OT ironing - when do you do it? - YouLookFab Forum

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OT ironing - when do you do it?

anne

Veteran

1. just before you want to wear the item?
2. after each wash?
3. save it up for ages and then have a big ironing session?
4. none of the above?

I send towards #3, but sometimes this means I do #1 if I really want to wear something. And with my girls' dresses, I am not very inclined to iron them at all if they are just wearing them in the house and backyard, so try to get them ironed before they go out.

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39 replies

Latest reply was from anne

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

#1.

I am also known to buy things that do not need ironing.

Jjsloane

Veteran

If I didn't have my personal valet (let's call him DH) who does it #1 when I lay it out on the board for him I'd be #3, but tend to buy less iron required clothing and more knits. I refuse to iron for kids unless it's for a family portrait.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

My husband irons his shirts while he is watching football on TV. I kind of like the irony in that.

I try to iron shortly after I wash something, so it is available should I decide to wear it. But I often end up doing #1.

qfbrenda

Veteran

Occasionally #1 but usually #3 in the evening while hubby and I watch a movie.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Honestly? About once a year. I don't even think we own an iron in Tahoe . . .

Diana

Veteran

#4. I mostly don't iron. I'm bad at it, it's boring, and it takes forever. If this means that I am slightly wrinkly, then so be it. Sometimes as a last ditch effort I will frantically iron something in the morning right before I need to wear it if it is really so wrinkly that I can't go out in it.

Queen Mum

Veteran

I try to iron the things that are going to need it right out of the washer while they are damp.

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Um...#2. Anything that needs ironing out of the wash, I'll usually iron it all while the next load is washing or drying. That said, there isn't a lot of it - since I set the timer in the kitchen to remind me to go and get stuff out of the dryer before it actually stops. Hanging stuff up right away usually means I don't really have to iron a whole lot. There are also things that I won't put into the dryer, and these get hung up on a rolling clothing rack in the laundry room to dry. Sometimes some of these things still need ironing...but I won't get to it until the next round of laundry-doing. If I'm doing laundry, I'm also ironing whatever needs ironing at the time.

Jonesy

Veteran

#1. I almost always iron the night before I'm going to wear something (usually no time in the a.m.). My closet is too packed to iron in bulk ahead of time, because things get wrinkled just hanging in there.

bella

(website)

Veteran

In our house only dress shirts get ironed. I let them accumulate, do one big load and try to iron everything straight from the dryer, while they are still a bit damp. If you use starch, shirts keep pretty crisp in the closet.

Ana

(website)

Veteran

I try to do #2 but usually end up doing #3 instead (I'm kind of lazy). But I actually like ironing, I think it's relaxing (to a point). : )

Anonymous

I enjoy ironing when listening to public radio or a book on tape. It's like having "me" time. I like to do it in 15 to 30 minute sessions a couple of times a week and even prolong the time by ironing pillow cases and sometimes sheets because they feel so smooth and wonderful when I do.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I iron as I wear things. I find that if I iron and put things in the closet, they just get wrinkled again.

Makrame

Veteran

Mostly #2. I air-dry a lot of my clothes, which means that most of them need to be ironed. I dry them for a few days on a drying rack, then iron before putting them on the hangers.

I try to take clothes out of the dryer quickly so that they don't need to be ironed.

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Joy - I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who actually likes ironing. I've ironed tea towels...just because I felt like it. Don't worry, only the ones that actually needed it - ie. Irish linen.

A seasonal tip? The ironing board is a great place to wrap presents. Not kidding. You're not bent over, you can unroll giant rolls as far as you need to and so on. Much easier on the back, neck and shoulders than a kitchen or dining room table, or the floor.

AJ

Veteran

Mostly 1, sometimes 3.

Lantana

Veteran

I love ironing, so it's mostly #2 for me. I set up the board where I can watch the ocean. So calm, so peaceful, aaah.
But, above all, I love the control aspect of ironing. I might not be able to solve the world's problems but I sure as hell can smooth out fractious fabric. Faced with me and my iron, clothes just BEHAVE!

Refugee

Veteran

I'm a 2 on this one. Laundry is done some time during the weekend so I iron while I watch TV on Sunday night. I still double check everything before I put it on and will touch things up if necessary. I'm part of the minority that thinks a perfectly ironed shirt is a thing of beauty.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I usually iron while watching TV - usually there's one night a week where I have a show or two or a hockey game I want to watch, and I do the week's laundry and, every couple of weeks, the ironing. There's a rod near the washer/dryer where I can hang things if I'm not ironing right then - sometimes just the hanging will work most of the wrinkles out, especially if the steam from the dryer rises.

I don't mind ironing, but since I end up doing a lot of it (well, pressing, to be accurate) when I sew I get tired of it sometimes.

kate

(website)

I never iron. I don't mind laundry--I don't love it but I don't despise it-- but I do despise ironing. Generally if something needs to be ironed I'll wear something else. Occasionally my husband will ask me to iron his work clothes if he's running late. Of course I do it because I love him, but it's like torture. =)

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Things get crushed in my tiny closet, so even if I ironed them directly out of the dryer, I'd have to iron them again before wearing them.

Louise

Veteran

#4 I never iron!! I find if I put things on a lowish spin and get them straight out of the washing machine and hang them up then they don't need ironing x

Patty

Veteran

If the craft requires. Like waxing autumn leaves.

Sarah

(website)

Veteran

#1 for my clothes and #2 for DHs. I don't mind ironing, really.
I used to iron during Project Runway. I need a new ironing show.

Scarlet

Veteran

Um, when I am putting off something else unpleasant? That would be a big session including kitchen towels. Otherwise I often have to touch something up in the morning. I am so bad.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

#3 -- I've always been that way. I used to iron my dad's shirts when I was a kid, and no, no one requested me to. I know, I was not a normal child!

catgirl

Veteran

Never. The only exception is my cotton items from India, which have to be ironed to look right. Otherwise, if it requires ironing, I don't buy it.

Elly

Veteran

Right before I wear an item-- honestly, since i tumble for 5 minutes in the dryer and then hang almost everything to dry, I rarely need to iron except when traveling. Even cotton button downs that are of any quality come out crisp enough for daily wear with me, or I might Iron just the front placket, cuff and collar ( my mother actually runs a hair straightening iron that we got free over her collars if they are misbehaving).

I'm good at ironing, I don't mind it, I just find it taxing.

banananutmuffin

#1. Although, full disclosure, my husband does the ironing because I hate it so much.

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