How To Do Less Ironing

Don't feel you have to iron everything. This tip may not be for everybody but I only iron clothes that other people will see me or my family in or bed covers people may see.

So in general I don't iron pajamas, underpants, socks, sheets (they're hidden underneath the bed covers). You can also get away with ironing one side of the bed covers and pillow cases too.

Creases in clothes are often caused by lots of washing being in the machine at once.

If you don't jam lots of clothes in the machine there will be less creases to iron out.

The same goes for the tumble dryer if you have one.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Many people wash their clothes after wearing them just once whether they're dirty or not.

Make sure before you wash your clothes they really are dirty. Some things may have one light stain which you can sponge out quickly. This saves on washing and ironing.

I used to wash all of my son's clothes after one wash. But now I always check them. His tops need washing almost everyday but quite often jeans can be worn again.

When your next purchasing clothes for you and your family try and buy clothes that are easier to iron.

My little boy seems to have lots of shirts with hoods on. These are so much harder to iron that lots of his other t-shirts and tops which take a few seconds. But a lot of these tops are just as nice. So now when I shop for clothes I try to look for things that are easier to iron.

Likewise, I seem to have some complicated tops with awkward material and buttons which I know try to avoid.

There are also wrinkle free materials and easy to iron shirts which you can consider purchasing.

Heat in the washing and drying process of clothes cause creases.

Therefore try NOT to wash items on a very hot wash to avoid creases.

When you overdry clothes you take the moisture out of them which makes them go wrinkly.

Therefore take clothes out of the dryer before the get completely dry and iron them.

If they are too dry, spray them with some water while ironing to get out difficult creases.

Heavy clothes and other heavy items in the washing machine will press on lighter fabrics and put more crinkles into them. So avoid mixing heavy and light fabrics together.

If you have older children and other adults in the family, get them to do their own ironing. It's a good life skill for older children to master and they quite often enjoy the novelty of having a different chore to do.

You could also consider hiring somebody to do the ironing for you. It may be worth it to get back some precious me time!

Do your ironing in batches.

It takes time to get the ironing board up, get the iron, fill it with water, wait for it to heat up and then put it all away again. If you do this everyday it's going to add on to your overall ironing time.

I tend to do batches of iron for about 20 to 30 minutes at a time. This is my optimal time, can't do it for hours as I feel I'm wasting my life! But it gets enough done to last me quite a few days before I have to do some more.

As soon as the washing machine cycle finishes, get your clothes out!

The longer they are left in there the more creased they will become.

If your line drying, take each piece of clothing out, give it a shake and hang it immediately to allow some creases to fall out.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net