Seriously. I want to know. See the thing is I have a moment in my work-in-progress where my heroine has the hero on about making his poor petite, heavily pregnant housekeeper iron his super kingsize sheets. The woman is literally drowning in them. It's part of the point where the heroine ticking him off for being well, a little spoiled.
And then I got to thinking - oh no! What if MOST people do iron their sheets? What if this is normal??!!!! What if I'm about to display my complete uncouth crassness and lack of general housekeeping skills because I don't iron my sheets??!! What if every reader of this book is going to raise their hands skywards and say ay yai yai - of course the housekeeper should iron his sheets!
See the fact is, I don't iron anything. My husband does it. It's because of my lefthandedness you know? I get burns every time. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). So for me, ironing sheets just seems a little, well, unfathomable. Now I admit, I've never - to my knowledge - slept on ironed sheets. So maybe if I did I'd know the difference and never go back.
However, I can't see hubby ironing them this week. So please, take a moment if you will and click on the poll to the right there - and let me know what the consensus is - to iron or not to iron!!!
30 comments:
Nat, I woulnd't worry. If your heroine doesn't sleep on ironed sheets that's the important thing!
And ah, no, I don't. Likely comes from the fact that my mum irons everything; underpants, hankies, tea towels, the cat's blankets...
I'm rebelling and that's my excuse!
Ally
Hi Natalie, I actually do iron my sheets. The heat and steam will kill any micro-organisms in them so, I iron for neatness and health reasons. Just to settle your mind, almost all my friends do this, it is pretty common, not unusual.
Avian
Whaaaaa???
People iron sheets?
Why??? You're just going to sleep on them and get them all wrinkled again anyway...
(I don't iron anything, btw. I told my DH how sexy it was to watch a man iron and how much of a turn on I found it right before we got married. Worked like a charm. I haven't ironed a thing since then... )
Nope, I only iron when absolutely necessary...that does not include sheets in this house.
Iron sheets????
You're kidding right?
I have never been guilty of doing this. My mother once commented I could condense the largest wash into the smallest amount of ironing of anyone she'd ever seen.
I can't say I've ever slept in ironed sheets but a friend who runs a B&B says she routinely irons hers. It's the first thing visitors check.
That settled it for me. I'm never running a B&B!!!
nope i don't iron sheets...now, but i have. I used to own a motel and we ironed our sheets in a big iron press, so if you've ever stayed in hotels/motels, then likely Natalie, you've slept on ironed sheets.
Regards
Jane Beckenham
www.janebeckenham.com
How could I resist commenting on this?! My opinion - sorry Avi - is that people that iron sheets are either paid to do it or they have WAY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much time on their hands.
I'm of the school that irons nothing... sadly it often shows :) But my hubby irons his work shirts and when I was going out teaching, he ironed mine too.
My boy starts school next year and is going to the local catholic school as opposed to the other option which is public. When I suddenly realised that this would mean I'd have to start ironing - at least his uniform - I almost changed schools. Just kidding...although the thought fleeted through my mind.
Will stop rambling now...but you can see this is something I'm very passionate about.
Good on you for rebelling Ally - sounds a valid reason/excuse to me :)
Now Avi - I can totally see your point - I do admit to tumble drying all our sheets on hot (regardless of the weather) for the same purpose - kills off all the bugs etc. My hubby is a really bad asthmatic and the asthma society recommends this. Now you live in a really hot country right? So no doubt no need for tumble driers and so irons do the biz. Hmmm - but my hero isn't an asthmatic and he lives in a termperate climate... so can cross that off the list I reckon! ;)
Kimberly - I'm giggling over ewhat you told your hubby - love it. So many of our guys are the ironers in the house aren't they? Good thing too - no way could I iron a business shirt!
Marcy I've been known to break out the iron in extreme emergencies (weddings and funerals) otherwise - no way!
Shirley I'm never running and B&B either... Jane in that case I HAVE slept in ironed sheets - but I have to admit I always find motel sheets (having enver stayed in 5 star hotels I confess) - really hard and uncomfortable. I'm such a kid (and it being the hell winter here) my personal fave are soft flannelette!!!
Rachael - come sit at the back of teh class with me in the no iron zone ;) Re the uniform - someone on the eharl thread was talking about a steam wand thing that you just wave over them and voila! All Done. Sounds good to me :)
Iron your sheets??? What the...!
Life is way too short for that, and now I'm going to sound like a right slapper and say I don't iron kids clothes either. What on earth is the point when he's going to go straight out and get them as mucky and messed up as is humanly possible (and good on him, isn't that a kid's job?).
Nope ironing in our house is strictly on an absolutely positively need to do basis.
Heidi - you and me both - but then I don't iron my own clothes so why would I iron the kids' ;)
But if I had a housekeeper to do it? Things might be a little different then...
LOL!
I used to iron - I know, too much time on hands. But king size ironing's like oversized origami so gave it up and now with kids - no time. These days I iron kidlets beds, tumble my own. There's something about slipping into an ironed bed...crisp. I know call me sad.
Great fact - my hubbie was a pampered child...his mum used to iron the sheets just before he got into the bed so they were cosy for him!!! Ahh. HA
jx
Jude I never knew!!! Wow - so you iron the kiddie's sheets? I'm impressed... in a weird kinda way ;)
that's hilarious about your hubby's mum - didn't they have hot water bottles????
