You wash, you dry, So do you iron?

[veg-o-matic]

Well, I just watched the video. Very instructive, and I'm glad to know that Mary Jones's health, looks, and disposition are safe.
Still, it looks like an awful lot of hoohah just to iron a shirt. "Five steps", my ass. Of course, you're sitting down doing it, so maybe that helps.
Quite a feat of engineering, that Ironrite. Luckily, the engineers already knew that heat rises, so there was no danger to Mary's "carefully arranged coiffure." Or her manicure. Whew!
I never thought of ironing as a form of relaxation, but that narrator sure made it sound like a romp through the flowers. Apparently, I've been wasting my life hand-ironing all the ruffles on my curtains. I won't be making that mistake any more, believe you me.
Actually, the ones that look like furniture are pretty cool. I didn't even know they existed. Never seen one, to my knowledge, but I do remember seeing lots of plain white mangles in the Goodwill when I was a kiddo.
I'm all tired from a busy day of housekeeping now, so I think I'll go sit down at my Ironrite and enjoy a bit of R&R. Hubby's been suffering from insomnia lately, and that nice man in the movie said that Ironrite pressed sheets are a sure cure.

veg, whose carefully arranged coiffure will be disturbed not a whit.

 

[launderess]

Think those housewives were sold a load of flannel, which is why so many of these ironers pop up on very good condition.

I for one can iron a shirt much faster by hand than with either a mangle or press. Also can do so without risk of cracked/damaged buttons, which am here to tell you any rotary ironer is more than capable of.

As for flat work, anything wider than twice the lenght of the roller will need to be folded. Long items like bed sheets can sometimes come out looking like something the cat dragged in after one wrestles with feeding a long folded item into an ironer.

For doing lots of small flatwork (pillow cases, tablecloths, napkins, runners etc), these ironers seem fine. But if one is speaking of doing lots of large bed sheets, you'd be better off with a large ironing table and hand iron/large Miele/Pfaff type ironer.

Simplex and a few others did make large vintage ironers with 50 inch long rollers (heated by either gas or 220v power) for home use. One assumes wealthy households that generated lots of flatwork went in for these. Have seen one or two and they look much like large commercial ironers of today. If one keeps an eye out they do pop up on fleaBay/estate sales, but can be a pain as they usually must be taken apart for shipment, and put together again at the new destination. Also if you thought Ironrites were heavy! Spare parts and service are out of the question, so it is probably best these things end up in collections.

For what it is worth,many small B&Bs purchase vintage mangles and find they are just too cumbersome for ironing lots of sheets, and quickly move on to small modern flatwork ironers (some come in 36 inch widths), or the new Miele rotary ironers.

The only way to save one's looks and be protected from the horrors of housework/laundry/ironing, is to get someone else to do it! Come to think of it, did Hazel use a mangle?

Launderess

 

[michaelman2]

Ha..Veg..you have to use Alberto VO5 hairspray for that coiffure to be completely safe from the Ironrite moisture. Remember those girls water skiing with the bouffants never moving an inch..oy

Pete,believe it or not I use the Ironrite in place of a hand iron for everything. That back of the shrit to the collar is really simple..you just feed the shrit in wrong side down and let the machine take it all the way to the collar, hold the press unil the yoke is pressed and dried. Easy as pie.

Granted I did have this ironing fixation, but the dress shirt is a snap on it. I can crank through 7 dress shirts in about 20 minutes. I have several of the units and the one that you mention that looks like a piece of furniture (Model 88) is really cool. My home is contemporary and that 60 year old piece really opens eyes when people raise the cover and find mechanical equipment inside.

The first time I watched those films I laughed my a-- off. Admittidly they did teach me how to use the thing and of course keep myself "healthy". I think the narriator's voice is a hoot as well. This authoratative very 1940's educational film voice throughout the whole film.

Laundress...do you like the Mele?....I had one but kept going back to the Ironrite. I dofind that sheets are still tough for me on the Ironrite...

 

[michaelman2]

Laundress...just read the rest of your post...no come on..Hazel just had ol cheap Mr."B" as her boss...had circumstances been different there would have been an ironer in that house. You are right when you say that many people were "sold" with these units...I would imagine that as you said the reason that many have are still around in good condition is that they were not used to the fullest.

