Ironing It Out!

Nicola here and today I am tackling the ironing, literally in fact as a bout of Covid followed by a trip away has meant that I am a bit behind on all my chores. I know there are people who enjoy ironing, who even find it therapeutic, but I am not one of them. I don’t like it at all. But I do like the result – nicely pressed clothes and smooth bed linen, so that presents me with a bit of a dilemma.

Smoothing clothes to get rid of creases and make them look – and feel – nicer is apparently an ancient pastime. Before the Chinese used metal to press cloth over a thousand years ago, people had been using heated rocks to flatten animal hides for millennia. Materials such as stone, wood and glass had been used as well, but the first “iron” appeared in the Middle Ages. There were a number of issues associated with early irons such as not being able to regulate their heat on an open fire, getting soot and dirt on the clothes and the iron cooling down rapidly and needing to be frequently re-heated. This does remind me a little of my steam iron which has a habit of spitting chalky water on my clothes unexpectedly when I am trying to press them.

I must admit that the glass linen smoothers fascinate me as they are often very beautiful. These “slick stones' are also known as 'slickers', 'sleekstones', 'slickenstones' and 'calenders'. Often made from dark green glass, the earlier Viking and medieval versions were rounded and without handles. They were about the right size to fit comfortably in your hand and were used on both sides. Apparently examples from the Viking period have been found with a small ‘ironing’ board made of whalebone! Later, from the 16^th century onwards, slick stones would have handles and their use continued into the 19^th century, long after the introduction of flat irons. Glass linen smoothers were used cold, whilst the material that was being smoothed would be damp.

Ironing my duvet covers is a challenge these days because of the size and also because the dog enjoys lying on the warm and freshly ironed material. This prompted me to wonder how such large pieces of material like bed linen would be smoothed in the past and I discovered there were wooden frames used to stretch damp cloth and also rollers (known as calenders) which bedding and other large items could be pressed between. This reminded me of a mangle, which was a piece of laundry apparatus that I remember my grandmother still using in the second half of the twentieth century. The mangle has a special place in our family folklore because my great-grandfather once rolled my great-grandmother’s skirts into a mangle after an argument and left her trapped there all day. I never met him but I disliked him on the basis of that story alone!

More ironing history, and the flat iron, also known as the sad iron or smoothing iron was first invented by blacksmiths in the middle ages. Some irons from this period were made from stone and some from terracotta. They needed to be held with a thick cloth on the handle to absorb the heat, though some had wooden handles. Two irons were ideal, one heating up on the fire whilst the other was in use. Guessing the right temperature of an iron like this was a fine art to avoid burning the cloth. A well-known test was spitting on the hot metal – not very genteel – and in The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens writes “she held the iron at an alarmingly short distance from her cheek, to test its temperature.” Eek!

Of course if you were an aristocrat you didn’t need to worry about any of these domestic chores. In this 1780 painting by Thomas Morland a rather winsome
maid is ironing some linen and looking very serene. There’s no suggestions of either her appearance or her tools being affected by the real hardship of domestic labour!

For my grandmother, Monday was washing day and Tuesday ironing day assuming that the weather had been good enough to dry everything outside the day before. Along with strong memories of ironing day in her house – the smell of hot material combining with the smell of fresh air from the dried clothes – I also remember the folk song “dashing away with the smoothing iron” which I she sang as she worked:

‘Twas on a [ Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday ] morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
[ A-washing | A-shaking | A-drying | A-airing | A-ironing | A-folding | A-wearing ] of her linen, O

Refrain
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
She stole my heart away.

Anyway, writing this blog piece has helped me avoid the ironing for another hour or so but I’d better get back to the ironing board. How do you feel about ironing? Are you comfortable with unironed clothes or bedding? Do you love ironing? And do you have any childhood memories of the old-fashioned ways it was done before the advent of the electric iron?

Comments

[Alice Mathewson]

Hi Nicola. Sorry to hear you had Covid and hope you are feeling better. Oh ironing - the top of my least favourite chore list, along with children's personal hygiene! We moved last year and I am still unpacking boxes. Last month, I found my ironing basket in a box still full of un-ironed clothes - I had to post a picture on social media for all my fellow undomestic goddesses. With the duvet cover, my one treat is to take them out to be laundered and now considering going to single duvets each to make this easier (as well as resolving the different duvet weights we prefer. However generally ironing less now as husband is not wearing a clean shirt to the office everyday and children have left home - phew. I thought Jo Baker in 'Longbourne' did a great job of showing what an almighty effort laundry was in the Regency period so we should count ourselves lucky!

