Ironing

[Marcos]

How much of this is getting a nice new Iron? I feel like I'm hopeless at this but I think it's because I have a beaten up 10yr old iron.

Any recommendations? Also, I don't have a proper ironing board, I use the very flat dining table :-/

[kalniel]

Get an ironing board.

I use a little portable jobby from JL (on top of a table) and it makes ironing much better.

I also use a relatively cheap russel hobbs iron (which ticked all the boxes for me - ceramic, non-drop, anti-chalk etc. etc. http://uk.russellhobbs.com/russell-h...pro-19221.html) and it's great. If I was ironing day in day out then I might need something more robust, but for a weekly iron it's more than sufficient.

[peterb]

I see ironing as a chore so anything to make it easier...

but a proper ironing board helps, and a good iron. I use a Bosch with some sort of coated sole plate. A steam iron is useful if the clothes are too dry. I did look at the irons that have a separate water tank, but they are expensive and I didn't think worth it. You can notch up a gear and go for a clothes press - even more expensive and while they might be good if you have a lot of ironing, an ordinary iron and grit my teeth once (or twice) a week does the job.

Alternatively, pay someone to do it for you - some people like ironing!

[g8ina]

Sally calls the fact that I don't do any ironing "my last bastion of manhood"

[Phage]

I do all the ironing because I'm better at it than the other half !
....wait a minute....

Also you really need steam to do cotton properly.

[Marcos]

Thanks, I like the idea of the table-top ironing board. I don't remember ironing being such a drag but I think it's this old beaten-up iron that is really hurting.

I was trying to find good vids online on technique :-p, but didn't come across anything great. I'd be fine paying someone to do it but it comes in drips and drabs, I don't do big batches.

Might go for this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/9109043.htm

And this:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20242890/

[kalniel]

I was trying to find good vids online on technique :-p, but didn't come across anything great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olU94...3GI9lRkmQAKu5Q

Might go for this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/9109043.htm

And this:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20242890/

Yup, both good.

[walibe]

Ironing was the bit I struggled with in basic training and i'm not amazing now but its incredible what you can pick up from Youtube including how to iron a shirt and not crumple it whilst doing it!

Any decent iron will do, a nice size ironing board (preferably the non meshed ones) and a spray bottle is important!

[Marcos]

Spray bottle! Forgot i've tried that before, interesting

[walibe]

Spray bottle! Forgot i've tried that before, interesting

Its about the steam - spray bottle is probably the most important weapon here. Also another tip from my years of service, use a light spray of water on trousers and shirts (particularly useful if travelling) and many of the creases will drop out over night. If however you scrunched it as a ball, it probably won't work...

[petrefax]

I do all the ironing because I'm better at it than the other half !

same here tbh. she has no patience for it, i can iron for hours

granted, i also have the capacity for cracking out the laptop & watching endless action movies whilst ironing, but that's by the by

hold on....that's multitasking isn't it...

[Ttaskmaster]

Back in battalion, we always had two irons on the go but they were invariably knackered by someone within a week from new. The one ironing board (between 16 blokes) was never free either, so we usually did it on the back of a mirror.
Still managed better than most civvies could hope for!!

We have a fancy modern one at home now, but the flippin' thing beeps and has flashing lights and gets on my proverbials so much that I rarely even bother.

[herulach]

Non Iron shirts make life much easier Trywhitt ones aren't non iron, but they're the best balance between ease of ironing and not being paper thin & scratchy I've found, last well also. Nothing else needs ironing if you fold it straight up out of the tumble dryer/line

[DeludedGuy]

Non Iron shirts make life much easier Trywhitt ones aren't non iron, but they're the best balance between ease of ironing and not being paper thin & scratchy I've found, last well also. Nothing else needs ironing if you fold it straight up out of the tumble dryer/line

I find non iron CT shirts to be of lower quality than the TM Lewin Non Iron shirts, my CT non iron shirts have shrunk and/or ripped.

[Dooms]

I use the M&S non-iron shirts for my generic work shirts and I get away with hanging straight from the wash to hang dry and then any remaining creases fall out by the time I get to work from body heat.

[Marcos]

I think my flat is so good for drying clothes, it over-dries them :-/

I guess a flat with a bit more humidity would not crisp out the clothes so much