A Pressing Matter

Ironing. Or as we used to call it, pressing. A chore I do not enjoy. I don’t think anyone enjoys ironing. Fortunately, most of today’s clothing is pretty much perma-press wash and wear, and doesn’t require ironing. Nice for all of us.

Last weekend I got out my savvy steam iron to press some clothes for Easter Sunday. This high-tech iron automatically adjusts to any type of fabric. It is a very nice iron but all of its wonderful features have not lured me into using it more often.

As I was misting some water on the clothing I remembered something we used to do before ironing many years ago. In the days before the steam iron.

We dampened the clothes, rolled them up, placed them in a plastic bag, and put them in the refrigerator. It sounds strange today, but it worked. The clothes seemed easier to iron and you didn’t have to iron them right way. You could iron them a day or two later. They weren’t going to mold or mildew in the refrigerator.

I wonder, did anyone else ever do this or was it something only our family did?

Gertrude (Brewster) Miller ironing.

This is a photo of my Grandma Miller ironing. She is standing in this photo but she usually ironed sitting down, watching TV at the same time. Ironing could take hours and watching TV all the while made the task a little more bearable.

Grandma Miller liked to play practical jokes. She was actually was very ornery. Before she was married, still living at home, her brother Dore got the seat of his pants wet. Dore made the mistake of going to his big sister for help. Her solution was to apply a hot iron to the seat of his pants while he was still wearing them! Talk about being in the hot seat! I am sure it was very uncomfortable for poor Dore. I have other stories about Grandma’s antics but will save them for another time.

Ironing could be worse. At least we don’t have to use heavy irons like these anymore.

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