me. My wardrobe consists mainly of items that don't require ironing. But my husband's dress shirts do require ironing - I taught myself how to do it but most of the time he does it because he knows I don't enjoy it.

JAileen

Veteran

My mother taught me to iron. I started with my dad's handkerchiefs, then pillowcases, and then shirts.

When my husband wore starched shirts to work, we sent them out. They took me 20-30 minutes each, times 5, which came to a lot of time I didn't have since I worked full time too. Could my husband have ironed them? Yes, but he did a crummy job, and we all know appearance at work is important.

Anonymous

Maneera - I have a friend who likes to iron too. But what I'm hearing from you is she will teach herself if it's important. I mean, I'm talking about a kid who googled how to make grilled cheese. Hmm - but I found my instruction was more important in even that task.

Kkards, Ledonna, retail girl - maybe a quick lesson wouldn't be unwarranted.

RobinF and kimlee - so what you're saying is find a husband who can iron?? Ha ha.

Unfrumped - you make a good point about care and fabrics. She may not be super interested beyond crew neck tees and jeans, but I will work on that with her. She's purchased a few mistakes already, which have been good teaching moments. From cheap polyester to paper thin soled shoes to high heel boots (oh really, those aren't comfortable?).

Anonymous

JAileen - I remember ironing my dad's handkerchiefs too. I send out starched shirts too because it takes me just as long. Luckily we have a pretty decent place to go that's not too pricy.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

On the list Find a Husband
next find a husband to iron lol

Anonymous

Ledonna - I'm going to hope she holds out for a little more than that

Anonymous

I think it's just one of those basic household skills of which it's good to have knowledge. A couple of quick lessons would probably do the trick. Of course the most important step is to remember to turn the iron off when you're done!

I'm unusual because I love to iron. Put on a movie, give me a basket of ironing, and I'm in the zone. My mother used to pay me to do the family's ironing and I would watch Tarzan movies. Bliss!

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Yup. This exactly what I'm saying. And at her age, I didn't know how to make grilled cheese either. I swear! I was the kind of kid who knew zilch in terms of housework. I could cook nothing, clean nothing and had never ever tied up my closet either. My mom did all that.

But here's what happened. When I moved out at 17 to go to college, my room was a huge mess. I couldn't find clothes. I didn't know how to maintain them either. I remember, I used to come back from class and throw my outfit onto the only chair in the room. In a month th, the chair was full and my closet was empty. And that's when I missed mom! I was used to neat & tidy, because that's how my mom kept everything. So I got down to laundering my clothes, ironing them, folding them and putting them in place, and I'm still exactly like that at 32.

Point being - you think you need to teach her everything, but don't stress about it. She'll learn. But if you try and teach her all this NOW, she'll have zero interest in it and may even start to resent the very idea of wardrobe maintenance/organization. At her age, no one cares about an ironing lesson!

Liz

Veteran

It's good to know what an iron is and what they're for (!) ... but it never worked for me when my mom wanted to teach me to do something that I knew she herself didn't ever want to do and avoided whenever she could.

Anonymous

I think it's a valuable skill. My mother taught me when I was about 8 or 10 years old. I started out just ironing hankerchiefs, lol.

FWIW, I think it's still important to learn to write in cursive, too.

Anonymous

BC - my DD did learn cursive, but it's more important for signature and reading. Because she doesn't do it enough, it's faster for her to print or type.

Diana

Veteran

I know how to iron but I hardly ever do it. I do think it's useful to at least know the basics. A friend of mine in college came to me in a panic once because he had an important interview and realized his one and only dress shirt was too wrinkly to be decent, and he didn't know how to iron and didn't have enough time to take it to the cleaners for pressing. So it's a good skill to know for those types of situations!

My husband wears dress shirts daily to work and irons them every weekend. He claims even the no iron ones benefit from a quick pressing. So id say it's still a useful skill to have!

(ETA: also I think it's good to know your way around an iron so you don't end up burning yourself or your surroundings when you realize you need to iron but don't know which end of it is up! basic safety 101.)

rabbit

Veteran

I'm one of those who finds ironing really relaxing, especially ironing handkerchiefs.

