Sunday, March 13, 2011

In praise of the ironing basket

If you know me well, you know that I would not generally use the word 'praise' in the same sentence as 'ironing basket' without good reason. The iron and I are not friends. I remember getting a steam iron for Christmas the year I moved out of home and... well, let's just say the words 'stony' and 'faced' would have best described my reaction. Almost as good as the year I got a vacuum cleaner... but that's another story.

I have spent much of my life seeking out the words 'anti-wrinkle', and not just in face creams. Those 'throw out your iron' pants that Shane Warne was advertising a few years ago? I tried very hard to get The Builder to invest in an entire wardrobe of them. I had shirts that hung unworn for years simply because they did not fit the work wardrobe criteria: can it be put on right now and look presentable?

But I am a reformed non-ironer. Like a reformed smoker, only less evangelical. Still a little preachy though. So bear with me.

When Mr7 started school two years ago, I stuck with my long-practised Theory of Ironing. That is, do it only when necessary. So, yes, I was ironing a uniform every day, wedged around sandwich-making and general yelling about shoes. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

Until I realised that it was one of the reasons that, every single day, we screeched into the carpark as the bell rang. And that it was adding to the general yelling about shoes by adding to the general stress levels.

Enter, the ironing basket. It began gradually enough. On Sunday night I would iron two 'normal' uniforms and one 'sports'. We had enough gaps between sports days that we could rotate nicely. The Builder's work blues began appearing on the pile and we would take it in turns to 'do the ironing'.

Slowly but surely, I have become an organised, Sunday night ironer. The Builder and I not only do all the uniforms and the work blues, but the occasional random pair of pants or frock has joined the pile. I have realised the joy of going to the wardrobe and being prepared. The true definition of Ready To Wear. Not everything, of course. A family night out would not be a family night out without last-minute ironing (and yelling about shoes).

Somewhere online last week - a blog? a tweet? facebook? - someone* commented that their mum had come over and had been looking for the ironing basket. "I don't have one," this mystery blogger/tweeter/facebooker replied. "I'm too busy to do ironing like that."

I thought of my ironing basket. And how much time it saves me. It's like reading your emails - a major time-suck if you do it piecemeal, but chunk it down and you can get really efficient at it.

Or at least that's what I'm telling myself as I try to come to terms with my new position in life as an Ironing Basket Disciple.

Are you an ironing-basket disciple, or a devotee of the Iron As You Go principle? Is this just another sign of my impending old age?


*Let me know if it was you - I often find myself wandering down unfamiliar paths on the internet and can never remember where I was or how to get back there.


And yes, in case you were wondering, the above image from GraphiteGirl/etsy is exactly what I look like when I iron. Right down to the high heels.

39 comments:

  1. oooh - I am a mad ironer. After washing and hanging it is my favourite household task. I pop on my iPod and catch up with podcasts and iron just about anything I can get my hands on. The whole house can be a pigsty, but you can bet my clothes are always crisply ironed!
    Welcome to my heaven!

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  2. Definitely the Iron as You Go ~ your morning routine sounds very similar to mine. Although, I can see the benefits in being RTW ironer. I would like to be one and even contemplated ironing the uniforms this afternoon before work, alas I ran out of time! Luckily though, Hubby wears polos which don't need ironing!

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  3. I flit between the 2 - but a few weeks back I got myself organised enough to wash all hubbies work shirts on the Saturday so they were ready to iron on the Sunday & did the Sunday night iron - and it truly made life soooo much easier!

    Unfortunately, last weekend I got the can't-be-bothereds & spent the next 4 mornings ironing a work shirt each day and it sucked!!

    So yes, definitely converted here...just need to work on the discipline a little more!

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  4. LOL - does any other household chore have such a love/hate effect on us?

    @Walter - my favourite bit is the hanging out the washing. The rest I can take or leave, really. But I can really see the benefits of a good iron.

    @74LimeLane - I love your new phrase: The RTW Ironer. It almost makes it sound fashionable.

    @Fi - make the effort. Really. Makes all the difference. You won't know yourself. Says the newly reformed non-ironer.

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  5. I'm an ironing basket lover too - in theory. Mine's overflowing this week and is more of an ironing lounge!

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  6. Al, I came out about ny ironing obsession a while back.

    If in doubt, iron.

    I have an utter love hate realtionship with the iron, the basket, the ironing board. But I cannot not iron....

    Diminishing Lucy: To iron or not to iron.........

    xx

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  7. ps. I do have a table in the laundry that is heaped with clothes. So not an ironing pile but a putting away pile. So nothing gets put away, we just dig through it each morning so i guess its the same as taking time to iron each morning. Maybe i should have PAS (put away sunday) or something.

