Then and Now - Ironing
/Back in the 1960s, ironing was a skill my mother taught us. Many of our clothes needed to be ironed because they were made of natural fabrics like cotton. We sprinkled clothes in bags and then ironed them after the moisture was fully absorbed; the clothes were damp but not wet. The irons did not have a water reservoir to make them into ‘steam’ irons. Even if they did, the amount of ironing was enough that the steam would not have lasted for the whole time. My father bought a mangle iron for the laundry room in our newly built house in 1963 which my mother used for flat items like napkins and table clothes…disappointed that it was not easily used for clothes.
I particularly remember ironing two gingham shorts/top sets during a summer in the mid-60s. I eventually got pretty good at getting all the wrinkles smoothed away.
By the later 1960s, the amount of ironing had dropped dramatically with most clothes being permanent press cotton or synthetic fabric.
Now the only things I iron are cotton bandanas! I iron them straight from the washer – which spins so much water out that they are dry by the time I iron them. I use a new-looking iron that I found when my sisters and I were cleaning out my parents’ house and an ironing board that I got when I married over 50 years ago (the cover has been replaced once).
Ironing is one of those historical life-skills that might not be important now!
Previous Then and Now posts
