No sooner did I get home from work this evening and it's almost time for bed! I don't know how the time away from work slips by so quickly on these weekday evenings... It's going to make some of my weekday housecleaning missions loom large. (Can you tell I'm getting the jitters about the mission ahead on Thursday evening?)
On the other side of the equation, I've noticed that ironing my laundry in one fell swoop has actually created some time in my mornings. How cool is that? I pick out my clothes for the day and just pluck them from their hangers. Ready to go. No lugging out the ironing board. No heating the iron for one or two items. One of the reasons I never used to iron everything at once is because I thought the clothes would be wrinkled again by the time I went to wear them. That they'd get wrinkled while they were hanging in the closet. That's actually not the case - which has been a wonderful surprise. It's been a couple weeks, but it's nice to see some payoff from the ironing mission.
And speaking of ironing, I'm getting ready to do just that tonight. The manual advises me to arrange my ironing area with an eye toward moving the clothes from left to right: "Place the clothesbasket at your left, a clothes rack at your right, and be sure there are coat hangers near at hand." Here are a few of the Top Ten tips I'm still striving to be mindful about:
2. When you straighten material on the ironing board or roll of a rotary ironer, use the palms of your hands and smooth from the center out. Your fingers are apt to stretch the fabrics and pull them out of shape.
3. Iron with straight strokes, with the thread of the fabric.
5. Collars, cuffs, sleeves, belts and trimmings are ironed first, then the flat sections of the garment.
My breakfast menu for the last two days has been another of the trio from the 1944 edition of the Good Housekeeping Cook Book:
Half of Grapefruit
Omelet
Toasted English Muffins
The secret I've discovered to making a lovely, golden omelet is keeping the heat at a steady medium. A shade hotter and the omelet starts to brown. At least that's how it works on my stovetop. They're all a little different!
6 comments:
I don't recommend that you take such a drastic step, but my ironing gets done because I married a Marine (he also cleans a mean bathroom).
I was proud of my ironing yesterday. Each week I have added more to the list. I feel quite satisfied when I look at my pile of ironed napkins (we do not use paper any more good for environment and good for table decor!)
I have to sat the small investment in the housekeeping book is really paying off. I have to try and remember to include that article on ironing in my 1944 home magazine for you.
I am determined to have an organized cleaning closet like in that pic and in the drawing/description in our house manual!
Shay, nothin' wrong with that suggestion! You gotta love a man who knows how to clean house.
50s gal, real table linens! That's impressive. I have just the one vintage breakfast cloth, but I'd love to jazz up my table wardrobe someday soon. There are some beautiful pieces out there... Glad you're getting a lot out of the manual, too.
I've used cloth napkins for years but, *sheepish grin* I've never once ironed them.
I bought a stack of napkins when they went on sale through Williams-Sonoma, and they never seem to *need* ironing. If I take them out of the dryer right away, they are smooth and ready to use. I did do a little embroidery around the border, but I can't see how that would have helped. Maybe I'm not picky enough!!???
Maybe your napkins are made of something that doesn't hold a wrinkle. Poly blend?
Post a Comment