How lazy people iron tablecloths, last chance to enter giveaway!

Do you still use a regular ironing board to iron your table linens? Sometimes, I send mine to the laundry, but most of the time, I prefer to do take care of my linens myself. Here are some quick tips for healthy linens:
1. Remove from table promptly after a meal. - it's okay to wait till the guests go home.
2. Place them in the washer with a measure of Oxyclean. I usually leave them in overnight. Who wants to do laundry at night? This gives any stain a tough time as it tries to set.
3. Complete wash cycle in the morning. Check for any residual spotting and treat accordingly. Usually there are none.
4. Damp dry or hang to dry if you are lucky enough to have a clothesline.
5. Iron them if they do not require any starch and will look fine without it. If starch is needed, put them away; either hang up or fold them neatly. You don't really want to fold starched items as it will weaken the fibers over time (especially crucial for delicate heirloom quality pieces). Depending on where you live, the starch might attract weevils to dine on your pieces.

I had my husband cut me a piece of plywood that is 30" by 75". I then padded it with a wool blanket. Wool is perfect to use as it absorbs moisture from ironing. I covered the wool covered board with some heavy muslin. Fold it so that the staples are on the side as shown above (I know I could have been neater,  but who was going to ever see this?) This way, when the board is placed on the end of your dining table, the staples won't mar the surface.

I place a stool on my right side that holds my ironing station and iron the entire width of my tablecloth at once. I can iron one in about 15 minutes.

1. For linen or cotton tablecloths, give a quick rinse in the washer with a homemade solution of starch. Buy the dry starch and add about 1/2 cup to a 1/2 washer load.
2. Damp dry in the dryer.
3. Iron right away or place the folded tablecloth in a plastic bag in the refrigerator overnight or for a few hours. Why this works, I have no clue, but it does make ironing easier.
4. Use the hottest setting on your steam iron. Since the starch is in the fabric, you won't have any residue on the bottom of your iron.
5. As you iron, pull the tablecloth onto the table. No wrinkles and no ironing the length twice! I do usually put a pad on the table for dinner, but omitted it in the step above!

Hope this helps and that you can begin to enjoy your linens again!

Please drop in on this post HERE and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a set of 8 monogrammed white dinner napkins, your monogram, your style of monogram, your color of monogram. Winner to be announced Wednesday April 27th, 2011.