And this isn't just a feeling. A survey of 2,000 people carried out by London Cleaning System, which looked at 20 typical household chores, found that the average person spends 61 minutes a week ironing. That works out at around 53 hours a year, or more than two full days spent at the ironing board.
You’re not the only one, which is why Ironele is looking to change the way we think about ironing.
You’re not the only one, which is why Ironele is looking to change the way we think about ironing.
Why can ironing feel like it is taking so long?
Of course, not everyone spends the same amount of time ironing, and some people probably barely touch an iron at all. But for anyone who does regularly iron shirts, workwear, school uniforms or dresses, that weekly hour can quickly become one of those jobs that seems to follow you around. It isn't necessarily the amount of time itself that is frustrating. It's the fact that you have to physically stop what you're doing and stand there to get it done.
The answer is that when you’re doing something repetitive and unenjoyable that you feel you could skip if you absolutely had to, you get frustrated. Naturally, it’s a task that is then pushed to the side and left to build up because you simply can’t think of any reason why you would ever want to get home from the office and immediately start powering through your ironing.
Before you know it, several weeks of laundry have piled up in need of pressing, and try as you might to avoid tackling it, you also know that you need your smart work clothes ready to go for Monday. Your ironing then starts to feel like it is taking over your weekend. Even though it might only be an hour or two, you probably feel like you’ve earned those 48 hours off away from the boss and all your co-workers. It’s precious, and you want to spend it however the mood takes you. Any diversion from that way of life on the weekend can quickly feel so much longer than it actually is.
Ironele’s mission to reclaim great weekends
The team behind Ironele's automatic ironing machines has set out to turn ironing from a time-consuming chore into a hands-free task. Warm water vapor is blown into an inflatable attachment that fills a shirt or garment so that it is held in place just as if someone were wearing it.The water vapor is not as hot as the plate on a traditional iron, and it is applied evenly to the whole garment all at once. This means that you can simply flick the switch and leave the machine to do its thing while you walk away. You then come back roughly 5 to 10 minutes later (this is generally how long it can take) and swap over to a new shirt.
The appeal is really in that ability to walk away. Instead of standing over a board, moving the iron backwards and forwards across each section of fabric, you can set the garment up, switch the machine on and get on with something else. Put the kettle on, tidy the kitchen, answer a few emails or simply sit down for five minutes. The ironing is still happening, but you're no longer spending those minutes watching it happen.
You may still have to get involved with setting up each garment, but you don’t feel like you’re tied to the ironing board. With no hope of kickstarting your weekend. Instead, you simply walk away and power through a few other little weekend jobs while feeling like you have an extra pair of hands. It’s a small change, but one that could make your weekends feel considerably less dominated by chores.
Imagine what you can do with happier weekends
Now that you know how ironele can help you to dodge some of the stress of weekend chores, it’s time to think about just how good this will make you feel. You’re not only going to have more time and more energy with which to do things, but you’re also going to be in a better mood while you’re doing them.There will be no feelings of dread that you have to cut a coffee short to tackle the ironing, and there’ll be no rush to get everything ready for work and school late on Sunday night. You just leave the hard work to the new automatic ironing machine, flick the switch, and then walk away to do something else.
Are automatic ironing machines here to stay?
These machines are not just labor-saving devices that take the hard work out of ironing. If you think of them as a way to refresh and revitalize a dress or blouse before a big Monday morning town hall, you’ll see just how useful they can be.The feeling of knowing that you’re cruising through your Monday prep nice and easily is just what you want when it’s time to kick on from the weekend. If these machines help you feel like that, we think they’re very much going to be here to stay!
So, could you really get your weekends back?
Fifty-three hours a year might not sound like a huge amount until you imagine what you could actually do with it. That’s more than two full days spent standing at an ironing board, when those hours could instead be spent enjoying a lazy breakfast, getting out on a bike ride, meeting friends, travelling, or simply doing absolutely nothing.
Of course, an automatic ironing machine isn't going to make every household chore disappear overnight. You’ll still need to load the washing, fold everything away and occasionally deal with those garments that need a little more attention. But if technology can take some of the repetition and frustration out of one of those jobs, why wouldn’t we want to give it a try?
Perhaps the real appeal of Ironele isn't simply having an easier way to iron. It’s having the freedom to walk away from the ironing board and get on with your life while the machine gets on with the chore.
And when you look at those 53 hours differently, that suddenly sounds like a pretty worthwhile weekend upgrade.
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