Okay I have to say until reading the comments here, I would have said it was an old fashion tradition or only for the entirely too rich who have nothing better to do with their money than pay someone to iron their sheets. :-) I obviously do not iron my sheets. :-) Nor do I have the time. heck I barely have the time to wash them every week. (Hmmm, now watch, you all wash your sheets like daily or something and I'll find out I'm even more backwoods! lol) Oh and just for the record, I've not heard of anyone ironing sheets these days...suppose it doesn't mean they don't but...
Cole
Cole - panic not, I don't wash the sheets daily!!! LOL!!!
This is great -b now I feel safve in having it in there and not revealing my heroine and self to be complete sloths....
I do not iron my sheets but if I had a housekeeper and gazillion bucks to pay her to stand ironing sheets (or putting them through a sheet press) then I'd certainly be sleeping on ironed sheets. I LOVE hotel sheets, how they feel, how smooth they are, etc. when you slide into bed so if your hero has obscenely high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets then chances are they'd need to be ironed to get the creases out of them.
My dh's family lived in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and absolutely everything was ironed because of fly (tse tse fly, I think?) eggs that might have been laid in the fabric when things were drying on the line. I reckon in countries like NZ and Aus we're very spoiled for not having to worry about that kind of thing.
Hi Natalie
I never iron anything that won't be seen (and even then not always).
I did hear a cute story about one writer who, whenever she didn't feel like writing, walked to the cupboard and grasped the handle of the iron - it usually helped her decide writing wasn't such a bad option.
Cheers
Sandra
PS Thanks for your congratulations on my sale - you're a honey.
Yvonne I'm with you - if had housekeeper then yesso, deffo - well then again s/he might be too busy doing the rest of the mess that is my house!!!
And yes, the answer would vary from country to country - but this guy is in London so I think we're safe to suspend sheet ironing for a while - well, flattening them with an iron at least, then again maybe we'll just rumple them beyond belief ;)
!!!
Sanra - CONGRATS again - you must be flying still - takes a long time to sink in (still hasn't for me really to be honest - every so often it hits me but most of the time can't stop to think about it!)
LOVE that story about the writer - well YES - altho I have hits points in my drafts where I really would rather be ironing!!!! Time for a break then eh?!
ROFLOL... Uh yeah... my daughters iron their hair but not me.... I will, however, iron my husband's shirts once in awhile. I'm an early bird and it doesn't take me much time to do it before the little ones that I babysit come over. But iron anything of mine? Uh no.
I'm of the school that if it's just going to get wrinkled anyway why the Heck bother? 'Sides I don't wear much of anything that needs to see an iron... that's my strategy!
And Natalie, washing sheets daily? URK!
(aka kalyko)
Kathy - no way, no way, no way do I wash sheets every day!!!! Altho i wonder if i should up the ante and have my hero have clean ones every day???
You don't iron your hair?! Why ever not? I've tried - the smell of burning hair is NOT good! ;) ;)
Hi Natalie,
I wasn't even aware until now that you could put the words 'bedsheets' and 'iron' in the same sentence!
I'm so slow to actually iron anything that I don't possess an ironing board. If the urge seizes me (rarely does it) I'll iron along the kitchen counter.
I'm setting a fabulous example to my four boys, aren't I?
Aideen.
Get them to iron Aideen - think of the wives of the future - I love the fact my hubby (and so many more out there) irons his own shirts - necessity of course ;)
Natalie, I do NOT iron sheets - ever. My mother-in-law (now 79) has always ironed her sheets for as long as I can remember. Then again, she irons undies too.
I do have a housekeeper who cleans the house and does the ironing, and there's no way in hadies I am going to pay anyone to iron my sheets.
I see many of the ladies here have said they iron their sheets. Lots of time on their hands perhaps. lol
This is definitely not something I will ever take up, I can assure you.
Just had to pop back in to mention this little fact.
Happened across this article within minutes of posting my last comment.
I was flicking through Cosmopolitan (only because Nicola Marsh suggested the word for Modern Heat!!! and so I'm using the magazines for...research as I plan to enter the comp) and the following words screamed out at me.
215 miles is the amount of ironing a woman does in her lifetime, compared to a man's 73.
And Kimberly was spot on with her comment as the article suggested that 'women report greater sexual interest for partners who do housework'.
Interesting, at least I thought so.
Aideen.
Cheryl - yes, its not something I'm about to take up (ironing the sheets that is) - having a housekeeper tho, that's a different story!!!
Aideen! How fabulous you're reading Cosmo - and what a great bit of info. Actually keep an eye on iheartpresents because I have a blog there that is due up this week (I think) all about research - and yes, Cosmo most definitely gets a mention! I love to think of my characters as cosmopolitan - hence why its in my website tag ;)
I'm going to have to pull that Cosmo fact out and plaster is across the next blog post :)
Oh, I love ironing. It's one of those chores where you can tell when it's done, feel satisfied by the big pile of stuff you have to put away and, for a short time at least, it doesn't need doing again. Unlike, say, dusting or cleaning, where if you're doing it often enough, you can't tell you've done it!
I love getting into a lovely fresh bed of ironed sheets, all crisp and ironed and smelling like sunshine and the breeze.
Plus with ironing, if you set the board up in front of the TV, you've got guilt-free soaps! "I'm ironing, not watching TV." I can never understand how anyone can iron shut away in a little laundry room.
Margaret... you LOVE it??!!! Now see, I don't have a telly so no watch-while-ironing thing happening here (and I don't think I could multitask that way being lefty unco) - its all yours!
Natalie: I hate to iron so much that I used to buy dresses and suits for work that had to be dry cleaned just so I wouldn't have to iron. Iron sheets?! No way! If I had time to iron sheets, I'd use that time doing something fun. S
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