Let’s be honest, ironing is overrated. It is also boring, time-consuming, and expensive.
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According to the Centre for Sustainable Energy, an hour of ironing costs households in Britain as much as £0.50. On top of that, how many times did you ruin your clothes with a faulty or overheated device?
Leaving your ironing days behind is not impossible. Introduce these simple changes in your daily life and use saved time and money for something more fun.
Don’t tumble-dry
Dreading that lump of wrinkled clothes, that even an iron has difficulties taking on? Easy - don’t tumble-dry. This advice is also amoney-saving tip amid the cost of living crisis.
Tumble dryers consume twice more energy than irons and will cost dearly in the coming winter. If you use heating at home anyway, let your garments dry naturally to avoid wrinkles.
Hang your clothes right after washing them
If you don’t enjoy spending time and money on ironing, a super affordable clothes airer will become your best friend.
Hang your wrung-out clothes on it in a way that keeps their desirable shape best. Flatten all the imperfections on the spot. Use hangers for dresses, tops, shirts, and other jackets. Some items like jeans with pockets might need to be dried inside out.
Make this proven hack you habit, and you'll forget how an iron looks like.
Use your dry cleaner's package deal for shirts
If you are used to perfectly ironed shirts, you might feel uncomfortable wearing a not-as-perfect option. But nowadays most dry cleaners offer a package deal - 5 shirts for just under £10 or 10 shirts for just under £20. If you think about all the time and money (think electricity bills) put into ironing, it becomes worth every penny.
Most dry cleaners will deliver impeccably pressed shirts on bendy hangers with shoulder pads and protective plastic on them.
Reconsider how often you wash your clothes
Some people think that clothes have to be washed after each wear, but it’s not at all true. Frequent washing is not only wallet unfriendly but is also horrible for the environment. Think about all the energy and water that goes into the process.
While some items like children’s clothes, socks, underwear, and sportswear need more washes, they don’t require ironing. But the same top or a shirt can often be worn twice or thrice before they call for freshening up.
Avoid visibly dirty and stinky clothes, otherwise, it should be alright.
Needless to say, don't iron your linen, it’s completely useless.
Resources used:
- Centre for Sustainable Energy: 'How much electricity am I using?'
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