I have been blessed with 4 sisters-in-law, and I've learned that 3 of the 4 rarely do any ironing. (I'm not sure about the 4th.) The reasons for this may be varied, I don't know all the reasons, although an abhorrence of ironing is a chief factor for one of them. Anyways, last week we had Part 2 of the A-family get-together, dinner at Swiss Chalet with only the adults, and a good time was had by all. The comment was made by one of my sisters-in-law that her husband had a great many dress shirts , and I commented that one advantage to that was you rarely have to do any ironing. (Although when you do eventually run out of shirts, it is a lot of work to iron them all!). To which she and another sister replied that they rarely did any ironing. So rarely, in fact, that the last time the iron and the ironing board was hauled out in one of the A homes, one of the kids, aged 8, asked what the device was!
But this has me wondering, is ironing a dying art? Do any of you, my dear readers, iron regularly? I do, although perhaps I should define regularly. I almost always have an ironing pile, some weeks it is bigger than others, and only occasionally is it completely empty. For the most part, I enjoy ironing, except for shorts, but it is always the task I leave for last, because it is never urgent. I'm also a big believer in just-in-time delivery, frequently ironing a shirt or pants in the morning before work, so I or Rob can wear them that day. Some articles of clothing can end up staying in the ironing pile for many weeks though.
I must admit that I iron most of our clothes, which would also contribute to the size of my ironing pile. Why, you ask? I guess because my mom ironed most clothes, and so I do too, and as I said, I mostly enjoy this chore, when I have time to get to it. I think I also would feel sloppy wearing many of my clothes if I didn't iron them first, BUT, I cannot recall a single instance where I thought to myself "Boy, sister-in-law X really should have ironed that shirt/pants!"
So, there's my ramble for the day - is ironing a dying art?
Off to tackle my ironing pile...which is rather large at present!
7 comments:
Hi Karen,
I actually have the ironing board set up in my bedroom (mind you it is used mostly for ironing material for quilting) but it is set up! I am on occasion kind to my brother in law and iron his shirts (since the tools are all in my room).
One of my friends bought her husband those 'no iron' shirts from Marks Work warehouse. You really don't have to iron them!
We also have 2 widow ladies at our church who do ironing for the busy homeschooling moms. One of them said that she loves to go and visit with the family while she folds their laundry and irons. Amazing! I hope one day to not be so busy that I don't enjoy spending time ironing.
It's a good thing you made that comment at the the end of your post, Karen, about your sister's in law never looking like they should have ironed ;) I readily confess to having the son who wondered what the iron was! But I also admit that I often think I should iron - especially Rich's Sunday shirts (rather than take Steve's advice and just buy them tighter so the wrinkles disappear :)
i think maybe mom (and us by extension) is the one that's weird karen. all my friends make fun of me for ironing, apparently their families don't do it except for in extreme circumstances.
Hi Karen,
I am also one of the crazy ones who loves to iron! I iron almost all our clothes, including the 3 young'uns! I don't like having a large pile of it, I try to have it all done by the weekend so I can start over with a clean slate the next week. However I must admit it doesn't always happen. I also think that we are one of few who still do it, along with the rest of our "W" clan. I will admit I have looked at other people's clothes and thought they should have ironed them, although that is not very often, so maybe we are just wasting our time :)
Marlies
Yes, ironing is definitely a dying art. That's the humble opinion of anther who drags her iron out approximately twice a year and owns no ironing board. The two times a year are always a result of a table cloth with too many creases - ironing clothes with sleeves and stuff - yikes!!!
I'm not a fan of ironing! It is my least favourite chore to do in the house, so I avoid it at all costs. Usually that means that dress shirts go in the dryer and then directly onto a hanger.
I think it really is a dying art - and that makes me very very very happy!
Thanks for all your comments everyone. It seems that the W. clan is a definite minority! Perhaps even weird, according to my dear sister. However, I'm not going to put my ironing board away just yet...
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