ironing sheets

[Viv]

How do you gite owners/ hoteliers cope?

We have had a load of friends and relatives visit recently and I seem to be forever washing sheets ( we don't own THAT many!).

I dry them on the line rather than tumble dry and yet they are a b*gger to iron. I just can't get them totally or even close to being crease free.

Is it me ? ( I hate ironing and out of principal will not spend more than 5 minutes on a single item!)

My iron? Bog standard steam iron.

My sheets? (fairly cheap and cheerful)  

Go on, let me know your secrets

 

[Lori]

In my opinion, your iron must be at least 1900 watts of power.  I wash, hang to dry (inside, not on the line as too many bugs leave their spots all over my white sheets), then iron.  I told each flat sheet in half and iron both sides.  If you have a really powerful iron, you might not need to iron both sides.  But, folding them in half makes it so much more manageable.  As for fitted sheets, I fit the corners onto the end of the ironing board and pull the fabric tight, holding it down with my hip as I iron the corners (all four).  Then, I iron the rest of the fitted sheet.

I too don't like ironing, but it is one of those things.  The sheets look and feel so nice when they are properly ironed.

 

[Teamedup]

I don't iron sheets.

I have a friend who runs the iron over them when she puts them on the bed.

Husband's cousin irons socks, can't see the point, either with the sheets or the socks myself.

[chicfille]

Can't see the point in ironing fitted sheets, seeing as they are pulled flat over the mattress anyway. But I have been known to iron pure cotton flat sheets (we only use them in the summer anyway) because they do look like rags otherwise. I too fold them in half, and only really iron properly the bits that show. I'm sooo slovenly sometimes... just don't tell my mother-in-law!

[zeb]

Iron sheets .....sorry but life is too short!

The only sheets I have ever attempted to iron were the ones I sold on ebay!

I look after a gite for friends and luckily someone in the village likes ironing or at least does the few bits which need an iron at 4 euros each!

[Poppy]

Ironed sheets seem to be a requirement of gite owners but I would like to hear what the holiday makers think.  Do you notice whether the sheets have been ironed or not ?

Jan

L in the L

[dave and aileen]

Hello,

I have an Elna press type iron, we had a B and B in UK and its terrific, so yes I iron everything except socks, even pants as they fit in the drawer better. I`d iron everyones sheets for 4 euros a time. I really do think its a must for sheets to be ironed, I would hate to go to a hotel or Chambres D`ote and the sheets not be ironed.

Aileen

[Russethouse]

A lady on this forum recommended Redoute cotton jersey fitted sheets and they are great, comfy (like T shirt fabric) and no ironing required ! Perfect !

[dave and aileen]

[quote]A lady on this forum recommended Redoute cotton jersey fitted sheets and they are great, comfy (like T shirt fabric) and no ironing required ! Perfect ![/quote]

Hello,

Where do you buy them from in France ?

Aileen

[Teamedup]

Just the shops, no where fancy

[Russethouse]

Oh sorry - should have said that Redoute is a catalogue, there is a French and English version and a web site

http://www.redoute.co.uk/redouteuk/sBoutique/1,1170,,00.html

(sorry I can't do links so you will have to copy and paste)

They also have a French site.

[Tresco]

 I have a friend who runs the iron over them when she puts them on the bed.

That is the best thing I have heard for ages

I have a super king sized bed and there is no way I am going to iron the sheets unless by the above method. I have all cotton sheets too, all I do is get them on the line fast, fold them fast, air and store them neatly, and make the bed really tightly.  (If someone wants to start a conversation about how to clean windows there will be no stopping me).

It isn't that I think life is too short.... I prefer to spend that valuable time turning my compost heap

Husband's cousin irons socks, can't see the point, either with the sheets or the socks myself.

May years ago I had a boyfriend who ironed his socks, because it made them soft again, that is true, it does make them softer and easier to put on, but he got binned off pretty quickly, for obvious reasons.

