Recently my friend and fellow Realtor, Todd Disbrow - posted this pic on the book of faces with the caption - "My thoughts on ironing".

Most of my friends either pay a fortune at the dry cleaners or dress right from the laundry basket.  I know, I have a diverse group of friends.  For those that don't bother to iron - is it that they don't care...or that they don't know how?

Now Todd always looks sharp - so the shower/iron must be working for him.  But, this begs the question...do mothers teach their children to iron anymore?  I know that my Grandmother and Mother taught me and I taught my boys.  I’ve even taught two husbands. Yes - I had a practice run before the Sexy Mexican.

When I was a child, we had an old heavy ironing board and a stainless steel iron.  We sprayed everything with spray starch, as most of our clothes were made of cotton.  Heavy steam and sprayed with water.

I remember learning with handkerchiefs, pillow cases, and cloth napkins.  My husband doesn’t carry a handkerchief, so I no longer iron those.  And, I will confess that I no longer iron pillowcases – but I might.  Writing this blog post is inspiring me and I may decide to return to my roots.






As I prepare for Easter, I took to ironing my white linen napkins for the dinner table.  I am still old fashioned, we don’t use paper napkins for anything.  Even mid-week, we use cloth napkins.  I find it an easy addition that makes supper, special.

The spray starch, the steam, the smell of hot cotton…it made the memories come flooding back... begging to iron because I thought it was fun.  Call me crazy…I was probably 9.
One summer day, I set out to iron my favorite pink short set.  This was at the time that polyester was emerging as THE cool thing.  Well, I missed the instruction on how ironing polyester was different than ironing cotton.  Low and behold – my new short set was now stuck to the bottom of the stainless steel iron.  It was not a good day.  Sad face.

I am grateful that my Grandmother and Mother took the time to teach me how to iron.  A well-dressed woman – must always look sharp and crisp. A dinner table is always better with a crisp cloth napkin, and a bed is always better made with a well-starched pillowcase.  Parent's - teach your children to iron - it will make the world a better place.

I guess I had better think about digging out the pillowcases and getting started.