View Full Version : Mighty Frugal.
How's the ironing going? I remember there being a thread posted a while back (What do you need to learn how to do), and you mentioned that you wanted to learn how to iron. How are you making out with that?
P.S. Just so happens to be that I'm ironing today, and couldn't think of a better day to bring this up. :)
Mrs-M, I know this is meant for Mighty Frugal, but I had to laugh when I read your post since today I am ironing for the first time in a long time. ;) I'm not good at ironing either, never have been, and our wardrobe is a casual one where clothes rarely need to be ironed - but today DH's brand new Levis are particularly wrinkled after first washing and drying, so I had to get out the good old iron, a wedding gift we received back in 1975 but rarely used. :|(
Wildflower. Why is it that we all have to be scattered around the world like we are, so far apart and unable to have "ladies nights", where get-togethers would mean chatting, laughing, having a cup of tea together (or worse), and sharing our knowledge/experience with one another.
P.S. LOL, about your iron! You have me beat by a long-shot, as my iron dates to the mid 80's. Even then, that's old by today's standards. (Hope the Levi's turned out OK). :)
Mighty Frugal
5-9-12, 11:19am
Hi Mrs. M. I am still hopeless at ironing. I somehow still create more wrinkles than I iron out. And now my boys dance around me wanting to 'help' so I spend half the time screeching 'stay away from the iron-it is HOT' and the other half flipping and flipping shirts back to front to iron out a new crease I just ironed in!
The only ironing board I have is a floor one so that just adds to the stress of my kids wanting to iron their faces..
I also still don't know how to fold a fitted sheet
I give up. Maybe my next life I'll get it
Tussiemussies
5-9-12, 11:28am
Hi Mighty frugal maybe having the board on the floor is the problem. We have a small board that hangs off the back of a door and it works really well. You need to let the parts you have ironed hang off the board. So they don't get wrinkled.
Do you have a system about how you iron different parts of clothing ie button down shirts vs jeans etc?
I liked ironing I was really into it. I tried the old fashioned way where after you dry the clothing you spray it with cold water to make it damp and the roll it up intl a plastic bag and into the fridge overnight. The cold with a little dampness really made the clothes come out nice. I would always add liquid starch to the rinse cycle of my washer too. Then each piece was hung on a drying rack until used. I was So into it that I got an iron press which I still have and is also good for quilting. The only thing is that I used to burn my hand a lot. If you want anymore tips let me know!
Mighty Frugal
5-9-12, 12:40pm
I don't want any tips. I just want to know where you live so I can bring my ironing to you;)
Mighty Frugal
5-9-12, 12:42pm
The problem with me is even the back of a shirt will get a new crease when I am ironing the front. I also don't know how to iron sleeves without a whole bunch of new creases. Collars are fine and it feels good to do those but the rest of the shirt-forget it.
I can understand how something perfectly square can be laid flat but a shirt is kinda an inverted V so it will never lie perfectly flat
Tussiemussies
5-9-12, 12:58pm
Before you iron the shirt or sleeve just make sure it is laying flat on both sides you may have to do smaller sections this way and while you area is flat let the rest bunch up. I usually start at the tp of th shoulder if it is not button down. I also crease up places where I am trying to iron but just use the steam blaster once laying flat , your iron should also have a little water sprinkler on it if it is newer and you can do that first before the steam blast. It will take the wrinkle right out. I use the steam blast through a lot of the ironing.
Good luck! It must be hard with the kids around, br very careful as when I was a child the neighbors little girl had the iron fall on her hand which led to a nasty burn.
The iron comes out when I am sewing, to press seams and hems flat. Never otherwise!
domestic goddess
5-9-12, 3:20pm
I have to admit that I haven't ironed anytime recently, though I just washed some scrubs and may iron them. I bought a new iron pretty recently, though, and my whole family made fun of me for doing it. However, I just brought home a kit of Perler beads for the girls (if you are not familiar with them, they are plastic beads that you put on a plastic board to make pictures, then you iron the beads and the heat from the iron fuses the beads), and the whole family got into crafting with them, so who's laughing now? That may well be all the thing is ever used for, but it served a purpose, and all were happy with it.
I just thrifted a nifty pair of cuffed crop jeans for two dollars or so. They're freshly washed, and I'm ironing the cuffs in place with four magnetic clamps from my refrigerator door. I do have an iron or two around here.
Oh, Mighty Frugal... what I'd give to be able to take you under my wing for an hour or two! I'd have you ironing like a fine tailor, and folding sheets like Marta Stewart!
For those susceptible to pressing-creases, a plastic spray-bottle filled with water works wonders! A few expressions on the crease, a touch with a hot iron, ta-da! No more crease(s)! As far as folding fitted sheets goes, the easiest way (when doing it without the help of another set of hands) is laying out the sheet on the floor to fold, or across a made-bed. Trick is, to fold the sheet in half, lengthwise (first), like a long pad, then tucking each elasticized corner inside the other, before squaring-up the ends with the body of the sheet. (So hard to explain through words). Once you get the elasticized corners neat and married, it's simply a matter of folding-down to a manageable package!