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  8. My first post didn't post.

    I don't need to repeat it because you know I dont iron. I admit to sneaking into michaels room to use his iron twice now. I can't ever let him know because I'll never live it down.

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  9. I don't think I've ironed in at least 2 years. If you asked me where my iron was, I actually couldn't tell you where it was. ;(

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  10. just finished mine. Once a week job. Takes about an hour and done. I don't iron anything I can get away with. I hang things straight from tumble dryer. I high heat tumble school uniforms. So I only need to iron hubby's work shirts and the odd top of mine or kids t-shirts. Honestly the tumble dryer does away with the need to iron. It's about the same in electricty usage too.

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  11. eek I said high heat - meant half heat : gosh don't high heat them, they'll never fit!!

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  12. No ironing basket here, just an ironing pile !! It gets tackled about twice a week and that just about keeps it at bay. I quite like ironing actually. It seems to have a calming organising feel about it.

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  13. I haven't ironed at home ever. Is that bad?

    Hubby irons his shirts at work now. Yay.

    And I only ever ironed uniforms at work {when I was nannying}... and I used to do them in a big batch so I didn't have to see that darn iron for a whole other week.

    xx

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  14. Mr Karen is a builder, but sits behind a desk all day. I used to iron his shirts, and would often use "The Bill" as my ironing time in front of the TV. But then baby no.3 came along, and The Bill ended, so the ironing is now farmed out to a Chinese lady near his work for $2 a shirt. A parable for modern living?
    By the end of this week I *should* have a new laundry and will get back on the ironing bandwagon. I loved a crisply ironed whatever. Sick of feeling like I crawled out the bottom of the ironing basket.
    I think the trick is a nice ironing basket - mine is a lovely golden brown cane one. It has a lovely creaking sound when I pick it up. Reminds me of my grannie and my mum, who were always ironing and fussing about.

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  15. I think we should start a support group for reformed ironers. I used to love to iron, there was sort of a zen feeling that came to me smoothing out that which was wrinkled.

    Now, with very little time I have have given up the ironing on a regular basis. When we moved, my little four year old saw the ironing board for the first time and said "What's that?"

    I love how you have found new ways or organizing - the Sunday night routine sound perfect!

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  16. I LOVE ironing! Like Lucy, I also posted about it a little while back. http://wp.me/pZ2A6-Zf
    Seriously, nothing I love more than setting up the ironing board in front of the TV with something trashy to watch and ironing my heart out. Oh dear, I sound so sad...I've also ironed plenty of times for girlfriends. I did a three hour stint for a family of five one day when I popped in for a cup of coffee. I saw her ironing basket and nearly died..

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  17. I have an ironing basket. Being able to pick a presentable outfit from the wardrobe saves heaps of time in the morning.

    I don't mind doing the ironing actually. I set myself up in front of the TV or computer and catch up on a few episodes of a tv series I'm watching, or a nice trashy movie that doesn't require my full attention.

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  18. I am not (an ironing-basket disciple). This has inspired me to write my own post, Al... x

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  19. i treat the rare ironing moments as an olympic sport. as part of my down sizing, I think i need to review what is truly ready to wear and what makes me iron. Miffy in the middle of nowhere owns an iron, but it is currently unemployed

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  20. Gosh i do not iron unless it's because i'm sewing and thus seaming.
    If it is something that HAS to be ironed then i do it before i put it away, but honestly i don't have anything that needs to be ironed. I hang it out a certain way on the line and then it hangs straight up in the wardrobe and it looks fine.

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  22. Hi I am Kirrily and I am a recently reformed non-ironer.

    I never knew the meditative nature of it until I started ironing my child's clothes! Now that's nice. I find it comforting. Sooooo funny you wrote this post this week, Al, cos when I say "recently", I mean, like... about 2 weeks ago. And now I hang out for washing day so I can iron her clothes again! (and it's made me more keen to iron mine and the mister's too)

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  23. I have to iron everything in the basket in one go.

    Sad but true.

    SSG xxx

    Sydney Shop Girl blog

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  24. I'm a Saturday night ironer. I pop a movie on & iron while I watch. Two benefits: it gets my ironing done for the week & is the only way I won't nod off during a movie these days.

    That said, I only iron work & must dostuff. I pop the rest of our clothes in the tumble dryer for 10mins when they're just about dry & that negates the need to iron them.