 

[Lori]

I buy my sheets from La Redoute also.  Their better quality ones cannot be beat and when they offer you a discount (usually sent to you in the mail), it is even better.

I agree about ironing King sized sheets - what a nightmare, takes forever.  Depending upon my mood (and my wallet), I might take them in to 5 a 5 for laundering and ironing for 4 euros.  I do like the idea of running the iron over them once they are on the bed.  Interesting concept, only king beds are so big, you would have to be ON the bed to fully iron it. 

 

[opas]

I hate Ironing, I never seem to get the lovely pressed look everyone else achieves, My dad is coming to stay in a couple of weeks , he Irons his sheets,so I will have to remember to get a set out later and do 5 rounds with them!

Ps, youngest revealed the other day that her friends mum irons her Knickers...can you imagine ironing a string

Mrs O

[dave and aileen]

[quote]I hate Ironing, I never seem to get the lovely pressed look everyone else achieves, My dad is coming to stay in a couple of weeks , he Irons his sheets,so I will have to remember to get a set out late...[/quote]

Hello,

Some of us cant consider a string, see Food section, `one month....Gay anyone, thus, I need them to fit in the drawer so I iron them flat..... I know, the mind boggles.

Aileen

[Lizzie15]

The only string I use is to truss up my chickens!!

 

[Christine Animal]

About the Redoute, etc. sheets, the "flanelle" sheets are really lovely and cosy in Winter.

About the ironing, my American friend never irons anything and she never dries washing outside.  It all goes in the dryer (down in the den) after which she puts the clothes on hangers.  The American fabrics do seem specially suited to this.  Their t-shirts and stuff really seem to be of a superior quality.  Do you agree Lori?

Did you know that denim, blue denim, came from Nimes?  It was the "bleu de Nimes".  I read that years ago, in Geo I think.  And Jeans comes from "Toile de Genes".  Here is confirmation of this in the last paragraph:

http://www.jack-travel.com/Langdoc_Rouss/Text/LanguedocNimes_History.htm

 

[Lori]

Yes Christine, I agree.  Americans just don't iron any where near as much as Europeans.  I think they would drop dead before ever ironing a sheet.  When I sent my daughter to visit my Mom in the States, she put all her clothes in the dryer.  They never fit again, all shrunk.  Just never thought to tell her not to do that.

I do find that the garments, fabrics, etc., that I buy here just don't wash and dry the same way.  I don't know why (maybe its the water), but I put very few things in the dryer (with the exception of towels).  I iron like everybody else.  I have even been known to iron underwear here and there.

When I lived in the States, I rarely ironed as the wash and dry system worked.  Its just different here.

And I LOVE the flannel sheets from La Redoute.  You are right the fitted ones never need to be ironed.

[Patmobile]

Elnapress - the older ones are better - they get hotter - so get one second hand if you can find one.

Patrick

[Viv]

The jersey sheets sound like a life saver to me- just one question, they don't make sparks fly in the bedroom do they?

 

I mean from static electicity

I had some sheets from brentford nylons when I was a nipper and I used to have hair like a dandelion clock in the morning!

[Lori]

No, the jersey cotton sheets to not cause any static.

 

[Teamedup]

but they stretch out of shape a bit, specially if you have been a moving and a wriggling etc a lot on them

I quite like them and used them more for the kids when they were young than for us. I also have heavy jersey quilt covers, not so keen on the cheaper thinner jersey.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

During the season, my dear wife irons between 20 and 30 sheets, the same number of duvet covers and innummerable pillow cases in a weekly session that lasts about two days. She uses a contraption that bears a passing ressemblence to an iron but has poles and things sticking up in the air and produces copious quantities of steam from several orifices. She favours flat, cotton sheets and uses starch by the gallon. I am not allowed anywhere near it - it cost about 2500 euros and she has my measure when it comes to anything vaugely technical. If I want to press a shirt (funnily enough she is disinclined towards "domestic" ironing) I am obliged to do it on a towel on the kitchen table. Guests tell me that they do notice and it is appreciated.