Ironing tips

I'm heading out of town the day after tomorrow, to give a presentation of my research at a conference in a desirable location. I think it will be my first presentation since the end of my leave-of-absence to watch after Monkey. I am sure it will be my first airplane flight in almost two years where I won't be encumbered by a car seat, a diaper bag, a lot of luggage, and a Monkey.

Out of fresh shirts and clean underwear. Today I did laundry. Tonight I iron. Tomorrow night I pack.

I am also ironing a few shirts for the Monkey Mama. She does her best to maintain a professional wardrobe, on a budget, wearing maternity clothes, during the change of seasons. Especially since she'll have her hands full during my absence, I don't mind helping her out a little while I have the iron hot. (Even though they are maternity blouses, they seem so tiny compared to my shirts. Harder to iron, too.)

A few ironing tips, for those of you landing here from a Google search for "ironing tips":

1. Iron while listening to your iPod. (This was my first time; how did I ever iron before?)

2. Use all three corners of your ironing board.
* The pointy bit is for the "yoke" of your shirt: where the sleeves and collar meet. Pull the sleeve over the pointy bit, iron what you see, and you're on your way.
* Put the armpits of the shirt into the left and right square corners of the ironing board, and you'll have a clean run at the front and back of your shirt.

3. Like so many other forms of tedious labor, it helps to have a system or sequence. Sequence is everything.
A. Do the tricky bits first: Collar and sleeves
B. Then the yokes, using the pointy end of ironing board
C. Then the fronts and backs, working your way around the square end of the ironing board. These are the easy parts.
D. Finish with the arms.