Using an iron is not a worthless fashion accessory. It's a custom that has been followed for centuries. A person's appearance and the quality of their clothing have long been used as indicators of status and height. However, who really is in charge of the invention of ironing?

Who created the iron? In the first century, hot metal was first used to iron garments by the Chinese. Different methods were employed throughout history, maturing into the electric iron that is still in use today. Henry W. Seeley created it in New York City in 1882.

Since so many people have used their own techniques and approaches to practice ironing, no one person or culture can claim to have invented it. Nevertheless, the ironing movement has improved over the years thanks to a few notable inventions.

The development of the electronic steam iron has made it much quicker and simpler to remove creases from our garments. Because of this, much of our clothing is now ironed before use.

Additionally, our forebears spent time washing, drying, and ironing their clothes. However, because ironing took a lot of time, not all of the clothing were done. The wealthy hired servants to do the work.

Only apparel worn to church and attire for special occasions were perfectly pressed; everyday wear was not ironed. Body lice might also be removed using an iron, and modern steam irons have the added advantage of removing bacteria.

A few years later, in 1892, Sarah Boone created the ironing board, which made ironing even simpler.

Techniques of Ironing Throughout History

Since there have been garments, ironing and pressing have existed in some capacity. Some methods entailed stretching or beating the fabric, while others made use of pressure and heat.

Ironing was hard, heated job that required a specific skill. To prevent any harm to the garment, irons had to be meticulously cleaned, polished, and sandpapered. It was also simple to burn or harm garments back then because there were no modern temperature controls.

Using a steam iron in tech

Henry Seeley's electric iron was not a major commercial success, and it took another ten years before the temperature could be controlled.

The first steam iron was introduced by the Eldec Company in 1926. In contrast to Seeley's prior version, it produced water vapor and eliminated the need to manually dampen clothing before dry ironing.

Only in the 1940s and 1950s did steam irons start to take over as the preferred type of iron for use at home, replacing earlier models. Dry irons are still available today, but they cannot compete with the steam iron's or the steam generator iron's power to remove wrinkles.


The flat iron

Blacksmiths in the Middle Ages forged flat irons, subsequently known as sad irons. Some even had stone carvings on them. On a stove or over a fire, these metal irons were heated. They have a form that is similar to modern steam irons that we use for ironing clothes. The user was shielded from burns by a fabric or wooden handle that was used to hold the handle.

The iron wasn't given the term "upset"

because of the feelings it caused in people. An ancient word for "solid" is sad. The second flat iron was bigger and heavier than the first. They were also known as "gusing" irons, a play on the word "goose," due to the handle's resemblance to a gooseneck's curvature.

In the past, using two flat irons at once was necessary. While the other heated on the fire, one was in use. Larger, wealthier homes with staff frequently possessed ironing stoves that could accommodate multiple irons at once.

Ancient Egypt has also produced iron, according to evidence discovered there.

Charcoal or box irons

The box iron was useful since it was made of metal and contained hot coals rather than being a solid piece of metal or stone.

Longer lasting heat is present. In some regions of Africa and India, box irons are still in use today.

It has a cover that can be opened and closed and air openings for the coal to breathe. They have been employed historically in numerous nations.

The drawback of this technique is that the coal's smoke might contaminate garments. Some have smoke-repelling funnels. Additionally, ironers must take great care to prevent soot from contacting the fabric.

Slugs or bricks are used to heat similar boxes. Before being inserted into the iron, these inserts are heated in the fire. Compared to using charcoal irons, this process is more cleaner.

Steel Pans

The Chinese made use of pan irons. Only the shape is different, but the design is quite similar to the box iron. To remove any creases, hot coals were spread over silks and other materials in the open metal pans.

Furnace Irons

Compared to the flat iron and charcoal iron, fuel irons were an improvement. Compared to their predecessors, they were lighter and had a more consistent temperature. They may explode, though, and were risky to use because they heated with gasoline, alcohol, and other highly combustible substances.

splinter boards

In England, a rolling pin was combined with a mangle board. The mangle board was used to apply pressure after the wet fabric had been rolled around the pinfirmly onto the rolled fabric.

The material's creases would be removed by rolling it back and forth. To assist push down firmly, mangles frequently had handles. Traditionally, young men would carve these as presents for their future wives, and they could be extremely lovely and intricate.

Messy boxes

To be distinguished from washing mangles, which were also used to pound dirty laundry. Paddles were used in England to beat the garments straight. After being spread out on a flat surface, the fabric was struck with the flat paddle. In order to make this laborious task easier, "machines" were created.

Stones or sand were placed inside a sizable enclosure. Then, garments were rolled around the rollers. The large box was then positioned aboveThe heavy box was then placed over rollers and pulled back and forth using handles and leather straps. Later wheels or gears were added to some designs to make the work a little easier. Mangle Boards were also given other “beating” names like battledores and beatel.

Linen Smoothers

Glass, marble, stone, or wood were the materials used to make linen smoothers in medieval Europe. Some of them had handles and were shaped much like stamps so you could slip it over clothing and push down. In order to remove unwelcome wrinkles, smoothing stones, which were roughly the size of a hand, were additionally employed.

It has been determined that decorative glass linen smoothers date to the 18th and 19th centuries. Even graves of Viking ladies have had some, made of dark glass. (source)

Spanking Frames

To flatten sheets and linen in the medieval era, enormous frames stretched the material while it was still damp, eliminating all creases in the process.

Textile presses

The wooden furniture known as fabric presses had a base and an adjustable press that could be tightened to flatten the cloth in between the two layers. Sometimes there were storage shelves or drawers in the press.

As a result,

In comparison to the certainly labor-intensive labour that our predecessors had to put in to get their garments just right, the steam iron as we know it now has gone a long way.

Since China in the first century, a lot has changed. Even if you detest ironing, the fact that it requires so little effort to do a job stands in stark contrast to earlier methods. No beating necessary, no sweltering hours by the fire holding a big lump of steel... and wehave Netflix to help the time pass.