There is no getting around the fact that skillful ironing is an art acquired only by experience and patience. No one is a "born ironer" but any one with an ounce of patience and two ounces of perseverance can become expert. It is a really worth-while accomplishment too, because perhaps nowhere else but in the field of cookery is there such a genuine pride of achievement.
With this homespun recipe for success, the manual opens its chapter on "Ironing Procedures." I've never really considered ironing a source of pride. For me, it's always been more about sheer endurance for the sake of not looking like a rumpled mess when I leave the house. Between modern fabrics and standards in appearance that have become incredibly relaxed over the last 60 years, there's never been much in the way of payoff for me when it comes to ironing. Does this week's mission have any surprises in store for me?
Early Forenoon (between 10:00 a.m. and noon):
Ironing
Early Afternoon (between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.):
Finish ironing. Put away ironing.
For housewives guided by tradition, Tuesdays were quite naturally spent ironing all those fresh, clean clothes laundered on Mondays. I don't think steam irons had been introduced yet, because the manual gives detailed instructions on "sprinkling" every item with warm water before ironing. What might take us an hour today once consumed a good part of the day. Here in 2009, I'm going to reserve Tuesday evenings for ironing. Do you prefer doing your laundry on another day of the week? Not to worry. The manual gives a little leeway to those who don't do the wash on Monday, but the two chores are still in lockstep: "If washing is done on Tuesday, ironing is put forward to Wednesday."
9 comments:
Ugh. I hate ironing. I will definitely monitor your progress on this one as I can't imagine finding joy in this one area. I heart my steamer :)
I used to work with a woman who hated to iron. She told me that when she got dressed each morning, she always wondered if there was any way possible that she could pass off any wrinkles in her clothing as being caused by sitting in the car and wearing a seat belt. *grins*
Sadly that doesn't always work!
When my dad was in college (early 70s) he had a friend who always wore a vest/waistcoat and would only iron around the vest.
Apparently, my grandmother used to keep starched clothing in the freezer before ironing it since the starch would sour. My mom tells me she had skirts that stayed frozen for months!
For me its always been a thing of comfort. I'm a bit of a princess and the pea when it comes to wrinkles!
Good luck, I can't wait to hear about it!
Hairball, it sounds like we used to work together!!!
I never iron until right before I put something on - and I'm always looking at things in the morning, wondering if I can pass off the wrinkles as caused by my commute or not. Wouldn't want to lug out the ironing board and turn on the iron for nothing, eh?
Public Artist, I love the story about your mother's frozen skirts! From what I can tell from the manual, people would often sprinkle their clothes on Monday, roll them up tightly, and refrigerate them until Tuesday when they took them out to iron. This only worked in cool weather, though. It sounds like the 'ol Frigidaire played a big part on wash day and ironing day...
I have baskets of clothing that I rarely wear because I hate to iron.
One of my blogs is a direct transcription of my mom's 1960's diaries. She had a modern washer, but hung clothes out to dry. She brought clothes in, folded them prior to ironing, and dampened many items overnight. Then she spent the better part of the next day ironing. She added bluing when necessary. Sometimes she used starch. It was a lot of time-consuming work!
I remember using a soda pop bottle with a corked top that would sprinkle. I would use that to dampen clothing, roll the pieces up in a towel and iron them the next day. Chores can be a meditation or a way to get rid of anger. Now ironing is looked on as PASS ON THAT job. Oh well. Now we have other things to spend our time on.
Joyce
I do do my laundry on monday, but also my ironing. Perhaps with the new intro into starch (once I decide what is the best type of starch to get any hints?) it might have to happen on tuesday. I could have the 'maid' on laundry day, but I am not ready to burden my friend with that. Sunday breakfast and clean up and friday clean and dinner is all I can really ask of her and not feel a fool. Do u know when they invented spray starch as I cannot seem to pinpoint a date? thanks
Faultless Starch says spray starch wasn't invented until the 1960's. Bad news for those of you "living" before that date. :(
Bill, you're so lucky to have such a wonderful record of your mom's life. And to read about yourself as a baby! It's interesting to know that she was following a laundry routine in the early '60s much like I've read about from the '40s. The postwar washing machines may have eased things up a bit in washing/rinsing clothes, but there was a lot of work to do by hand before your clothes were ready to put away and wear.
50sgal, just from looking at some ads for starch from the early 1950s, it looks to me like the product was usually powdered. It could be mixed with hot tap water and the clothes would be dipped into that. There was also a liquid starch available - maybe you'd dilute this with water?
Thanks for doing the research, Hairball! I didn't see any ads for spray starch earlier than 1961 and the pitch then is "New!"
Post a Comment