How to Iron A Business Shirt in Less Than 2 Minutes!

I hate ironing. It's a long standing, well known fact in my family that Vicki detests ironing.

I just don't see the point in smoothing out wrinkles in clothing that only reappear as soon as it's worn and laundered. Then you have to iron it. AGAIN!!!! Madness. Complete and utter madness.

I'll let you in on a secret. I detest ironing so much that when I used to wear a suit to work I only ever ironed the front of my shirts!! The back and sleeves never saw the heat of an iron. ;) I look at everything that might need ironing. If I figure that those wrinkles will return as soon as the wearer puts on a coat/pulls on a seat belt/sits on the train for half an hour then I don't iron it. I hang it up just as it is.

So I give to you Vicki's Complete Guide to Ironing for those who would rather be cruising the Caribbean, sipping coffee or creating their next masterpiece.

1. Make sure that as much clothing you buy/borrow/make/receive as possible is made with non-iron fabric.
2. If you wear business shirts and can't get them in non-iron fabric get ones with well stiffened collar and cuffs. You'll never have to iron a collar or cuff again!
3. Launder them gently. And I do mean gently. Use the gentle cycle on the washing machine with a slow spin if you have the option. A regular wash and a fast spin will have those long sleeves tangled around everything within a 30 metre radius creating even more wrinkles.
4. Use the dryer. Horror!! I know!! Let me tell you why I use my dryer. It costs the same to run the dryer as to run the cook top/oven. I use the dryer only for clothes that need ironing and use small items to fill it up to a full load. Don't dry a small load. It's uneconomical... says so right there in the instruction manual. Which I read and then promptly put in a safe place. Somewhere. I think.
   
   Anyway. I'll let you in on another deep, dark secret. I never iron the kid's school uniforms. EVER. Wash them, give them a really good shake out and then put them through the dryer. Shake them again and hang them up while they are still warm. NO wrinkles. Do the same with microfibre clothing. And business shirts. Some shirts will actually not need ironing. Swear to God. And the ones that do need ironing can be ironed in under 2 minutes. You know why? Because they aren't wrinkled to buggery by the washing machine and then have the wrinkles baked in by the sun. Using the dryer saves me about 2 hours ironing every week. That's about 100 hours a year. 100 hours!! That's more than two whole working weeks.
   
   Now let's do the sums. It costs about 50c for a dryer load which takes about an hour. It costs about 20c an hour to run the iron. If I hang all the pj's, trackies etc, I use the dryer for about 2 loads a week costing $1. I can save two hours ironing a week which would cost 40c. Using the dryer costs me a total of about 60c a week. That's $30 a year to save 100 hours of work. That's 100 hours I don't have to spend doing something I hate. 100 hours I can spend doing something more productive and enjoyable.

Doing all the above has made ironing more manageable for me. I just ironed 8 business shirts in 15 minutes. You know how? Because they were hardly wrinkled and just needed a run over. And I didn't need to use any ironing aid spray or starch. Saving me more time and money. That's less than 2 minutes a shirt. I spend less than an hour a month ironing. Seriously!

And that, folks, is how I manage the ironing.