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Whilst researching this area, it seems that the invention of the iron and its uses doesn’t really belong to any one culture in particular or have a single stand out inventor to name. Rather, its history is documented as having progressed through a series of styles and methods with each one  building upon the last marking its advancement throughout the ages.

In the 1st Century, China was the first to use hot metal irons. Later, these were replaced with Pan Irons that could be heated by storing hot coals within the iron itself. Our ancestors were minded to give full consideration to the process of laundering ie. wash, dry and ironing. The task ironing back then would have been more labour intensive than it is  today. If you belonged to the affluent classes, the chances are you could afford servants to take care of all those chores for you. On the other hand, if you were born into more humble origins, then you would typically have only reached out for the iron when going to a place of Worship or for special occasions. Along with making us look well presented, Ironing has long been known for its added health benefits in being effective in managing, for example, body lice by killing off the eggs layed by bugs in clothing.  Health benefits continues to be the case with today’s modern steam irons as they are able to heat water to high temperatures meaning that most, but not all, bacteria is killed off.

By the late 1800’s, the invention of the Ironing board by Sarah Boone made ironing easier. Before this came along,  there had been a few other attempts in this area. In the 9th Century the Vikings used whalebone as a board and ironed their clothes with hot stones. The kitchen table also had become fashioned as an ironing board in Europe and then in America. This gave way to the invention of the first fold away board which was then followed by the first portable board invented in America. The invention of the ironing board allowed ironing techniques to improve leaving behind previous methods of stretching fabrics using all sorts of makeshift clamping devices and frames or ‘beating out’  in order to flatten fabrics.

In the Middle Ages, flat irons were forged by blacksmiths. These were heated by using fire or placed on hot stoves to iron clothes and linen. Ancient Egyptians made use of these early irons.

When box irons emerged later they were seen as an improvement on older models. As  part of the iron design, a container could be filled with hot coals to  provide longer ironing time without interruption. Unfortunately, the downside to this design was that the smoke  emitted from the coals often penetrated the clothing, and the chance of soot depositing onto clothing was highly likely posing as a high risk to spoiling the end results.

Fuel irons came next, heated by gasoline or alcohol. These were lighter than previous irons and had brought about the welcomed beginnings, albeit basic, of temperature control for irons. But because they relied on fuel to operate, this made them flammable and particularly vulnerable to exploding making them a health hazard.

The electric iron emerged in 1882, invented by Henry Seeley in America. This was undoubtedly a land mark invention. By the1940’s and 50’s more improved models emerged onto the market that now  boasted of using stream to ramp up the capacity to flatten creases and remove wrinkles from clothing. They also ushered in more stable heat regulated temperature controls. Improvements and advancements both in design and technologies have continued to give us what we have today ie. lightweight, powerful steam generating irons used for both domestic and commercial use.

From charting this brief history of Ironing and its development shows that we have undoubtedly come a long way since the 1st Century hot metal irons first used by the Chinese. Further advancements led to a series of progressive inventions including the flat iron, box iron, fuel iron to the invention of the electric iron and to today’s lightweight,  powerful stream generated  professional irons. Thankfully, confined to  the vaults of history is the time and energy our ancestors spent stetching, beating out clothes and fabrics across, over and between heavy devices and frames in very hot, often risky and sometimes dangerous conditions, using very heavy and unstable irons. This was, and continues to be,  all in name of removing and flattening  those dreaded creases and wrinkles out of our clothes and fabrics.