Ironing. Yes, the very word conjures up images of either the 50's housewife in black and white, ironing her husband's crisp, white shirts. OR, it makes me think of a big basket of wrinkled clothes, and me chained to the ironing board all afternoon... For years and year I didn't iron. Oh, we pressed things just before we put them on, but I didn't "do the ironing" in a big batch like other women I know. And for the most part, I still don't, except that I figured out what a true blessing it is for my husband to have his clothes hanging in the closet ready for work. I can't always get to it every week, but when I can it really blesses him.
The main reason I've never really "done the ironing" is that our closets are relatively small, and by the time you press something and then "mush" it in there with everything else, it's going to need a going over before you wear it anyway. But during the week, my husband's pressed for time (oh look! I'm being punny!) and the press-and-go maneuver takes too much time. What I've begun doing for my husband's work clothes is ironing them ahead of time and hanging them on a different kind of hanger in the closet.
Everything else we hang is on wire hangers because it all fits better. But when I press a week's worth (or more) of his work clothes, I hang them on these plastic, colored hangers and push the other clothes away from them, so they stay fresh, and he can quickly tell which clothes are pressed and ready to go.
He's got a double row of bars in his side of he closet, shirts on top and pants/jeans on the bottom. I'll spare you a picture of the inside of our closet, but if you walk in there right now, you can tell at a glance which shirts and pants have been ironed because they are set apart by these hangers. (Of course, if what I've ironed is not what he wants to wear, he's free to choose another shirt and iron it himself, but I'm noticing that week in, week out the shirts I've ironed and hung on the plastic hangers are the ones to be worn!)
I don't iron all of our clothes, and the rest of us "press and go" most days, but for my husband's clothes this "hanger system" works for me!
To read more of what works for others, or to share what works for you visit Shannon. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wrinkle-free Wednesday!
4 comments:
"Of course, if what I've ironed is not what he wants to wear, he's free to choose another shirt and iron it himself, but I'm noticing that week in, week out the shirts I've ironed and hung on the plastic hangers are the ones to be worn!" Funny how that works out :) Great idea--we have small closets too, so I just squish the non-ironed work outfits to give the pressed items breathing room. I love your idea of different colored hangers--easy to see what's ironed in the early morning darkness!
A tip on ironing definitely works for me! I love how organized this system is. Very smart. My hubby would be so pleased if I started doing this for him.
I have boycotted ironing for years. I recently had to take it up when dh was given new work shirts. I've actually come to sort of enjoy ironing, there's something meditative about it. But I'm not telling my husband that!
I so do not iron! I just take things out of the dryer, hang them up immediately. If they are still wrinkled, I run them through the dryer again, and if they aren't crisp, I don't keep that shirt.
My MIL thinks I'm a shame to all homemakers I'm sure, when she comes over she irons DH's shirts. But they look no different when she's done, so, I continue to not iron.
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