Might have just been my parents but I remember ironing clothes being so integral to life during childhood but I think I’ve ironed maybe a dozen things as an adult. What happened?
Dress has become more casual. The business suit was originally casual dress, for hunting, and that with a waistcoat too. Casual Fridays turned into business-casual in the 90s. Then the pandemic fully killed any context for dress and now for a lot of workplaces you can wear whatever.
I like to iron my button-up shirts after a wash or if they’re wrinkled from being packed up for travel but I’m aware it’s odd.
I’ve heard that steamers are a good alternative to ironing, because they’re easier to use and quicker. You can’t get a crisp crease with them but they will take out wrinkles.
I just throw it in the dryer on high for 5 minutes, if it’s really wrinkley I will spritz it with water first.
I only iron shirts and trousers if I want to look put together. But like I won’t fuss too much for the small wrinkles, just the big ones when I don’t hang washed clothes quick enough after a wash or the sun wasn’t blazing.
idk I feel like I want to iron some things for some functions. I’m in my mid 30s and somewhere in south east asia
Probably ironed less than 5 items my whole life, last time was solo at a conference and just killing time
Mix colors and whites in the wash, just split between hot and cold wash
Haven’t worn a suit in over a decade, don’t intend to wear one again either
I do have shoe polish for some leather winter boots, and a sewing kit for mending socks and buttons
My dad wore a dress shirt and tie to work.
I wear pajama pants and a t shirt. And sometimes just the shirt.
So I iron a lot less.
I wear a dress shirt to work every day. They’re all no-iron; they don’t wrinkle and are wearable out of the dryer.
Textiles have come a long way in the past 50 years.
I’m not old you’re old.
Funny thing is: I switched from cheap T shirts to dress shirts after I bought one good quality one for a job interview.
They don’t get hot in the heat, wick away moisture, keep you warm when it’s cold, don’t shrink or wrinkle, last a good 10 years of heavy use and look professional no matter who you’re with.
I don’t know why my parents’ generation ever abandoned them.
That’s great except I have been told by my boss and my boss’s boss that me looking like a shlub gives me more technical credibility.
I hate to say it but its kind of true.
I have zero care nor concern about what I wear on video, and that includes some pretty hefty level clientele. I was on with some c suite assholes the other day while wearing a TMNT hoodie to explain how they wasted a bunch of money on a bad design and now they need to spend more.
Not one comment and they signed the contract the following morning.
I think its because the people who truly do not give a shit are the ones most capable.
(Caveat: I’m only good and known at the stupid shit that I do, and consider myself 100% dumbass for those things that are not what I do.)
we invented wrinkle-free fabric blends
Ew, stop wearing plastic clothes
no thanks
“I hate potable water” ^^^this guy
Your attempt at shaming people is cringe
I dont care gay boy go kiss ur boyfriend
Why are you choosing to be like this?
I had low blood sugar I feel a lot better now I ate a Little Debby Football Brownie and feel a lot better now. Ill leave this up as a reminder to myself to look after my health better
But how else am I supposed to get my daily recommended allowance of microplastics?
There’s plenty of house paint and tire dust left over for everyone. We’ll all still die of cancer!
People used to care about appearances and wear their clothes for longer and so a level of maintenance and care was inherent that extended into clothes and their care. Fast fashion, a lack of social stigma on casual clothing, and ever increasing lack of time and increase in multitasking has lead to people ngaf.
Not sure if you meant it like that but I don’t think ironing extends the life of your clothes.
It does, but not in the sense that it “repairs” them or whatever. There are plenty of natural fibers and styles of clothing that would be a wrinkled mess eventually if they were not ironed.
You may be use to synthetic fabrics or blends of synthetic and cotton that don’t wrinkle in the same way. And by synthetic, I mean petroleum based fabrics.
I definitely think it’s less common, and my first thought is that it’s probably down to a general switch to less formal wear? My dad wore a heck of a lot more white shirts than I do.
In my family, over my lifetime, more people started working more hours outside the home. So choices were made when buying clothes to get items that required less work. Less hand washing. Less dry clean only. Less wash separately. But the clothes still had to look professional. I still have a “permanent press” cycle on my washing machine. I think it’s a relic from that transitional era.
I have seen the shift to more casual work clothes over my lifetime. I remember some places had a day or two of “casual” days. Sometimes employees would have to pay a few dollars to wear casual items. I really don’t remember when places transitioned to such casual clothing. I think I worked a lot for a couple of years, blinked my eyes. And everyone was wearing sweat pants. Is there anyone who was paying attention who can fill me in? What happened?
Sometimes employees would have to pay a few dollars to wear casual items
I’m sorry, what?
Most clothes are made out of plastic or plastic blends. So they usually don’t need to be ironed. And ironing plastic is a bad idea. If you purchase natural textiles, you will need to iron most of them.
Me, who practically only buys cotton and does not own an iron:
I think it has to do with the materials clothes are made out of typically being more wrinkle resistant these days. No one ever liked ironing so as people were developing new textiles they had an eye towards that.
Many newer fabrics don’t require ironing, or not as much of it at least. Newer washing machines and driers, as well as newer fabric softeners and detergents, seem to play a role in the non-wrinkliness of clothing, too.
I rarely own anything that would require regular ironing these days. I tend to avoid buying clothing that looks like it would be a pain in the ass to keep wrinkle-free. I guess in our parents’ era there ware no such choices available.
Plastic in clothing might have circumvented the need for ironing, but of course it has brought its own issues. Plastic might be an apocalyptic death substance, or it might actually be fine to have 5% of our bodyweight to be nylon. Not sure which yet.
Same reason no one shines their shoes anymore, a lot of shirts just don’t need the same level of maintenance anymore
i’m well over 45 and have never once ironed anything. fuck that shit
Maybe I just care less but none of the wrinkles in my clothes seem noticeable enough to need ironing.
plastic clothes doesn’t seem to get wrinkled as easily, and i guess they shouldn’t be ironed.
