“The death of the iron is imminent.” Why more and more people have given up ironing their clothes

Generation Z brags on social media that they have collectively decided to give up ironing, but is this due to lack of time, sustainability or the fight against perfection, asks the Spanish publication El Pais, which sought to find out from several experts why the iron has been abandoned.

Wrinkles on clothing have also been noticed in circles where you might not expect to see them. Clothes that have never been ironed are part of the imagination of fashion designer Miuccia Prada, who even in the autumn/winter 1998 collection of Miu Miu, a subsidiary of Prada, presented visibly wrinkled models on the catwalk.

She had the same vision during the Prada spring 2023 presentation. An idea that the Italian designer, one of the most influential people in the fashion industry, also imitates in her own wardrobe. An example of this was at Prada's spring/summer 2024 show, when her brown skirt was wrinkled.

It took several generations for these gestures of Miuccia Prada to be considered less eccentric and more normal, comments the Spanish publication.

For Gen Z, ironing no longer makes sense

Today, Gen Z agrees that ironing is meaningless. And Gen Z believe so strongly in this that various memes and videos of Internet users showing wrinkled clothes repeat the phrase, “I'm so glad we stopped ironing our clothes.”

Sprays for ironing clothes with an anti-wrinkle effect, tricks like putting ice cubes in the washing machine, fabrics with thermally activated ironing technology or the habit of hanging an item of clothing on a hanger during the shower to let the hot steam stretch the fabrics are some tricks mentioned by El Pais to avoid using traditional ironing.

Spanish designer Juan Avellaneda explained why some people who avoid ironing choose these methods to still look flawless.

“Ironing gets a bad rap because it seems like a slow and boring process, largely associated with 'mothers and grandmothers'. But at the end of the day, we all like to look good. This fear is more psychological than real: we associate ironing with wasting time, but it's not true. It's satisfying to see well-ironed clothes, and in my case, I find it impossible to leave the house with wrinkled clothes. That's why sprays, steamers and home tricks are so popular,” Avellaneda said.

According to surveys, the Spanish put ironing clothes first in the list of the most unpopular household activities.

Pandemic changes

Sandra Castellanos, an expert in personal image, believes that people have changed in recent years, having other priorities, and the period during the pandemic accentuated this change.

“Today, everyone is looking for practicality, and the ritual of ironing may not mean that for young people who grew up in a context of immediacy. They prefer to invest their time in other things and choose fabrics that do not require maintenance or care. In addition, the pandemic marked a cultural change: pleats began to be “normalized” as a more relaxed gesture in casual styles”, she explained to S Moda.

A fashion influencer, Rocío Vazquez, gave a radical verdict: “the death of the iron is imminent”.

“The rise of synthetics in our clothing has made ironing even dangerous. Could the rebellion against ironing be a response to a society that seems perfect and idealized in the media and social media?” she wonders. “Clothing is becoming more and more casual and relaxed, and the rules that dominated previous decades are no longer valid,” she said.

However, public figures such as the Spanish Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diaz, consider ironing to be a moment of mental relaxation. “I like to ride because it relaxes me. I'm very nervous and I spend hours almost every day riding,” the Madrid government official told Publico.

For the Spanish designer Juan Avellaneda, another reason why many people give up ironing is the lack of time in a hectic society.

“There is a certain reluctance to the time required for ironing and even to the physical space required for it. The iron is something old, and now we are looking for the practicality offered by vaporizers, sprays, light spinning, fabrics that do not wrinkle, even if we do not know what they are made of… And this is because we like to look good, but we do not want to make the necessary effort to iron”, he emphasized Castellanos.

“Wash not to iron”

The founder of a home services company, Pia Nieto, explained her “wash not to iron” concept. The secret, she says, is to wash the clothes at 30 degrees, with a reduced amount of detergent, the spin not to exceed 800 revolutions per minute, and to stretch the clothes well afterwards.

On the other hand, environmental activists welcome this new trend, citing the prevention of global warming. “It's like planting seven trees, like absorbing the carbon dioxide produced by seven cars and generating the oxygen a person needs for eight hours,” said Juan Carr, Red Solidaria volunteer.

But whatever the reasons, experts say there are times when pleats don't belong on our clothes, such as formal events, weddings or galas, interviews and high-level meetings.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com