I took my son to a builder’s workshop at the local hardware
superstore where he could build his own toy race car. The kind lady handed us a kit, an apron, a
hammer, and a patch to show he had completed the workshop. She suggested I iron it on his apron as a
record of all the things he will have built.
So, I got home, pulled out the mini ironing board I had
collected from the days in my first apartment, dusted off the cobwebs and
grabbed a small iron. After a few
minutes of running the hot plate over the patch, it wouldn't stick. So, I called up a friend who had been to
these things before and she said they are to be sewed on, not ironed.
As I was putting away the iron and ironing board, I began to
think – does anyone iron anymore? These
days, if you pull out a favorite shirt or pants only to find they’re wrinkled,
you throw them in the dryer for a little heat and fluff. Couple of minutes of tumbling, a little heat,
and bada-bing! Fresh, unwrinkled
shirt/pants/ whatever.
I remember my grandmother spending time ironing my uncle’s
shirts each week. She didn't have a
dryer (she hung everything on a clothesline) so if something was wrinkled, it
got the good old hot iron treatment. She
is long departed now – as is ironing, I’m starting to think. Does anyone have time to iron? Wouldn't it take the same amount of time to
pull out the ironing board, heat up the iron, and then press out all the
wrinkles as it would to wad it up, throw it in a dryer and then blow heat at it
for about 5 to 10 minutes?
