To iron or not to iron?

I recently discovered that I am something of an oddity.  An alien in the world of mums.  Unusual. Strange.  Some may say even weird.

Why?

Because I still iron clothes.

I'm not sure how this has happened.  I thought I'd become such a let loose - fancy free - maybe even slip shod mother, when I stopped ironing knickers, vests, tea towels, sheets and duvet covers; just one of the tips in my 5 quick ironing tips for busy woman post.  But apparently I am not as relaxed as I thought.  Relative to the mums commenting over on my How do I find the time? post, I am ironing when I need not.

In fact I haven't come across anybody else who irons their husbands shirts yet.  Now I realise this isn't particularly feminist of me; but really it was never about it being 'the womans' job, or otherwise; it was just that I quite enjoy ironing compared to other potential tasks (like mowing the lawn) that we split between us in our husband-wife partnership.  I like it because I can watch television whilst doing it.  So my husband and I have a split of chores and I ended up with this one.

What's interesting now the children are growing up is that the ironing pile always consists of 50% children's clothes (cotton dresses, T-shirts, school uniform shirts etc), 45% mu husbands work shirts and T-shirts and only 5% mine.  Since I don't walk around smelling really ripe (at least, if I did, I hope my friends would tell me quick!) then I'm not entirely sure how this happens!

This week's discovery, that I'm fairly alone in the ironing world, put me off doing it.  It almost made me resent doing it.  Then, today, there was an incident that put me off even further.
 
I managed to knock the board and spill my jug of water on the floor and on the plug extension.  The iron followed, and sat, in the puddle of water, on our wooden floor, steam hissing and bubbling from underneath!  I was slightly freaked; jumped back away from the puddle, screamed at my daughter to stay across the other side of the room, and carefully walked around the board to turn the plug off before catastrophe could hit.

I was shook up.  In a split second I thought I was going to get electrocuted.  And then I thought I was going to burn the house down.  Irrational I know, but I panicked in those seconds.  I put the iron and board away pretty quickly.

Maybe this is a cue to give up ironing entirely?  What do you think?  Is it 'normal' these days? Is everyone else really good at hanging up clothes quickly after drying outside? Or is it natural to just get dressed and let the creases drop out throughout the day?  Do they drop out? Really? I don't trust it... I really don't.... I need help!

5 Quick Ironing Tips - For Busy Women

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!

Corrie, The X Factor, Ironing, Ballet, Christmas work do..... interesting month?

It's been a funny old month.  (70s flashback....hmmm)

I still can't shift the X Factor obsession.  I keep trying to convince myself I'm not at all bothered about watching the main show, and really....what's the results show but a repeat of the main show? But I keep getting drawn into it.  Who will make it? I'm expecting Mr Cardle to win, but what do I know.  I always liked Diane Vickers until they gave her the wierd popstar-forgot-to-buy-any-trousers-try-these-hotpants-instead makeover after the show.

This week I'm desperately trying to avoid Corrie at all costs.  Controversially I don't do soaps.  Never watched them.  Oh O.K., don't shout...maybe a few episodes of Neighbours when Kylie was still in it.  But the English soaps, Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, are not, and never have been, for me.  If I ever went on "Who wants to be a Millionaire", they'd ask me a question on one of those soaps for the £500 and I'd have to use a lifeline for it.  I much prefer my TV entertainment to be less depressing.  Unfortunately I occasionally listen to the News and so am struggling to avoid the current story that apparently there will be a major Corrie accident this week involving killing off some of the main characters.  It's fairly safe to assume I couldn't care less.

I'm also struggling to look yummy when I've got a huge.  No, gigantic.  No, enormous - pile of ironing as usual.  It's definitely bigger than I suspect most people's ironing piles are.  I imagine you've all got one little basket, that is only ever an ironing basket for 24 hours, and then, when the ironing is done, lives an empty life.  Go on; tell me it's not true!  I've got four baskets.  Very rarely are any of them empty. Currently the ironing takes up two, washing takes up the other two.  To be fair I can't complain.  They are full because we've been to Center Parcs to see Santa and, what with the two feet of snow we had during our stay, turned out to be a fantastic winter wonderland break.  Hat's off to the staff there.  Absolutely brilliant.  Taking shifts to grit the site all through the night.  Much better than our local North Derbyshire Council, who can't appear to keep a dual carriageway clear of snow, let alone a hilly school road.

Finally, November involved a re-introduction to the joys of Ballet in an attempt to continue to exercise despite a disillusionment with Pilates classes.  Yes, I got bored.  One Ballet class, and my calves were screaming every time I so much as twitched a leg.... for a week.  The joys of being unfit.  Enjoyed it though, and the second class was an improvement. (screaming for about 48 hours).  Pity I can't go now that life has been almost driven to a halt by a few flurries of snow.  I do so wonder how people living in Norway ever get anything done?  Perhaps if we put the Center Parcs management in charge of snow clearing across the whole county, we'd be getting about a whole lot easier!

Now I'm gearing up for the work Christmas do.  I haven't been for four years and have no clue what to wear.  Typically I've left myself plenty of time for purchasing something should the contents of my wardrobe not suffice.  The do is on Friday!  Any outfit suggestions - let me know!