Avoiding Ironing

Idea

Ironing is a chore that most people would be happy avoiding if possible. Good news is that in approximately 90% of times it is actually not necessary to iron the clothes after doing laundry. You need a dryer and bit of discipline in order to have your clothes soft and wrinkle-free without ironing them. In addition, you save some energy when avoiding ironing.

There are two main reasons for ironing. First, fabrics are usually a bit stiff when dried on a clothesline. Ironing makes them pleasantly soft. Second, fabrics are wrinkled if not ironed.

Here are the steps to make the fabrics soft and wrinkle-free after the laundry while avoiding ironing:

1. Dry the fabrics in the dryer. Select iron-dry cycle. If you do not have that option on your dryer, stop the dryer manually 5-10 minutes before the cycle finishes. The fabrics need to be damp.
2. Remove the fabrics from the dryer right after the cycle has finished.
3. Hang immediately. Shake and gently stretch the clothes before hanging. Make sure the clothes are folded along the seams.
4. Clothes usually get dry after about 6 hours (this depends on many conditions, such as temperature and air humidity).

Some additional tips:

• This method can be applied to clothes containing elastane (spandex) too. Although the washing instructions prohibit drying in the dryer, it is normally OK to dry them on low temperature. Test this first with your dryer on a garment that you might miss.
• Clothes containing viscose (e.g. jogging suits) do not wrinkle. It is sufficient to hang them after the laundry.
• Linen can be dried on high temperatures and afterwards treated as described above.
• Some thin fabrics need ironing anyway.
• Kitchen clothes need ironing.
• Folding the clothes before putting them into the dryer usually makes no difference. They unfold rather quickly during the cycle.