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Alice,I am so glad to hear I am not the only undomestic goddess around! I love that you found your ironing basket with a pile of unironed clothes!! The fact that domestic work was so hard in the past makes me feel a bit guilty for complaining now. Clearly we are spoiled and very nice it is too.

[theo]

I have grown to hate ironing over the years, in part because ironing my husbands shirts are like ironing sheets. He's a big guy, his shirts are big and they don't fit on the board well so by the time I'm done, the first part that was ironed is wrinkled again and it's a losing battle.

I grew up with a 'mangler' but it was a wringer washer and at a very early age, my mother taught me how to use it so I wouldn't mangle my fingers in the wringer. She used first a manual washer and then one that did plug in so she didn't have to shift it constantly and manually turn the wringer, until I turned 27 and insisted she start using a modern washing machine, but refused a dryer. A clothesline was good enough for her, even in winter when the clothes would freeze so solid, they looked like they could walk into the house by themselves. I also still have her cast iron irons. Three of them. Two regular and one with a steam pot on it. That too was a chore to get her to switch. But I have fond memories of learning to iron on sheets that were almost dry because leaving them damp meant it was easier to get the wrinkles out of them.

Over time, with a steam dryer, I've become pretty lazy. The clothes come out wrinkle free for the most part and the one or two that don't get a quick going over on my quilting board with a small quilting press iron and it takes a minute. There's everything I need to treat stains now instead of soaking for days in a bucket so I don't miss them after the clothes are washed and iron them in by mistake. I don't even have a full size ironing board anymore though there are days I wish I did because there's always that 'one thing', but those are few and far between and I make do. So you're not alone.

[Mary T]

When I was a kid ironing was my least favorite chore. When it was my turn, I would try to trade chores with one of my sisters. Washing dishes, sweeping. vacuuming - anything was better than ironing.

I gave up ironing a few years back. Just had to make sure I was right by the dryer when it stopped to hang my clothes up immediately.

She never said so, but I think my mother enjoyed ironing. She even ironed for the neighbors to earn a little extra money.

The history was quite interesting. Great post.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Very interesting, Nicola! I was particularly intrigued by your description of the glass irons. But I give thanks that I live in the age of wash and wear!

[SAMANTHA CRAIG]

As part of our pre-marriage counseling I told my husband in no uncertain terms that I do not iron. If he wanted something ironed, he would need to do it himself. And for almost 22 years he has done just that. Ironed my things a time or two when needed also. :)

[Jeanne Behnke]

I wouldn't say I love to iron, but when I do have to do it I find it relaxing. I love freshly ironed clothing. I have to say I have never ironed my sheets (and don't plan on starting now)!

[Nicola Cornick]

Fascinating stuff about your mother's washing rituals, Theo! She was obviously very attached to all the old-fashioned stuff just like my grandma was. I love the idea of the clothes freezing on the line!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Mary! I think there are (or were) definitely people who enjoyed the ironing process but I prefer your idea of grabbing things fresh from the dryer and hanging them up there and then!

[Nicola Cornick]

Yes indeed, Mary Jo. I love the glass irons but as ornaments rather than utensils!

[Nicola Cornick]

That's a great idea to set that ground rule at the start Samantha. My husband also does the ironing!

[Nicola Cornick]

I agree, Jeanne - freshly ironed clothing feels very nice!

[Lil Marek]

When I was in high school, my main chore was the ironing. It wasn't too bad because at that time there were English movies on the tv on Saturday afternoon and I could watch them as I ironed. However, my shortcuts drove my mother crazy. I had to wear long sleeved white broadcloth shirts as part of my school uniform. They were a real pain to iron, so I would iron only the sleeves, the collar, and the front vee. The rest was hidden under the uniform jumper, I explained, so no one could see the unironed part.
My mother was not amused.

[Kareni]

Glad to hear you recovered from your bout of covid, Nicola.

I'd never known of glass linen smoothers, so thank you for educating me this morning. Like you, my grandmother also had a wringer/mangler. I do have an iron (no board), but it is only rarely used. I dry shirts part way and then hang them to finish drying completely... good enough!

[Anne Gracie]

I do most of my ironing in hotel rooms. In other words, when I'm at a conference. But most of my non-conference clothes are non-iron -- yay for t-shirts!. And my sheets and doona covers are cotton percale and go straight on the bed from the line, and are never ironed, though I do iron my pillow slips. You're a heroine for ironing the doona cover!

