K.I.S.S: Tips on Reducing that F****** Ironing Pile.

I am very, very, very bad at keeping up with my ironing pile. Like, bad enough that there are clothes at the bottom of the basket that may or may not have been there since...May. That kind of bad.

I generally manage to take care of the top 75% every couple of weeks, but rarely seem to find time/motivation to finish it completely. (That's probably a sure sign that we have more than enough clothes in this household, don't you think?)

This has been something that's bothered me for a while now. Growing up, my mum was Master of the Laundry. No sooner had you discarded your dirty clothes than they were in the washing machine, hung, dried, ironed and back on the bed. I grew up using this as one of many measures of competency at home.

And while that is super admirable and my hat is forever tipped to such Laundry Masters, my recently adopted path towards the simple life has seen me looking for a better way (for me). And as a result I've cut down so much on the amount of ironing I need to do, which leaves me time to do more pleasurable things, like scrape paint off windows or clean the toilet. Some tips for you:

1. Shake, shake, shake! 
My sister told me about this method, and it really works. As I'm hanging up the wet laundry, I give all the kids' clothes, plus mine and Sparky's tshirts, jeans, etc three really good, firm shakes before I peg them up. This plus line-drying generally takes care of most things.

2. Sort and fold straight away.
Not always practical, I know, but when I can I like to fold and sort the clothes as soon as they come inside or out of the dryer. It means they don't get all creased up sitting in the basket for who knows how long.

3. Drop your standards a little. 
I can't be sure, but I don't think people talk about us behind our backs due to this non-ironing thing. "Oh, would you look at that rumply family? How embarassing for them. Can you believe they walk around with unironed clothes? Maybe we should give them some money as they are clearly destitute." Um, if anyone does say that then I suggest they get a hobby.

Point being, I no longer iron tshirts, the kids clothes, pyjamas, outside work gear, exercise clothes, jeans, shorts etc. I iron Sparky's work shirts, anything really creasy like cotton and linen, and a handful of my delicates. I will admit that I love ironing pillowcases and teatowels though. Weird, I know.

How about you? Do you iron? Do you avoid the ironing? Do you outsource it? Are you the Mayor of Wrinkle Town?