I kind of think it's a life skill, and dry-cleaning isn't always available or affordable (or environmental) depending. That said, I'd probably ask if she wants to learn, show her briefly (and also explain that some fabrics melt - those heat settings are all important), and explain the importance of reading garment care tags if you want to avoid it.

Gaylene

Veteran

I figured it was as important to teach boys, as well as girls, how to look after themselves so my sons did know how to cook, clean, iron, and mend before they went out in the world. My DILs are very happy women with busy careers who seem to have appreciated my instructional efforts.

One tip--I'd wait for an opportune moment, offer a brief "how to", and then leave the room, but stay within earshot for the inevitable "what now?" questions. Copious praise for less than stellar results also helps. A high degree of tolerance for unusual methods is also useful...

Anonymous

I have always enjoyed ironing as me time with a program on TV or audio book or just listening to birds or even talking to a friend on the phone. I taught my sons ironing basics and they both use the skill even now. Teach her some things. Men's handkerchiefs or cloth napkins are good starting places. I was able to earn some spending money in college by doing ironing for those who did not know how.

Cassie Lyons

I have watched my mother iron a few times but she didn't have many clothes that needed ironing. I self taught myself when I was a nanny and the mother ironed everything (including casual kids tshirts and jeans) apart from then I used an iron when I went on school business conferences if the shirt/slacks/skirt needed it. I'd say you don't have to teach her unless she asks. Go ahead and spend that lesson time baking some cookies!

rachylou

Veteran

Well, my parents failed to mention starch and spray starch... And I resent this. Lol. A one time demonstration couldn't hurt.

Also: you can make grilled cheese with an iron!

unfrumped

Veteran

One of thd things about kids doing their OWN laundry is related to what Maneera said - there may be less tossing clothes on flood if Mom iz nog picking up everyday and laundering. And that terrible habit of mixing up thd clean with the dirty!

I think it's also good , for some, to start early with a clothing budget. This could either be a transparent family budget, where the funds remain in your control, to at somd point giving a teenager an actual clothing allowance.
There is nothing like having a fixed sum and control over it to make kids all oc s sudden become more careful about taking care of what they bought, and more choosy.

JAileen

Veteran

I make grilled cheese with my waffle iron!

Anonymous

My oldest DD was in JROTC, and I taught her how to iron her uniform. The other girls learned to iron, too. One had to wear black pants to work at Publix, and wanted to look nice, so we whipped out the iron for that. The youngest one learned how to sew, and ironing was necessary for that. Even if (like me) you rarely iron, every once in a while you need to. I can't imagine not knowing how. Doing laundry falls into the same category. All of my DDs were made to do their own laundry once they reached a certain age.

JAileen

Veteran

When my son went off to college we bought him one of those giant boxes of Tide. After graduation when we were packing the car, he still had the same box of Tide...

DonnaF

Veteran

Like BC, my mom taught me to iron when I was 8 or 10; I think the most important part was the order in which to iron a shirt. She did a boatload of ironing while watching the Watergate hearings and died last year owning three or four irons, three full size ironing boards, at least two small ones, two or three not very good steamers, and a travel iron.

DD22 doesn't know how to iron that I know of -- probably because I rarely iron. I figured it's more important to teach her not to stuff the dryer too full, remove garments while they're still a little damp and hang them up, and mist garments to remove the wrinkles. If she feels the need to learn, I figure she'll buy and iron and then ask, just as she is teaching herself to cook. (Today she made herself shrimp and asparagus and asked about both; she also made couscous but we don't know how to cook that. She thought it was magical that asparagus breaks in just the right place, lol.)

crazyone

Veteran

I actually think of ironing as being one of those skills that is more useful for men rather than women, due to the nature of clothes.

Also, skills can always be picked up later--I didn't learn how to cook until I started graduate school but I picked it up fairly quickly and have been for several years considered a great cook by most of the people I know. I think it's important for parents to impart values, and it's true that ironing can be a proxy for the values of "looking neat and nice" and "you should be able to independently take care of yourself", but I think the actual mechanics are not so important to teach!

12