Before the boys came along (our last two), I was planning (already had much of the details sorted, ready, and in place) to start my very own, Home Economics business. I was so excited! Two of my oldest daughters friends, had already pledged to be "the first", as did a neighbour, and judging by the support I received from family/friends, I think it would have been popular. I was going to cover everything! (Cooking, cleaning, laundry, ironing, baking, baby/child care (to include) old-fashioned/traditional cloth diapering, gardening, and the list went on...). Who knows, maybe when things settle down a little more on the home-front, I may once again look at resurrecting my old dream.
Neat-o, trick, Tussie! P.S. You many helpful, handy, nifty tips you have regarding!!!
LOL, Maribeth! That's perfectly OK. :)
What a fun-sounding craft, Domestic Goddess. Re: your scrubs, neh... don't iron them. I think ironed scrubs look too fuddy-duddy. LOL! I say fold them (fresh and neatly) out of the dryer and go with that. That way you'll have smart-looking scrubs with clean fresh lines (creases/folds), but more relaxed like. Ironed creases are much too formal for such IMO. JMTC. (Just my two cents). Besides, with you living such a busy life, practicing a more iron-free lifestyle will free-up a little more time for you to do other things! :)
LOL, Jane! Hey, whatever works... :)
domestic goddess
5-10-12, 11:49am
Oh, Mrs. M, it isn't like I really spend any time ironing! And I'm starting to think that doing a little more ironing might give me a feeling of control that I really could use right now. (If you hadn't already guessed, I have some control issues!)
It is kind of surprising to me how many people can't fold a fitted sheet. Apparently, it was a neighbor who taught my mom how to do it, and I learned at a fairly early age. In fact, at one patient's home, ti seemed that I folded his fitted sheets every time I was there; I think they saved them for me! But his had elastic all the way around the sheet, instead of just in the corners, and I find those harder to fold neatly. And they were made of a microfiber fabric, which I find more slippery.
Well, I think it is time for me to get off the Internet and make some lemon bars.
Domestic Goddess. My favourite time to iron is in the afternoon, when all the housework is done, and things are relatively quiet. Natural lighting is good, the birds can be heard singing, and it's my time!
Re: folding fitted sheets, I learned at a young age, too. For a fully-fitted sheet, I'd lay down so that the elasticized edging was facing upward, pull outer edges (neat and tidy as you can), do a shallow hem-fold on all four sides, then fold up into desired pattern for storing.
I find crib sheets to be harder than full-sized bed sheets (the elastic reason). With crib sheets, the fitted elastic corners are usually exaggerated, extending into the body of the sheet itself, creating a plastic shower-cap like shape.
P.S. The lemon bars sound oh so good! (Please tell me more about them).
Wildflower
5-11-12, 9:18pm
Wildflower. Why is it that we all have to be scattered around the world like we are, so far apart and unable to have "ladies nights", where get-togethers would mean chatting, laughing, having a cup of tea together (or worse), and sharing our knowledge/experience with one another.
P.S. LOL, about your iron! You have me beat by a long-shot, as my iron dates to the mid 80's. Even then, that's old by today's standards. (Hope the Levi's turned out OK). :)
It would be so much fun for all of us to be together for a "ladies night"! Just thinking about it makes me smile! :) What a great time we would have! :D
And the Levis turned out OK! I took a spray bottle of water and the old iron to them, and all was good in the end! :cool:
We'd have a ball, Wildflower! Wouldn't be a dull-moment... As much as it brings me joy to think about it, it also brings me a little sadness. Not as much sadness as it used to, but sadness nonetheless. I will always struggle with getting to know so many here and feeling exceptionally close to a few, knowing (chances are good) a real life meet will more than likely never happen.
Yay, for the Levi's!!! I don't iron jeans, nor do my daughters. We just fold them fresh out of the dryer/off the clothesline, and my husband likes to have his jeans "hung". He loathes jeans with creases (iron-pressed creases). Goes back to his childhood. :)
catherine
5-12-12, 12:53pm
I was taught that you iron a shirt in this order:
1) collar
2) cuffs
3) sleeves
4) front
5) back yolk (by folding it at the place where the yolk meets the back)
6) back
Any one else have a different way? I remember when I was working in summer stock in Connecticut, the costume designer had to run to New Haven to pick up a costume and left me with the job of ironing a shirt. Seems easy right? Well, I hadn't finished by the time she went ALL the way to New Haven and back--and all I can remember was her look of complete amazement and disdain...
So she taught me how to iron, and then my husband gave me the Master's training: as a former Marine, he expected his shirts to stand up by themselves. So ironing and starching his shirts was a big part of my morning ritual. Of course now I'd be inclined to tell him to go iron them himself, or get them done at the laundry.
You know how much I iron, when my daughter (who was about 6 at the time), said "What's that???" when I got the ironing board out. hahaha
Catherine. You win the Little Miss Susie Homemaker award for most proper way to iron a shirt! :) Here's my way...
1. Start with placket front, button-hole side, progress to opposite button-side, pressing shirt-body entirely as I work.
2. Press box-pleats, side-pleats, darts.
3. Press sleeves/cuffs.
4. Press yolk. (This step I use the tapered end of my ironing board to complete).
5. Press collar, immediately hang.
LOL, Re: your summer job working for the costume designer!
CathyA. ROTFLMAO!
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