Why should I iron?

Photo c/o ironmanwest.co.nz

"Ano ang mas OK sa 'yo, maglaba o magplantsa?"   12 out of the 20 I've spoken to recently opted for magplantsa.  Last summer, I asked the same thing from 20 people, and 18 said maglaba.  Perhaps it is the season that dictates whether which chore would a person do. Summer (it's hot) you'd like to cool down as much as possible, while winter (it's cold), you'll settle for anything that will keep you warm.

Growing up in Zamboanga and being the eldest, I was in-charge of ironing all our school uniforms (four of us boys).  I can still recall, ironing them mid-afternoon Sundays, while listening to the radio, playing either music or radio dramas.  We were still using coconut charcoal to heat up the flat iron also known as the clothes iron.  I think I was already in senior high when we got our very first electric iron.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, one household chore that is rarely done or is not a priority at home is the ironing of clothes.  Personally, I only iron out the clothes I'm going to wear during special occasions.  For non-special occasions, I only iron the front part, the part that will be visible. The reason being that I wear either a jacket or a suit and when I zip or button them, it's only the collar that's visible.  There are times when I'll just iron the collar because that's the only part people can see and notice.

Someone has found a way to turn this household chore into a business. In the UK, there is a start-up called ihateironing.com that has added ironing clothes on top of it's dry-cleaning and laundry business.  It does home pickups and deliveries.  There are a couple of firms in Auckland who are already engaged in this type of business.  One of them is Ironman West, an ironing, laundry and dry-cleaning service.  I'm sure there are more of them.

It seems to be like an easy business to set-up and operate, low capitalization and the equipment are so basic (an electric iron, an ironing board, some accessories).  I'm quite tempted to explore and do this.  To make this even more personalized, I would do the ironing right inside my client's home.  This will minimize travel time and delivery costs.  I won't even need a van with clothes racks for transport.  A bonus perhaps, would be some snacks from the client, plus the added chika (gossip) if the client is Pinoy.  Go and check the links.  This might just be the business that you're looking for.