Over 65s should do more ironing to be healthy!!!

Ironing????Just no.

Basically , keep as active as we can, doing what we enjoy doing?

well what`s this Ikea sheet ironing thing? I struggle with my bed changes.. link please?

I am elderly! that`s my excuse.

Actually I quite like ironing. I find it peaceful and creative, turning a pile of stuff into neatly folded stuff - I like the smell of it. I don't do any other housework but I've always liked ironing ever since I was a child and used to do it for my mother.

I agree with Germanshepherdsmum!
That said my ironing board and iron are set up permanently - for when I'm sewing, which is most days. Bed linen and DHs shirts get sent to an ironing service. A bit extravagant but worth every penny to me.

Glad to hear that I am helping my cleaning lady to keep healthy , she loves ironing ?

It's a long time since I wrestled my ironing board out of the kitchen cupboard. In the late 1960s my nextdoor neighbour used to iron her baby's nappies - the muslin ones and the terry ones. I realised then that I was never going to be an A* housewife. I don't think my DDs have suffered from being reared in unironed nappies, but they have inherited my dislike of ironing.

Well, they can shove their irons where the sun don’t shine!!!!! I have an iron but switching it on is a different matter.

For goodness sake!

Is anyone else like me, allergic to ironing? As soon as I start the sneezing begins until I cannot see what I am doing. Little gets ironed by me and OH does his shirts.

I have not really done much ironing in years but today the house feels quite chilly even with the AGA cooker(old but good) and new AGA gas log effect fire (new but disappointing, we are cold. Worst £4,000.00 we've ever spent) on full blast. We live in a quirky converted and extended stable and do not have central heating. I was just thinking when I read this thread that ironing might keep me warm.

Hardly iron at all.. Rather go out with the dogs and get my exercise that way!

I iron the least l can get away with.l rather have a walk along the beach to keep fit.

My mother used to literally iron everything ! She used to often hand wash a few items at a time and iron them as soon as they were dry be it one or twenty.
When she came to stay with me in Oz, she insisted on doing the ironing - including my husband's socks and underpants - he was not too happy about that!
I can't remember when I last ironed. My clothes are put on hangers as soon as they come off the line and any creases soon drop out. Bedding is folded and put away if it isn't needed straight away so even if it was ironed it would be creased again!

Spin from a bit of research linking doing your own domestic work to being healthy. Nasty Daily Mail. The real takeaways are more complex. If you are able to do your own domestic - you are by that alone fairly OK. Then clearly the activity is good for you, and taking an active interest in... - is everything working properly, mending and making smart is good for mind and morale. Shun DM - very nasty rag.

I am the exception it appears in that I like ironing always have and one of the reasons why being I find it soothing seeing the creases and wrinkles disappear. There are days when a walk with hair blowing in the wind, sun on face are just not on at least where I live and with no public transport to access all the wonderful clubs, activities the rest of the older generation seem to fill their days with, an hout a week ironing is part of my relaxation. I don't though enjoy getting the ironing board out or putting it away. With all the emphasis on stopping the use of manmade fibres eg in clothing, and there does already seem to be a shift to cotton and linen, think some may have to discover where that old iron is hiding. The wrinkles on my skin are enough without going about in clothes that look like old screwed up newspaper.

I’ve a nice top which needs ironing for Christmas outings.
The ironing board hasn’t been used for 3yrs and is neatly folded up at the back of a cupboard. To get at it would mean moving quite a number of boxes neatly stacked in front of it. That in turn would mean I’d have to put the boxes back eventually. That would be after the muscle pain subsided and I got fed up with boxes and ironing board sitting against or up against a wall.
Say 3 months?
Buzzer that.
I’ll buy a new top.

Have never worked out the art of not ironing things can get away with some but DH wears cotton polo shirts and no matter how much you stretch them before drying they still need a press as do his chinos fortunately the days of suit and tie have gone and he works in casual stuff I also like my stuff pressed especially linen and cotton
Had a cuss this morning posh do tomorrow and had to iron a white bat wing shirt !

I do house work and have a cleaning lady - we have too many rooms for me to clean satisfactorily every week. I stopped buying clothes that need ironing years ago, although recently retired DH seems to find ironing relaxing!

I do iron almost everything, though I own some garments that don't need it! It's not something I particularly enjoy (much like cleaning bathrooms and kitchens) though the end result in any of the above cases is definitely pleasing! I might try standing on one leg while teeth cleaning (to start with), but with a hot iron in one hand seems a bit risky to me! At 74, with limited vision, plus Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Peripheral Neuropathy, I'm not sure that constant housework, (which I still do) has kept me fit! I don't have a cleaner, and I have not had food delivered regularly (tried it in the early stages of the pandemic when my vulnerable husband was "shielding" and lost £12 worth of goods which were neither recovered nor refunded).

Years ago my MiL gave me a - sleeve board - I'd no idea how to use it or why! It's still lurking in the attic.

However, I don't like picking up crunched hankies, so I do iron handkerchiefs, I find it easy, soothing and satisfying. And something to do on a wet day. ?

polnan

Basically , keep as active as we can, doing what we enjoy doing?

well what`s this Ikea sheet ironing thing? I struggle with my bed changes.. link please?

I am elderly! that`s my excuse.

Hi polnan, If it’s my post you mean, the only link with IKEA is the big blue bag. It gives an idea of how much ironing I can fit in. The actual ironing is done by a local firm who collect it and deliver it. Since DH still wears a clean shirt every day, that’s 14 shirts, plus trousers, plus bedding, plus my stuff.
I started it when I had a frozen shoulder. Coming back from holidays its particularly useful. I spend the ironing time working, walking the dog or at the gym/pool.

I don’t iron unless absolutely necessary which is probably one item every few weeks so I must be VERY unhealthy. ?

Iron? Isn't that what they make bridges out of?

I have to admit I really don't mind ironing (sorry about that) - a simple mindless task when I can listen to the radio or just let my mind wander, I find it quite relaxing. Rather that than cleaning the bathroom, hoovering, window cleaning or any of the other household tasks.

I prefer Jane Gordon’s advice at the end of this article.