Why Are Ironing Boards Shaped Like That?
I don't know, and I don't need to know
January is a month for big talk. I like that about it.
Suddenly we’re all resolving, making lists, crafting vision boards that we’ll hide in the closet when our friends come over so they don’t laugh at our goal to “floss more than weekly, you animal”.
In January, we’ve failed at nothing. We are pre-successes, looking upon the rest of the year as a vast expanse of pure potential.
But there comes a time for the rubber to meet the road and I find that making gains on one small thing leading up to that moment really smooths the transition.
You don’t need to fix everything in January. But if you can fix one thing? Then you’ve got a fighting shot for the year ahead.
My one thing is wrinkled clothes.
Up till now, I have been “using” an iron and ironing board. The quotes are because I cannot — can not — imagine I’m using these things as intended.
If I were, my clothes would end up with fewer wrinkles when I finished and I’d have some guess as to why the ironing board is shaped like that when clothes, quite clearly, are not.
Like a lot of things about being an adult, I’ve been doing this chore in a way that does not work for me for years because I understood this to be the way adults do it.
Luckily, you hit a certain age where you realize that none of these chumps you thought knew their ass from their elbow actually do, and that frees you up to stop following their example.
So then, although it has yet to arrive, consider this my pre-endorsement of the new and improved way to make your nice clothes look nicer: The handheld steamer.
Steaming wrinkles out of your clothes by hanging them in the bathroom while you shower is a fool’s errand. But aiming a focused, controlled beam o’ steam right at the problem spots? Well, I think it’s gonna be a game-changer.
I found my incoming steamer online for about 40 bucks and this may be the ‘turning-37’ talking, but I am psyched to steam some button downs.
Perhaps you’re ahead of me on this. I’m not surprised. You’re equal parts good-looking and intelligent and I tell everyone so.
But if that’s you, may I suggest you find your own quick win? Instead of Swedish Death Cleaning your whole closet or redefining your style from zero, what about just finding one, small, fixable clothing problem and solving the heck out of it?
Does your face wash get in your hair at night? Buy a headband.
Have a growing collection of orphan socks? Get a new 6-pack of comfy cottons.
Always cold at work? Treat yourself to one warm cardigan you can keep in the office.
Keep it small, see it through, and reap the benefits.
I believe in you.