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  25. I used to have an iron basket before I had my second child and I'd iron all the clothes that need ironing in one go. Now I don't iron anymore unless I am absolutely desperate and I have so many clothes that I never wear because they need ironing. Maybe, I should start up the ironing basket again, or give all the clothes away...

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  26. I'm lucky if my clean clothes make it off the couch and into the wardrobe, so ironing is never a consideration.

    You can always spot me in a crowd. I will be the one with the wrinkly shirts and shorts.

    Enjoyed this post.

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  27. Once upon a time I was married to a man who adored the task of ironing, referring to it as "relaxation", and a "good excuse to watch tv". Sheets and towels got a right royal once over by the iron even!

    So while we are still married he is now far too busy to deal with these domesticities and alas its fallen to me. Lets just say I'm rather ruthless and if its been hanging for a week and looks rather pressed, its good to go in the outside world!

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  28. When I started to hear other mums tell me that they rarely ironed....I gave it a try. I discovered that most things don't actually need to be ironed after all.
    School uniforms etc get hung straight on a clothes hanger to dry. I just "flatten" them out a bit with my hand so pleats dry where they are supposed to etc.
    If you don't like ironing, give it a try. It will save you hours of your life.

    Trish
    xx

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  29. Definitely iron as you go around here! But I can totally relate to the stress levels it creates and at times I will simply choose a different outfit to the one I'd like to wear, just to save on ironing time.
    I like your ironing basket principle, maybe I'll get my act together one day and get one of those happening ;o)

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  30. Oh well, my dirty little secret is I hate ironing but love to go to the wardrobe and get anythign to wear as it is all ironed immediately it is washed and dried. I even iron the sheets, it's pure luxury to slip between ironed sheets, so smooth and lovely. I wash once a week and iron the same evening watching the box... fyi I have a 3 hour comute round trip to work and work a 40+ hour week.

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  31. I'm definitely a non-ironer, unless as Miss Pink said, I am sewing. I put this down to sensible shopping (I no longer wear shirts) and a rule with hubby that says that if he buys a shirt that needs ironing, he irons it. Still to tackle school uniforms yet. Hopefully they're wash and wear. Alas, now that I'm doing markets, I have to constantly iron my table cloth. Arrgh!

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  32. I used to be a do it all at once Saturday ironer, even putting an ironed hanky into pockets of school clothes. Then the kids got older and started ironing their own clothes. Now, I proudly state that I don't iron anything ever. But yesterday I got out the iron, blew the dust off, and pressed the hems on the new pants that I'd just taken up by six inches. Now the iron is back in its hidey hole.

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  33. I have no ironing basket AT ALL. My ironing board is hidden and I don't know where my iron is.

    Domestic, I am not.

    But look - my 3 year old is:

    http://greatbalancingact-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/point-and-shoot-proud-mumma.html

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  34. I've always been iron as you go..but when the kids were in school I did iron enough shirts, shorts and pinafores for a whole week at a time and work shirts..just like you..but everything else was whenever. I do have a thing now about the kitchen bench..I like that to be clear and clean..all the time if possible..and work to keep it that way. I haven't always been that way..but just since my new kitchen in my Qld house!

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  35. Wow, you've almost sold me on ironing - almost!
    Thankfully, there's not a lot of call for ironing in my household. So I have an ironing pile, which consists of clothes that only get worn a few times a year, even when they are ironed.

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  36. I got the most comments ever when I wrote about ironing - looks like you have too!

    I have one rule for me and one for the rest of the family. My husband does his own. I do my son's school uniform and stuff, daughter's dresses, in big ironing marathons but stuff for me I do ad hoc just before I'm about to go out normally. Most of the time I slob about in sweatpants anyway!

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  37. Love this post. Funny how ironing can spur on so many comments!

    I'm a ready to wear girl. No clothes go hung into the wardrobe unless it's ready to wear. I don't have an ironing basket, more an ironing door (into the TV room). Just to remind me that I have a few shirts to do. Yes, that's all I iron! My mother taught me early on in life to fold the washing as it came off the line/out of the dryer. Now I iron only shirts that hubby and my boys wear. Most of my clothes don't need ironing. So, I iron once a fortnight, and it takes me less than an hour to do. Not too bad, methinks... x

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  38. No ironing here except for the rarest of occasions : like I'm sewing, or something fancy is especially crushed :) My daughter's school dress dries pretty wrinkle free, and the polo shirts come out the dryer fine :)

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  39. I LOVE my Ironing Basket... especially when the ironing man comes to pick it up and take it to the ironing lady.. who probably hates my Ironing Basket.

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