Put the clothes iron on the clothes and presto! No creases.
- Irons are also known as flat irons, smoothing irons or clothes irons.
- Irons are handheld electrical appliances used to uncrease creased clothes with it’s heated triangular surface.
- Irons remove creases due to the combination of a hard surface, and heat pressed on the fibres of the clothes which stretches and flattens the fibres.
- Henry Seeley invented the first electric iron in 1882.
- More than a thousand years ago in China, pieces of heated metal were used like an iron to uncrease clothes.
- The metal part of an iron, that is used for pressing, is called the sole plate and is generally heated to 180ºC-220°C (356°F-428ºF) when ironing.
- Irons use a combination of heat, electricity and mechanical energy to uncrease clothes, as well as the use of steam for some items.
- Historically, a metal box made from iron was heated by charcoal and used as an iron to uncrease clothes.
- Burning coconut shells were used to heat irons instead of charcoal in India, since it had a similar effect to burning charcoal.
- The Gochsheim Castle, Karlshruhe, Germany has one of the largest collections of irons, about 1300 irons.
Bibliography:
Clothes Iron 21 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothes_iron>
Ironing 24 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironing>
