Hmmm..... irons?!?

[miss-m]

When you conjure up the cruising idealism, and picture the white sandy beaches and gorgeous seas, bikinis and swimsuits are all that is required.

However, I live in the UK and still have a job which I (unfortunately) need to wear a little bit more for!

The only thing (yes really) thats keeps us needing shore power is an iron- to iron shirts and things! Has anyone got a solution to this problem? We've tried travel irons, but they just dont seem to do the job. And our generator is only 900, and I cant find an iron small enough.

Any and all suggestions welcome. Thanks

[Steve Pope]

The only irons that you should be worrying about is when you are tacking and the yacht doesn't complete the tack and you are "caught in irons" Basically means that the yacht is stalled.

[cooper]

If you ....really need to iron....i mean really.....with no shore power. You can go to an antique store and get a base iron. This is an iron that is a lump of metal. you heat it up in your stove , test that it is not to hot with a piece of linen and then go go go....OR you can get (again very old but works fine) a kerosine fired iron. These little beautys are collected the world over and not used. It is the old time versus cost problem. Te average iron can run around 2000 watts at 240 volts. A big invertor needed, or a big generator. The other way is to get extra uniforms (clothes) and get them pressed at the end of each week by a local ironer. This last idea may end up being the cheapest and least stress.(if you do it this way you dont have to do the work : ) ) full disclosure...I hate ironing....

[miss-m]

At least, I do on the boat. I know its a rubbish question, its just one of those niggling things which have been bugging us for ages and I hoped some clever person here may have already figured something out. I love the idea of getting someone else to do it, but again that ties us into shore! (Does it show that I hate being tied into my shore life!! )

Thanks for all the replies so far

[Steve Pope]

Head for the tropics then you wont need any clothes!!!

[David_Old_Jersey]

An Iron onboard?!

Never had one onboard, rarely use one ashore - and it often (usually?) looks like it

My "secret" LOL is to buy clothes that require less ironing / will flatten out a good chunk from hanging up when damp. Still have to iron my work shirts though But I find that ironing them damp makes life easier - maybe would help if you have to use a low power iron? or even use a water bottle spray (DIY steam!).

But I now have a couple of suits that can be machine washed and drip dried on the hanger - and as a side benefit they do not seem to crumple so much from a lack of hanging up....no idea what they are made of.........

Onboard pressing clothes under a bunk does improve things - won't come out with a Razor sharp edge, but every little helps......

[MarkJ]

Under the bunk and sleep on them
It does work
Trousers are easy, shirts need to be very carefully folded flat.

[bottleinamessage]

When we were preparing to move aboard I asked my wife about an iron.
She laughed! I persisted and found a Rowenta travel iron. She loves it and thanks me for not letting up. It's a very good product.

[cnj]

Choose fabrics that don't need ironing. I have an office job and I haven't ironed in 5 years.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by cnj

Choose fabrics that don't need ironing. I have an office job and I haven't ironed in 5 years.

Can you share any specifics?
ie: No-Iron Dress shirts: Brand, Fabric

[cnj]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Can you share any specifics?
ie: No-Iron Dress shirts: Brand, Fabric

Some 100% cottons, but that's on a case by case basis, cotton/spandex blends work well, 100% silk (if it's the heavy silk, not the flimsy suff), 100% rayon and polyster/rayon blends are mainly what's in my closet. You just need to hang them up immediately and they're fine.

[svHyLyte]

The old fashioned cast iron "irons" that one heats on a stove top sitting on a ceramic tile above a burner do a nice job of ironing using the salon table-top covered with a folded white towel. For example see:



However, I have found that by buying wash-n-wear items, hanging them up to dry on plastic hangers in the forward heads, and then folding them and finally rolling them up keeps them nicely wrinkle free. A hanging linen closet on a yacht is a waste of space. After a passage of any length, everything hanging will be thread-bare from chafe.

We fold and roll and then stow in airtight bags that can be vacuumed down with a handy-vac. Workes very nicely!

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte

[S.I.T.S.]

This may aor may not help but I build RC airplanes and I have a small iron for shrinking monokote (a covering for planes). It has a teflon coating and an adjustable thermostat. I doubt that it pulls more than 500 watts. You can get them at any hobby store that sells radio control planes. "monokote iron"

Bruce

[neelie]

If you're so heart bent on ironing, there are some really old fashioned ones the Dhobi wallahs in India used to have. These burnt kerosene ( I assume diesel will work as well) as their heat source.

[Snowshoe]

My grandmother used the old heavy solid irons (they call them irons for a reason) up into the sixties. She had a couple of them so one was always heating on the wood burning stove while the other being used. On the boat you would have to keep the gas stove burning, may be not so good. I guess that's why every body quit using them. Good Luck.