Old School Ironing
 

I've been working on several scrap quilts and have been faced with a tub full of wrinkled odd sized scraps. I'd been working my way through it with liquid spray starch but the cost and the stains it sometimes causes was getting me down.

While thinking through this dilemma I suddenly remembered how my mother prepared her ironing for years. She would take items that needed to be ironed from the dryer, (or clothesline) while they were still damp. Then she would sprinkle them with water, roll them up and put them in an old pillowcase. Then she would sprinkle more water on the pillowcase and put it in the freezer for a day or two.

When she was ready to iron, she'd pull out a few items while the iron was heating up, and then start ironing. Everything came out great. Of course, she'd been ironing since she was 6!

Anyway, I tried her trick on my scraps except I soaked them in a bowl of water and laid them flat inside a pillowcase. After freezing for a day I pulled them out and ironed them. They came out beautiful! I had to use a little starch on some stubborn pieces, but the rest of them were quicker to iron and had a nice soft feel, not stiff like even diluted starch can make them. Also, no stains!
​​​

We used to do that too in the “olden days”. It’s a great idea!

Yepper, back in the days when we had to iron everything and I go paid to iron other people's laundry. I did it this way. I would make a trip to a person's home to roll and freeze one day and come back a couple days later to finish the ironing. I got paid 10 cents a piece. Everything had to be perfect too.

ha, my granddtr asked me not too long ago what an Iron was! I have my ironing board up always in my sewing room. putting into the freezer helps the fabric be moist evenly i think. works anyway.

I just spray with water before I iron them......seems to work OK for most of them....when we sprinkled the wash...we just rolled it up and put in a laundry basket for a few hours and then ironed....no freezer...you also can make your own spray starch out of cornstarch.....best though if you plan to wash the quilt after made because starch could attract bugs.....

I remember my Mom had a bottle with a sprinkler top on it for ironing. Wow, that brings back memories!
I don't remember her putting them in the freezer though.

Remember the sprinkle top on a pop bottle ? It’s what I used for 12 years to soften DH’s green National Guard fatigues before pressing. Now the fatigues are camouflage and I doubt they even need ironing.

I just sprinkled with water and sometimes put them in the refrigerator. If I had room, otherwise I would just put in the laundry basket and iron them. If my fabrics or scraps need ironing I just spray with water.

My mom did the freezer thing with the linen tablecloths and my dad's white shirts. She said once his shirts were considered "permanent press" she no longer put them in the freezer. The table cloths were kept in the freezer until she needed them. Every once in a while if she was distracted getting something out of the freezer for dinner she would bring up a tablecloth instead of a roast or whatever she intended. I don't bother to iron anything until I am ready to use it. It comes into the house and is washed, folded and then waits to be used. (I don't really like to iron, and it seems like it always has to be ironed again if I do it before I need it.)

that brings back the memory of my mother. She didn’t like to iron so would sprinkle the clothes and put them in an old fridge in the basement and when they mildewed she would throw them away. We were not rich. I learned to iron when I was about 10 and did the ironing. I still have a scar on my finger from when my brother bumped the ironing board and the iron fell on my finger. I still don’t mind ironing when the occasion arises.

Ironing
 

We used to do the sprinkler bottle, roll up & iron too! Everything did come out really nice. We had a sun porch that was like a freezer in the winter & we'd even hang some clothes on a line in there. The pants could stand up by themselves!

We made those sprinkling pop bottles for our moms in third grade. Painted them and then a coat of shellac over them. The teacher bought sprinkling tops for our bottles!

This is what I did as well, no freezing involved. When I was 9 I walked to a neighbor's, got their ironing, sprinkled and ironed, and walked them back hung up. Probably about $.10 a shirt, etc.

I don't remember mom putting hers in the freezer...she simply used the refrigerator.

The reason for putting in fridge was because the starch used then would sour overnight if not kept cold. It was the starch made from powder in a box. Most did not iron the same day as wash day, no time. The sprinkling before ironing was to help remove the wrinkles from the rolling. My mother and grandmother had wash day, then ironing day. My job as a little girl was to be sure all the clothepins were taken off the line and put in the clothespin bag. All washing was done with a wringer washer, and it took from morning to noon.

This is the way it was done when I was growing up. I had to iron since I was 8 yrs old. My mom had me iron sheets and pillow cases too. Never could see any use for that but that is the way it was done in the "olden" days. Now I iron with steam and starch all my fabric before I start a project.

You're right, gillyo. It really helps to put the slightly damp fabric in the freezer. We had a thread on this a while back and I said that my quilting teacher said to put slightly damp fabric in the freezer and it would iron "like butter". Well, I've never ironed butter, but it really does iron great and takes out the wrinkles.

My mom also had a sprinkler top on a bottle to dampen the clothes. She would roll them up and put them in a sack/pillowcase until she got to iron them.

I also used to do that back in the "old days"

I remember the bottle with the sprinkler top! My mom had one too! She never put things in the freezer, but she did used to sprinkle them, roll them and put them in a zipper plastic bag in the frig until she was ready to iron them. I think she used to do the same with starch but I'm not sure.

I still have my “sprinkle” bottle. I rarely use it but it lives in my laundry room. I love it! I also still have my skate key and my. Brownie pin!

I iron my scraps with my steam iron now but when I was making “Circa 1880” I followed Pam Buda’s advice and starched my Strips (1 1/2”), let them dry and ironed them. I really helped keeping stitches straight.

Just my opinion, but I think that moist cotton rolled up ("in the dark") would grow mold if one forgot to get it ironed pretty soon. This is what I think prompted the refrigeration or freezing. Since whenever plastic bags came out, I would sprinkle (still have a bottle with that top) and roll and put in a simple plastic bag, for moisture to spread throughout the piece. I would be perfectly content if I never need to do this again, however. . .

it turns moldy if left long enough in the fridge. Not sure about the freezer

I still have my mother’s sprinkler bottle. We put in “ ice box “ not freezer

My mother did not iron, sew and generally disdained all housework (although she liked a clean house so we weren't disgusting). My sister and I still joke about the quality of the food sometimes. But we were fed, clothed and educated. All else is gravy...

My mom always used the freezer method!