4 Tips To Reduce Your Ironing Without Ironing

You are not alone. Most mums do not enjoy sulking the whole afternoon behind the iron board. I do my best to get out most of it. 

In my quest to pretty much never iron, I have come across some practical tips to help you never have to iron again or at the very least, drastically reduce the number of items that you iron.

Think of all the better things you could be doing instead of ironing.

Here are the best tips to reduce ironing”¦without the wrinkles on your face!

1. The Magic Powers of the Dryer

It’s not just for your hair.

From the humid place where I live, I use my dryer a fair bit to ensure we have dry clothes. I know for some people using the dryer isn’t usually part of their routine (or budget), but here are some great ways to use the dryer to your advantage to reduce your ironing without ironing.

Using the dryer to ‘finish off ‘almost dry clothes will leave them looking pretty much ironed. Make sure you get to them as soon as the dryer beeps, or at least while they are still warm and fold or hang them straight away. Leaving them sit in the dryer for hours or just transferring them to a basket or couch means the weight of the clothing will encourage wrinkles to form. And where there are wrinkles, there will be the need for ironing.

My husband also shares my aversion to ironing, and in his bachelor days his strategy involved throwing dry wrinkled clothing into the dryer with a damp washer. Odd yes, but it does work! The combination of damp and heat ‘iron’ the items for you.

You can also half dry items in the dryer then hang them up damp and let the wrinkles fall out. Depending on the fabric, it may not work as the weight of the fabric pulls the wrinkles out and down, so this technique is best used for heavier items of clothing.

2. Allow room to Hang

When hanging clothing in the wardrobe, ensure items have enough space  to hang. Don’t jam them all as the overcrowding will produce wrinkles that weren’t even there before and you might just need to iron them again!Oops…

3. Look for ‘No Iron’ Clothing

Some fabrics are more prone to wrinkles than others especially linen. Let’s face it, even if you iron linen clothes, it still looks rumpled  just minutes of putting it on! Arrrgh!

Cotton, although lovely, is also prone to premature wrinkles so look for a polyester blend to cut down on ironing. There are also clothing items which are wrinkle free fabrics. 

4. Let the Shower Do Your Ironing

Hang the item near the shower, but not so close where it will get wet. While you are enjoying a steam bath on the shower, the garment can absorb the steam, and by the time you’ve washed your hair the wrinkles should be nearly all gone. This can be a great timesaver and magically irons your clothing without ironing!

Do you have any crafty tips to reduce ironing clothes?

Krissy Hacker is a wife and SAHM of 2, expecting a 3rd whose arrival is eagerly awaited so she can return to drinking wine. She loves reviving old school ways of doing things and would do anything to get out of housework!