This is my ironing pile. 25 dress shirts and pants of my dear Saulsy that needed to be pressed. It takes me 10-15 minutes to iron one garment (is this a normal length of time, or am I really slow?), so I was looking at about 4 straight years of ironing. But the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing and the kids were playing happily outside. So, I hauled my ironing board and teetering pile of laundry out to the screened in porch. The boys were thrilled to have an audience and the fresh air was just the mood-lifter I needed.
Ironing has never been so fun.**Yes, I do have a good iron, I do use it at the highest setting, full of water, steam, etc. And yes, I am a lefty!! Is that why I am so slow?! LOL Thanks for the tips, everyone!***
I'm not the designated ironer in the family, so I can't speak from any great experience. But 10-15 minutes does seem like a long time for a shirt. My approach, when I absolutely must do it, is to heat up the iron to the max and then attack the small pieces all the way up to the biggest part (i.e., collars, cuffs, sleeves, fronts then back of a shirt/blouse). That's what I remember from my home ec class, and it seems to work.
ReplyDeleteSo ask yourself: Is the iron hot enough? Might there be tips online for a quicker ironing approach?
Maybe you just love the process so much, that you linger over each piece?
I agree, does your iron get really hot - do you use the steam setting? That is a really long time to iron one garment - I can understand why it is such a daunting task for you...
ReplyDeleteIroning in the great outdoors is a great idea, though!!!
Goodness girl, yes, that is a LONG time per shirt. If you're ironing that much...you should invest in a Rowenta or some kind of nice iron. We love the Rowenta. Although we never iron anything anymore! And yes...do you have the water completely full and steam on high? It shouldn't take more than a few minutes for each shirt if you do.
ReplyDeleteAnother option: Wash them all at home and then drop them at the dry cleaners for a "press only". Usually that is really cheap and worth it if you have a lot!
are you a leftie like me?? :)
ReplyDeleteYou are a better woman than I. I wait like a puppy at the dryer and shake out his shirts to promptly hang them. That's as good as it gets here.
ReplyDeleteThe fastest way to iron is to send them to Andrew's...it takes me no time at all :) Ironing is right up there with cleaning toiliets for me!
ReplyDeleteI used to take our clothes to the cleaners to be "just pressed". It was $25 and $30 every time! I stopped and am now trying to iron it all myself. *Hint to your husband* GET RID OF SOME CLOTHES!!!
ReplyDeleteIt takes me about six minutes to iron a dress shirt; pants take longer. I find that if I iron about fifteen minutes a day the pile is substantially reduced by week's end.
I didn't know you were a lefty! Me too! Maybe I did...but I forgot. I don't have any tips on ironing, I like ironing...I use to watch tv and iron in college if I was stressed out....that seems to make ironing go by faster, so that might be something you could do to make it not seem to take so long. : )
ReplyDeleteLol. I thought at first your mom said it takes her 6 months to iron a dress shirt! I was in total agreement! I'm like you; ironing takes me a really long time per shirt. I usually don't bother with pants - just get those hot out of the dryer, and then most of them don't need ironing. You may have a much better iron than I do, but I did give up on the steam function and just use a spray bottle of water to get the shirt damp where and when I want it. Plus, I don't use the hottest setting b/c most of the tags I read say not to. Maybe I should try your way!
ReplyDeletewell, i think ironing takes a long time, 15 minutes sounds about right to me...i too am a lefty, maybe that has something to do with it. houston has frequent walked up to the ironing board and said, "hey why don't you just let me finish that" he gets it done faster, but he leaves wrinkles on the shoulders!?
ReplyDeleteIt must be lefty thing. I do maybe 2-4 minutes. It also depends on the fabric. I can tell if its good fabric if the wrinkles come out the first time I run over them, or a cheap fabric if I have to press hard and go over it acouple of times. I keep it on cotton setting and automatic steam. Like Marissa said, I do it watching tv or a movie so it doesn't seem so bad.
ReplyDeleteI hate ironing. Shaw irons for me. He is so awesome like that, even the kids clothes.
ReplyDeleteA good iron makes all the difference! I have a post back from Dec. that I started on ironing, I'd better get it finished :)
ReplyDeleteShaw newton hadn't ironed one day in his life! That's a bunch of bull!
ReplyDeleteI'm another one who pulls the clothes right out after they were in the dryer instead of ironing. I've just discovered ironing - for the purpose of pressing garments when sewing.
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