Doing laundry is required. Ironing is (usually) optional.
I actually don’t hate ironing as long as I have plenty of time available to do it properly. And as long as there’s no clutter piled on the ironing board.
Hahahahaha!!! As if! Plenty of time . . . do it properly . . . no clutter?!?! (Let me catch my breath!)
Here are ways I’ve learned to adjust my laundry routine so I can avoid ironing whenever possible.
1. Don’t overload my washing machine or dryer.
I mentioned this in Friday’s post. It’s still true today. When you shove too many clothes into a load, they come out wrinkled. When my aunt told me this, I nodded knowingly (I’m good at that), but I didn’t know. I was a chronic shover, and would get frustrated when a freshly washed-and-dried load was wrinkly.
If clothes don’t have room to move around in the washing machine and dryer, they’re never going to be able to stretch out enough to not be wrinkled. And honestly, they can’t get as clean when they’re shoved in tightly, either.
2. Fold clothes as I take them out of the dryer and put them away immediately.
I’ve written about this before (many times), but it’s really/truly/honestly THE thing that has had the biggest impact on my overall Laundry Outlook. Whether you’re a one-load-a-day person or are as in love with the get-it-over-with-in-a-day Laundry Day like I am, putting clothes away immediately will rock your laundry life.
Folding immediately and delivering to drawers and closets around the house takes about 10 minutes. Or less. Once those ten minutes are gone, so is the laundry. It’s out of sight, out of mind, and off my Stress Plate.
And best of all, the clothes are not wrinkled. When I hang or fold warm clothing straight out of the dryer, wrinkles aren’t even an issue. For someone who is generally running later than she planned to be as she’s getting dressed, it’s so nice to not need to factor ironing into my timing.
3. Even when clothes are wrinkled, avoid ironing by using my dryer.
While the best part of following tip #2 is that clothes don’t (usually) need to be ironed, we do occasionally end up with a shirt or pair of jeans that has to be de-wrinkled (because some lovely child shoved it in the bottom of a closet), the dryer comes to the rescue. With any dryer, you can wet a clean kitchen towel and stick it into the dryer with the wrinkled clothes. The moisture in the towel plus the heat of the dryer helps steam the wrinkles out. (I use a kitchen towel because I like the smaller size and the lack of lint that might transfer to the other clothes.)
But with my new dryer, I love the steam feature. In about 20 minutes, the dryer runs a cycle that includes steaming the clothes (it’s somehow hooked up to water) and then tumbling them to the point where they’re wrinkle-free.
Do you iron? Do you love it or hate it? What are your best tips for avoiding ironing your clothes?
Thanks to Nebraska Furniture Mart and Samsung for this fun project. I was provided with a new washer and dryer from Samsung in exchange for two posts, but received no other compensation. All aversions to ironing and opinions are mine and mine alone.
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--Nony
I use my iron all the time. Nearly every day. But I use it for sewing/crafting/quilting. I hate ironing clothes. All those buttons, collars, zippers. Ugh. I use the “wrinkle release” feature on my dryer if need be, but almost always I hang/fold clothes while they’re still warm from the dryer. I learned about that when my kids were little. My other trick was to keep laundry simple is to limit the number of outfits they had – about a week’s worth – to reduce crowding, cramming, and shoving in their dresser drawers. I think you do that too?
I love the steam feature on my dryer. I’ll admit that I mostly use it to “refresh” the clean clothes that have spent too much time in a basket waiting for folding. It’s also really nice to throw the down comforter in to fluff it up and (hopefully, don’t tell me it isn’t real) kill some of the dust mites and other oockies.
I line dry (southern California) so I need to iron a few of my husband’s shirts. So I use ironing as an excuse to listen to podcasts or watch movies guilt-free!
My dryer has a nifty wrinkle setting that starts the dryer up every 20 minutes or so until you remove the load. While practical, not safe for someone like me.
My mother never let me iron because I am so terribly clumsy. She used to say I would trip over a Barbie shoe in the middle of a room. Anyways, I worked for several years in nice retail stores and we always used a heavy duty steamer. I suggested the idea of getting my husband one to my mother in law for Christmas and it was the best gift ever!!! You can leave the clothes on the hanger while you steam it and it takes less than a minute! We keep it in our small, standard closet.
PS. You can still burn yourself with a steamer- its just less likely. Unless you truly are clumsy.
“Trip over a Barbie shoe!!” lol
We must be cousins! I have fallen UP the stairs before!!
What a great mom to forbid you to iron!!
How much did you have to pay her??? lol
I actually like ironing. It’s very relaxing, unless, of course, there is no time or if there is clutter on the ironing board (the only way to prevent “horizontal surface syndrome” is to put it away immediately, which doesn’t often happen because it takes at least 15 minutes for my iron to cool and it takes about 14 minutes for someone in the house to realize there is space to put more papers.)
I LOVE TO IRON. I find it very relaxing, but yet I don’t want to iron everything so I also fold or hang everything right away.