 

[launderess]

Have never used an large Miele, but do like my Pfaff ironer. In fact considering recent prices for Thor GladIrons on fleaBay, may consider selling mine to make room in the laundry. Am only looking into this, as can do lots of small flatwork really fast on the Thor, and it gets VERY hot. The last bit is really needed for doing heavy vintage linen.

Picked up one of those Corby trouser press things for a few bucks at Goodwill. It was MIB and think we've used it only three times in 8 years. It may be going on the auction block as well.

One thing to remember about using ironers; ironed in creases are difficult to remove without re-rinsing the entire item. So if one makes mistakes feeding large items onto the roller, it can result in sheets with heaps of unsightly creases/lines that are ironed in. This is why I do large items on the Pfaff or on my ironing table/Proctor iroing board. It simply takes too much time to arrange/rearrange, turn over, feed, refeed, large items on small ironers.

Several things make me think Ironrites/Maytag/Simplex/Thor/Speed Queen and the host of other ironers may not have been used widely. One was the ease of laundry services, which were plentiful in large cities and even small towns. Two, there was until recently a plentiful supply of cheap help to either take in washing/ironing or do it as part of being domestic.

Finally keep coming back to the point that many women who knew how to iron, must have quickly felt as I did. Sod all this "Automagic" stuff, I can do it faster by hand. Thus the mangle became a large, heavy and rather obtrusive conversation item in a corner of the kitchen.

Mind you, some women became really good it mangle ironing. Many have told me fond memories of watching their mother or grandmother using a Ironrite/mangle.

There is much we can go into about ironers and other appliances introduced post WWII, supposedly to save "Her Indoors" time,and preserve her looks. Much of this had to do with post war production capacity shifting from military goods to appliances. All those factories from GM on down,needed to make something. Everyone and their mother was also trying to get newly returned GI's to part with some of the cash Uncle Sam was giving them. Easy payment plans appealed to a new young family. Marketing was aimed at men to make presents of these appliances to make wifey happy and preserve her looks. Hence the plethora of mixers, blenders, toasters, coffeemakers, and god knows what else that pops up at estate sales, much if it MIB. It wouldn't be until Betty Freudian wrote her book and opened many people's eyes that men understood a woman was not made happy just by having a whiter than white wash, or new washing machine.

 

[michaelman2]

Laundress..you once again have complete words of wisdom. The marketing was I am sure key to the sale and continued sales of the mangle. I am sure that my fascination with these machines is some sort of wired mischegoss that could be explained by a therapist or maybe the Ironrite films...if I just pay more attention I will be at last happy..ha. You are also correct when you advise that all factories needed to "make something"...Ironrite for example was some type of sheet metal factory (if memory serves) and they needed to come up with a product, hence the mangle they produced.
You know, for the life of me I have read every manuel (6 different at present) and of course the films...I still can not grasp the folded sheet deal. I do the sheets on the machine but I feed them in single, not folded and just shift the sheet down each time I feed it in...laborious so say the least..but let me tell ya..those sheets are as slick as glass and man they sho do sleep well!..
I did find out that Ironrite made a larger version of their machine and this was sold to "larger households" and to small inns, ..apparently for flatwork/sheets.
Gotta tell ya, I recently converted an extra bedroom to a large laundry room...had also "re-done_ a kitchen...the laundry room wins for the most pleasure for me!

 

[kenmore1978]

power

"Yes, I know it needs to be on a dedicated 220/240 outlet, but as we only have the one and the washer/dryer takes that. Besides it has that funky Miele outlet, and would at the least require another visit from Mr. Electrican to install another type of outlet/another 220 panel on the breaker box"

So is the ironer anywhere near the combo?

 

[launderess]

Not Combo

Separate units, and the outlet is behind them with counters/drawers surrounding. An entire new outlet would have to be run off the box or perhaps the 220v line. Either way do not think we will be contributing to our electrican's new pool fund (joke)any time soon.

L

 

[kenmore1978]

outlet

Hmm, my thought was maybe put a dryer type cord on the ironer and use the combo's outlet. It would just mean that you couldn't use them simultaneously.