I used to iron a lot more when I had a day job to go to, but I rarely did a big batch at once, because after a few days in the wardrobe, they looked crumpled again, so I took to ironing just before I wore something. On occasion, though, I would tackle a load of ironing all at once, and when I did, I'd lower the ironing board so I could sit on the couch, put on a movie, and iron away, and it was almost meditative. The scent of freshly ironed fabric is wonderful. I had a copyeditor once comment that there was no smell -- I ignored it.

[Nicola Cornick]

That's very funny about your school shirt ironing, Lil! I think it was very resourceful of you; shows real creativity!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Kareni! The mangle/wringer must have been a staple of many households, I think. These days I am glad we have the sort of materials that don't need ironing!

[Nicola Cornick]

Clearly that copy editor knew nothing, Anne! The smell of the freshly ironed linen is one of the best things about the whole process!

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Nicola - I've never been crazy about ironing. I was OK with napkins and hankies and flat items. We didn't iron sheets in my house. And I didn't have to so clothing. I did do tablecloths of all sizes, except the 140" Irish linen banquet cloth. My favorite ironing adventure took place on a Sunday morning in the winter of 1980. I was ironing a pile of things in a basket. The small black-and-white analog TV (I yearn for it!) was plugged in and sitting on the washing machine. And what was on TV? The 1980 Winter Olympics. And what was featured? - the US ice hockey team of amateurs vs the much-vaunted Soviets. The US won! And that game was forever called, "The Miracle on Ice." So far, that was the most satisfying ironing adventure I've ever had.

[Mary M.]

While I remember as a young teen happily ironing my own clothes, singing along to the radio, I embraced permanent press when it arrived (late '50s?) with great fervor and have never looked back. It's been quite a few decades since I even thought about ironing anything, and while I know there's an iron here somewhere, I'd be hard-pressed (yeh, deliberate) to locate it.

My mother had an electric mangle and spent hours weekly using it, even after sheets were non-wrinkle. Did she enjoy it? Maybe. I think it may have been more to satisfy her urge for control and order, though.

Fascinating post, good ol' memories. Thanks, Nicola!

[Patricia Franzino]

Hi Nicola, I'm sorry you had to deal with Covid and glad to hear you're better now.

Whatever the chores are I have to take care of in the apartment, I get them over with asap without thinking how I feel about it. All of it is finished quickly.

If there is ironing, which I do rarely, and only with clothing, not sheets, I get it done methodically, and it's over.

A storyline: Your great-grandfather is walking along when an intensely strong wind releases an already rotting tree limb hitting him in the head causing his demise.

I hope your great-grandfather pre-deceased your great-grandmother, early in their marriage.

[Nicola Cornick]

Binnie, that's a wonderful way to spend an ironing session. No wonder you remember it so vividly! I'm with you on the flat things. There is something quite satisfying about ironing a square.

[Nicola Cornick]

Haha, love the pun, Mary! Interesting about your mother; it's true that ironing can be a satisfying way of instilling order.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you very much, Patricia. I am loving the story about my great-grandfather's demise! He did pre-decease her but probably not soon enough. What gives me great satisfaction is that every so often I think of what he might of made of me and enjoy the fact that he would definitely not have approved. An uppity woman with opinions! Take that, great grandad!

[Nancy Mayer]

I used to iron on Saturday listening to the Opera.It is harder to do so since they no longer broadcast the opera at that time. Simce my job disappeared when the office closed due to Covid, I haven't really needed to iron much except for something to wear to church on Sunday. I do not believe in ironing sheets. That is what they invented permapress for.My husband was in the army and sent his uniforms out after my one attempt to iron his Khakis.Why I was a child we had an iron that was heated on the stove but I used an electric iron as a teenager.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Nancy. I imagine ironing Khakis would be very difficult indeed! I do enjoy listening to music or watching something on the TV when I iron - it does help. In my case I watch Midsomer Murders!

[Annette N]

I used to love to iron. It was a place which showed when you were done. You had evidence of what you had done. Of course then people wore the clothes ... so much for results.
I'm old. I never had those irons which heated on a stove, but I had a mangle and used it. I got pretty good at it.
I Loved ironing my daughters dresses when they were in elementary school. That was at a time when the idea of girls wearing anything but skirts and dresses was equivalent to planning to over throw the government. Those dresses gave me joy. It meant my girls went to school showing how lovely they looked.
Has anyone but me seen pants stretchers? If not, it is a metal frame that is put inside damp jeans legs and when they dried the jeans were nice and smooth and had a crease up the front. That is a Texas thing.
I loved hanging clothes outside. The scent of freshly sun dried clothes is amazing. And yes, I have taken frozen things off the line....nothing like carrying several pairs of frozen jeans.
I used to be the laundry queen. It is evident I am a cheap date...it doesn't take much to make me happy.
Give me some clothes line and a mangle and some sunshine, I am good to go.

