I iron rarely because most of our clothes are polyester. They last for years but I would like a change and be more environmentally friendly, but cotton and linen need ironing. My current iron, top recommendation from choice at the time, probably 2 years old but little used performs very poorly particularly on linen and cotton. It doesn’t seem to get hot enough, something I have found with my last 3 irons.
I have been researching Choice about other options and am considering a Steamer Iron. I would welcome feedback from others about what they have found gets creases out of clothes without spending excessive amounts of time and spraying with extra water, even with the iron on steam settings.
My tip is to minimise the creases in the first instance.
Line drying and carefully hanging and straightening every portion helps. For button up shirts hanging upside down using 4/5 pegs and carefully draping or folding over long sleeves. Alternately I have a selection of different shaped and sized plastic coat hangers. We tend to dry on the verandah with mostly light shade rather than full sun. Sometimes a gentle breeze seems to help. Neither of us are into ironing. It’s easier if the item is not quite 100% dry when brought in for ironing.
A steam press is great, something the army once recommend along with an excess of starch. It’s decades since I needed to use one or the other.
I feel your pain re iron temperatures. My main solution might not be adequate for everyone but in retirement lightly and often moderately wrinkled clothes are not noticed. ie it is not a worry.
To the mainstream, one tactic that substantially reduces wrinkles is a slow spin - to wit 800 leaves far fewer hard to iron wrinkles than 1400. The slower the better but the longer to dry.
Clothing dependent, some fabrics respond well to tumble drying and others only to line drying - read the care labels. The heat and tumbling action tends to release wrinkles so long as the dryer is no more than about half loaded. A too full dryer essentially irons in wrinkles.
Line drying depends. Clothes hung in the full sun dry to a crisp wrinkles included while those in the shade on a warm day to tend have a more ‘comfortable’ result.
Clothes that will need ironing should be ironed while still slightly damp with or without steam; it seems to work better than steam after the fabric is fully dry.
There’s wrinkle release sprays which work on cotton but the traditional method is to sprinkle with water, roll it up and let it get damp all over before ironing it. This relaxes the cotton threads and the iron can then flatten it.
Elsewhere the community has talked about how the care labels say no to a hot iron on cotton, mainly because of the various ‘treatments’ a ‘natural’ fibre like cotton goes through nowadays.
PS outwear made of Linen fabric looks good when it’s all wrinkled, otherwise we might as well save our money
This is how my Mum did it, and I also do it but with a spray bottle instead of the traditional bottle with holes punched in its lid method.
That said, I’ve not ironed since I left work. I mostly have poly/cotton clothes which seem to drop their creases if shaken out and hung on hangers or a clothes horse in the shade. I don’t do sun much at all except for sheets etc.
I’m ex-Army and used to have to iron heavy jungle greens and the like (to within an inch of their life!). Agreed regarding all the advice here - taking care how you dry the items to minimise ironing is crucial. I used to use the iron’s steam and spray function and these worked perfectly well, as long as you’re not in any rush. If you’re really fussy, you can add in some spray starch. Having said that, since leaving the ADF, I rarely buy anything that requires ironing now. lol
Our washing machine has an ‘easy iron’ option which reduces the spin speed to 800 and at the end of cycle, it turns the cylinder every minute or so to ensure the wrinkles don’t set in.
Ironing when slightly damp is definitely an easier way, but it can also mean you actually iron in a crease where you don’t want it, so be aware.
I agree about the heat of irons, none seem to have a reasonable heat. I’m looking forward to the day I stop working, because I only iron clothes for workings and occasional nights’ out.
I bought a recommended steam station iron for this exact reason. I HATED IT. It didn’t get the creases out no matter how many different ways I tried. In the end I bought the highest wattage steam iron I could find (Tefal 2400 watts). That worked! I line dry in the shade, turn off steam function on the iron, spray the item with a water spray bottle and turn the heat up to full. Perfect every time.
In warm weather after washing dunk into a bucket of water and then hang out to dry. Iron when still lightly damp or use a spray bottle and steam iron. This is my method for linen clothing and I rarely need to iron.
Whilst I spray and damp clothes the issue is mainly with the iron not getting hot enough to remove the creases easily, so this may be a solution. The iron I bought, highest recommended by Choice decides itself what temperature to use. Whilst this could be a problem of this technology, not getting hot enough has been the issue of the last lot of ordinary irons I have bought. I will check out the Tefal iron.
In the days of ironing shirts, long ago thankfully they were polyester and cotton , and as the daughter of a cotton mill manager, a chemical was available to improve ease of ironing. However we are in a sustainable, world of natural fibres. I bought 2 blouses, I loved in cotton last year, one has already gone to the charity shop because I did not love it enough to spend 15 minutes getting it looking pristine. I used to be able to iron a business shirt in 5 minutes.
Hopefully the Tefal 2400 watts is still on the maket.
I have a nearly 10yr old Philips PerfectCare Steam Generator GC8635. I would never go back to a sole plate again. The ease of use is beyond comparison. Temperature doesn’t come into it - you can leave it sole plate down on the board or even clothes. It pumps steam like a demon & charges though anything I throw at it. Can’t say obviously if current models still compare but as said I’d never go back to a heat based device.
The only issue I’ve ever had is it started leaking 2-1/2yrs old but Philips came to the party & repaired it no charge even 6months out of 2 yr warranty. I then LOL went “against” OEM care advice & never ever empty it between uses believing, leaving it empty caused the oring to dry out & fail earlier than it would otherwise. Well 6-7yrs later I still believe that - if it fails at this point I wouldn’t be able to complain at all ay…
My solution is to set the iron to a higher temperature, and watch carefully to make sure the cloth doesn’t start to scorch. If the cloth doesn’t start to scorch, then you can probably continue to use the higher temperature setting.
Every iron I’ve had, for several decades, has had to be turned up to higher than the recommended setting. I suspect that manufacturers consistently set their temperature settings low, to minimise the risk that people will complain that their irons burn clothes.