 

[launderess]

Folded Sheets On A Mangle

This comes from my Thor GladIron and Speed Queen ironer manuals.

One must fold the sheet into "w" folds;

First fold in half length wise with both right sides matching (inside). Then fold in half length wise again, now take one of the sides and fold it back over making a "W". By the end of all this palaver you should have two right sides facing out and a large sheet small enough to iron on most standard ironers (in one or two passes).

The purpose of folding into a "W" shape was to keep from making creases in "quarters" as would happen if you folded in half, then half again. When a sheet/large tablecloth is unfolded after being ironed in this manner, you have one center crease, but the two other creases are nicely lined up on the edges of the mattress/table (or thereabouts).

Mind you have tried this and still got dog ears from trying to feed long items into my Thor ironer. Works great with a clam press or larger Pfaff ironer.

When doing large flatwork on my Pfaff, and I do not want a center crease. I simply iron the middle section first,fold in half. then iron the remaining sections (each side) by letting the already ironed portion hang off the edge of the ironer.

This is where two open ends really comes in handy.

Launderess

 

[michaelman2]

Laundress...thank you for taking the time to type the instructions..out of all of the manuels that I have, I had never seen the formation that you wrote. Hey, we must have been on the same wavelength..I pulled an Ironrite manuel, copyrite of 2/1961 and on the back cover there were several notes that made me houl!
In case you're wondering...(the actual wording)

Is Ironrite faster that ironing by hand?
Yes, According to scientific tests(lord!), ironing on an Ironrite automatic ironer is 3 times faster than ironing by hand.

Is is less tiring to iron on an automatic ironer?

Tests made by Ironrite on the Lauru Platform (a special electronic device that measures muscular effort)<my gawwwd> prove that hand ironing requires 12 times (not 13 or 14 times, but 12) as much muscular effort as does Ironrite ironing. Additionally, cardiac tests shows(Ironrite did not have a grammar major employed, too much effort) that the heart returns to normal 8 times faster after Ironing on an Ironrite.
Laundress...this thing goes on and on...but those were the verbatem highlights...this was apparently the last manuel they produced before closing. Hey maybe all of those tests broke them?

 

[michaelman2]

Laundress

Did ya get to read my last post...that is actually from one of the manuels...a hoot!

 

[launderess]

Just picture a bunch "suits" sitting around boardrooms in the 1940's and 50's thinking of ways to convince the "little woman" she needed half the junk they were putting out.

Save work and looks! Yeah that is a hoot, so is the stuff about less work. As a period writer pointed out at the time, who was going to feed the laundry through these ironers? Sometimes for mulitiple passes? Who wanted to iron in the first place, sitting or standing?

Proof that all this palaver was just that, was in how quickly women abandoned ironing/ironers when permanent press/no iron fabrics began making their appearance in everything from sheets to shirts.

If hubby insists his shirts be hand washed/ironed today's wife has two options. Point DH towards the nearest shirt laundry service, or towards the iron/ironing supplies and smile sweetly while saying "knock yourself out".

*LOL*

Launderess

 

[kenmore1978]

Laundress

Further to your power problem, if the 220V outlet is behind the combo, what could also be done is to have the line extended out to the front of the cabinets, and a surface mount outlet installed to plug the ironer into. This would not require a separate line and plugging/unplugging the ironer and combo, and you would only have to remember not to run the combo while ironing and vice versa. (though you may be able to get away with washing and ironing at same time)

 

[launderess]

There really isn't a problem.

Thanks for all your suggestions, but I'm fine where I am for now.

The laundry area is quite small and there is no room for the ironer, a chair and racks/lines to hold the ironed laundry to it can air.

Much as I love Miele, the 1918 is getting too small for my needs and looking at something larger. If we go for a non 220v washer, that would free up the outlet.

Our electrican told me long as I'm not running the ironer for long periods of time I should be fine. I'm also looking to nab a second hand Miele 120v ironer, so wouldn't need to use the Pfaff that often. Much as I love that unit, am afraid of wearing it out and not being able to have it repaired locally. Vintage ironers like my Thor, can be had easily from Fleabay, (I've been through one already), so they never were a worry.

Again, thanks for all your suggestions/help.

Launderess