[Laura Lee Hall]

I used to love helping my Mom iron when young but found it a time consumer soon enough. My Mom's oldest sister even ironed her bras! And speaking of that aunt, she had one of those wringer/washers. My poor cousin caught her arm up to her elbow in it! I do love natural fibers so have more than enough to iron because I do so like the feel and look. But I draw the line at bed linens! Not even for comfort will I add that!

[TexasGal]

I remember pants stretchers! They were used in my dad's no-iron summer slacks to keep the creases sharp.
My mother did our laundry at a local washateria and brought it home to hang on the outdoor clothesline. We didn't iron sheets, but my job was to press napkins, handkerchiefs... and my dad's woven cotton undershorts! When I started high school, we wore white cotton gym rompers which we brought home every Friday to be washed, starched and ironed for the next week's classes. Those things were a horror to iron. Students who moved here from the North and East were amazed, as their gym clothes were usually no-iron shorts with knit shirts. Here in the South, practical clothing styles seemed slower to change.

[Vicki L]

Could be that copy editor didn't have a sense of smell. One of my sisters can't smell dirty diapers and broccoli that has gone off.

[Teresa Broderick]

I'm just recovering from covid at the moment so I'm well behind with housework.
I don't mind ironing. I usually pop on an audio book and off I go. I don't iron bed clothes. Life is too short:)
When we came to Ireland to live in 1968 we left all mod cons behind. My mother must have found it so tough. She did the washing in a tin bath and her iron was similar to the picture of the one here at the top. She had two, would heat them on the fire and use them alternately.
Housework is definitely easier these days but I still moan about it:)

[Nicola Cornick]

I'm sorry to hear that, Teresa (the Covid bit, not the housework!) I hope you feel much better soon. It's very interesting to hear your mother used those irons and in exactly the way that the books describe with one on the heat and one in use.

[Nicola Cornick]

Ironing of bras is a new one to me! I know my mother and grandmother would iron everything else! Your poor cousin, though, catching her arm in in the wringer. That sounds awful! I love natural fibers too and they do need more ironing, don't they.

[Nicola Cornick]

You know, Annette, I think that's what I have against ironing. It all looks so fresh and smooth and then we wear the clothes again and that's the end of that! But I am so glad it gives you joy. I feel like that about washing up and very few people understand why!

Pant stretchers! I'd never heard of those. Fascinating!

[Nicola Cornick]

It's very interesting that in the South you've seen a slower change in practical clothing styles. Not to mention the pant stretchers! I had forgotten about starch until now. My grandmother was a starch fiend and would starch anything that moved. I was intrigued by it and remember the smell and the milky liquid... Happy childhood days!

[Nicola Cornick]

That must be a blessing! That was one of the few benefits of my recent bout of Covid - I couldn't smell the stinky fish treats the dog loves!

[Alison Y]

When I was a young child, my mother had a woman come in once a week to clean and iron the clothes. I remember her sprinkling the clothes, rolling them up, stacking them and then leaving them to get uniformly damp before ironing them. The sheets were sent out to a laundry.

I also recall the first steam iron my aunt had. It was so heavy your wrist and arm got sore from lifting it after only ironing one piece.

I still have my mother's ironing board. It is longer than most because my father had long legs and this made it easier to iron his pants. It is made of wood and every time I take it out I tell myself I should get rid of it, but the sentiment of it has stopped me from doing so and, luckily, I don't need it very often.

[Kareni]

Sending wishes for your speedy recuperation, Teresa!

[Kareni]

I lived in Houston and attended junior high there. I remember wearing a white gym outfit with bloomers. What joy!

[Nicola Cornick]

Ah, that's interesting about "ironing damp" Alison. And yes, the weight of all those old irons! Like a work out at the gym!

[Mary M.]

I had a teen friend whose arm had been sucked into an electric wringer. To this day, the memory of those huge, puckered, purple scars makes me literally cringe inside. Your poor aunt!

[Teresa Broderick]

Thanks so much for your kind wishes Kareni. It knocked me for six!!! Wouldn't like to get it again.