So you've barely got time to throw on the lippy in the morning, never mind get all those clothes ironed. How can you speed up the process to leave yourself time for a cuppa?1. Prioritise
When you haven't got time to iron the shirts, how do you think you've got time to mess about ironing those tea towels, or that under sheet for your eldest's bed? Scrap that! Tea towels should be folded and put away as soon as they are dry - no ironing required. Under sheets? Come on! You are going to lie on them and they'll be hidden under the duvet anyway. Fold them and go. The same goes for children's vests, pants (knickers, not trousers), socks, tights, pyjamas and, if you can bear it, pillow cases and top sheets. Most of these items won't be seen and those that will won't retain creases for long. I know some folk who iron the gusset of pants to get rid of bacteria. I figure that if I've cleaned them properly it shouldn't be an issue.
2. Don't Over-dry
Over the winter months our clothes inevitably end up on dryers next to the radiator. This is an effective way of drying clothes, but the tendency is for them to over-dry. Cotton based clothes like men's shirts can be a nightmare to iron when they are over-dry. The best plan is to get them off that dryer the second they are dry. In fact, they should be very slightly moist and should be ironed as quickly as possible once they are off that dryer.
3. Use Water
You need a water spray bottle to get those 'over-dry' sections moist before ironing them. And if you have a steam iron, use it! Water is your best friend. You need enough so that the crease is wet before you iron it, and dry afterwards.
4. Foil
Get a reflective ironing board cover. They reflect the heat back up to the underside of the material. Lining the underside of your own cover with foil has much the same effect and is cheaper.
5. Go Large
Use the largest ironing board you can cope with. The added space will allow the clothes to sit on top without slipping and allow you to iron bigger sections before having to more the clothes along.
And with that folks; off you go for that cuppa!
Tip #6 Just don't bother!
ReplyDeleteDilly (Non ironer) :D
Oh if only! I unfortunately tend to leave them all to dry too long and end up with the stiffest creases ever to get out! I also iron my hubby's workshirts. I'm not sure how that happened! ;-)
DeleteHi, just been reading your blog, lots of good posts! have to say re ironing though - don't do it! I have always refused to iron my husbands shirt thank goodness, and everything else can just cope! Apart from the odd pair of linen trousers or something like that. Most creases in jersey type materials fall out as soon as you start wearing them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for having a browse round. I hope you found lots of useful or amusing posts! I appear to be getting the 'don't do it' message from all directions, but I just can't bring myself not to.
DeleteSo - a compromise.
I contracted out this week and paid a friend to do 6 baskets worth on our return from hols. Yes; 6. It was well worth it to get caught up!
You can also try using a steam generator iron. Ironing my work clothes for the week would normally take me about 25 minutes, now when I use a steam generator iron it takes less than 15 minutes. An extra ten minutes saved - can't argue with that.
ReplyDelete