What can I do to do less ironing?

Question

I really hate ironing...is there a way or secret to do laundry and having your clothes wrinkle free after drying them. (sorry no budget for drycleaners)

Answer 1

Until I figured out that being lazy about the laundry meant I had to do more ironing I used to leave my loads in the washer for a while before I could get to them. Even just an hour in the washer wet would have my clothes have deep set wrinkles that were almost impossible to get out. Since I hate ironing more than waiting on the laundry I've changed how I do laundry so that I remove it from the washer rather quickly and immediately from the dryer. I found that with some clothes I can lay them flat right after getting them out of the dryer and then hanging them on hangers would be all that I would need to do for the clothes to look ironed. This works for all except one shirt of my husbands which no matter what I do is wrinkles all over and a few pairs of pants that the back pockets need a short pressing! This works for me, but it will depend on the type of clothes you have. Best of luck.

Answer 2

What I started doing about 10 years ago was to simply buy only clothes that do not need to be ironed. There are many options today that make it even easier like wrinkle-free pants and shirts and clothing with a small amount of spandex.

To help with your current clothes, try taking them out of the dryer before they're 100% dry. Then give them a few quick, hard shakes (like you're trying to unfurl a flag), and hang them up. Allow them to dry without touching any other clothes.

They won't look as sharp as if you had ironed them, but once you get dressed and sit down, you'll have wrinkles anyway, so what does it really matter?

Answer 3

What kind of clothing are we talking about? The fabric type makes a difference. For some items, there just might not be a way around ironing (or at least, using a steamer of some sort).

With some clothing, I've been able to throw it back in the dryer, maybe with a damp cloth, and that works.

Also, make sure to always hang up clothes that wrinkle easily...do it right when they come out of the dryer.

Answer 4

Don't buy clothes that require ironing, and hang up (or fold and put away) clothes while still warm out of the clothes dryer.

I haven't used an iron in.... 8 years I think. Of course if you have a professional type job, you might not get off as easily !

Answer 5

Most clothes need ironing unfortunately but when I travel anywhere I like to take a lot of crepe material dresses etc . as it doesn't crease. Also when you wash, don't leave the clothes in the machine for long- take them out immediately to hang. Some people I know actually hang them on hangers to dry and this helps a bit.

Answer 6

Hang your clothes staight from the dryer, then when you need to wear them spray a mixture of fabric softener and water from a spraybottle. The fabric softener works the same as the wrinkle release brands out there for a fraction of the cost and plus your clothes will smell great. You can use it on everything, couch, carpet, sheets, pillows refreshens as well as softens. I would use 3 parts water to 1 part fabric softener as your mixture.

Answer 7

I really hate to iron as well. What works for me is this. I shake the clothes as soon as I take them from the washer. Then take them out as soon as they are dry and hang them up. Fabric softener helps too. The main thing is NOT to let them sit in the dryer too long nor do you let them sit in the laundry basket.

Answer 8

Hi, have you tried the wrinkle free DOWNY..I tried it and it really works. But now can't seem to find it..They had it on the market last year and it was great. I also hate ironing..

Answer 9

A lot of clothes nowadays don't require ironing. Just grab them out of the dryer as soon as it stops and either hang them or fold them.

Answer 10

I saw the COOLEST thing at Best Buy yesterday. It was a small zip up device you hang your clothes in and it steams the wrinkles out and freshens them up!