Ditto on the ironing. I remember Mom and I took turns ironing every Sunday night in front of the TV watching shows like Bonanza.

I remember the coke bottle with the sprinkler top. I remember that the wash smelled so fresh when it was ironed probably because all the wash was hung out to dry. Bounce hasn't ever matched that scent. I never minded helping with the ironing back then. Now I only fire up the iron for quilting or the rare clothing object that slipped through the radar. Gloria

I used to have a Tupperware sprinkler. Talk about an antique!

We had two "sprinklers". One was made of plastic and looked like a ketchup dispenser, except the business end was flat with holes like a salt shaker. The other was totally "not politically correct" in today's terms. It was a bottle in the shape of a Chinese laundryman with a sprinkler top! Don't know what happened to it!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

I remember my grandmother putting the damp clothes in a bag in the refrigerator, too. The "sprinkling" preceeded the steam iron. Wonder where all those sprinkler tops went to? I've never seen any in the antique shops. Judy in Torrance

I remember having to "sprinkle" the clothes before ironing when I was really young. I liked ironing the dish towels and pillow cases!

If mom was really busy she would put all the dampened clothes in a plastic bag in the freezer until she had time to iron everything.

I think you're right, Mary. I believe it was to keep the clothes from souring......no air conditioning back then. I remember she used a coke bottle (aka, vintage) for her sprinkle bottle that had some kind of metal cap with holes in it for the top.

Boy, I'm feelin' kinda old now. I'll be turning 60 years young in about 3 weeks and it makes me a bit nostalgic.....but, gotta think forward....too many quilts to make!!

Shirley

maggieszafranski wrote:
My Mom would do that with her nursing caps. She'd wash and rinse them, then sprinkle and press the next day. I haven't thought of that in years!!
eileenkny

Nope! My mom put the tablecloths in the freezer, if she couldn't get to them.
She didn't use starch, just didn't dry the stuff all the way.

Jean in Windsor, ON

Oh yeah.

Does remembering this make us OLD? ha

Lynn

Been there, done that. If we didn't get all the sprinkled clothes ironed that day, they were put in the fridge to keep them from souring. Mary in MS

Sure brings back memories. My grandma would sprinkle everything, roll it up, put in in a bag and then put it in the fridge until she was ready to iron. Not sure why the fridge unless she was afraid if mildew.

Shirley

I remember the sprinkling! Then she would fold it up into a large plastic bag until she could get it ironed later in the day...Mondays were wash days and Tuesdays were ironing days! Life may be more hectic today, but the physical work was a lot more intense back then! Nancy

CJ, when I was growing up, we had a wringer washer and a set of 2 rinse tubs. Mom would put starch in the final rinse water of things that would need to be ironed, then hang them out to dry. The next day we would "sprinkle" the clothes or pillowcases, then iron them. We didn't have spray starch or a steam iron. I have thought that would be a great idea when prewashing yardage!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois