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Dear reader, I need to ask your opinion.
When I started sewing, I underestimated enourmously the importance of pressing as you sew, that is, pressing your seams after you sewed them and before continuing the construction of your garments.
Now I've understood what a difference this technique makes, but it poses a problem: I'm very careful about energy consumption at home, I try to be as moderate as possible for both economical and ecological reasons. I feel a bit guilty when I turn on and off my iron at least 5 or more times an afternoon, because I know that it uses up a lot of electricity to get hot. My father also pointed out to me that such an afternoon is going to have its weight on the electricity bill at the end of the month.
So what can I do? Or better, what do you do? Is there any eco-warrior among you that has some tips to share?
I'd be eternally grateful!
Very interesting question as my iron recently burned out completely from leaving it on ALL DAY LONG during marathon sewing sessions. Not to mention times I went to bed and left it on ALL NIGHT LONG, or the days I went to work and left it on ALL DAY LONG. But still I don't think there is a way around leaving it on during sewing sessions. Pressing the seams after construction just does not yield the same results as pressing as you go.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I feel less guilty, but I'm a bit worried about your bills :)
DeleteBut I don't think I have the heart to leave the iron on for a whole afternoon...
Uhmmm,anch'io mi sono posta lo stesso problema!
ReplyDeleteDiciamo che l'unica cosa che cerco di fare è di cucire tutte le cuciture possibili e poi solo all'ultimo stirarle tutte insieme.
Oppure alle volte è assai utile cucire, mentre qualcun'altro stira (così si riscalda tutto una volta sola!). Io e mia mamma alle volte siamo coordinate in questo e così un po' si risparmia. Ma alle volte è impossibile non doverlo usare :(
Domanda ottima comunque ^___^
Direi che facciamo le stesse cose! Quando mia madre stira, la caccio dall'asse ogni 10 minuti! E comunque anche io aspetto di avere più cuciture possibile.
DeleteMi sono dimenticata di scrivere nel post che ho anche comprato un mini ferro da stiro da viaggio, che si scalda in 30 secondi e va bene per lavori e tessuti che non richiedono troppo calore.
Oh dear! You know, I never really thought about how much energy my iron uses-- and I have one of those massive, power-sucking steam stations. :/
ReplyDeleteThis might be a silly question, but does your current iron have an auto shut-off feature? My old one would go to sleep after ten minutes if left upright or after 60 seconds if left on its soleplate. You could get a silicone iron rest and leave your iron face down most of the time: just a quick jiggle wakes the iron up.
But then, perhaps that doesn't really save much electricity. I always imagined that it's more economical to restart the iron each time than to keep it going at full heat all day-- but maybe heating it up takes more energy than keeping it going after all?
I wondered if the auto shut-off feature even existed, so thanks for making me realise that it's not science fiction. I'll definitely look into that, because I think it might save A LOT of energy and time.
DeleteI also thought that heating it up takes less energy, but I never had proof. Nat put a useful link in the comment below yours.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI had the same worry... check out this post on Karens blog http://didyoumakethat.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-boffin-speaks/, I think she had a friend do an experiment, which found that there really isn't that much difference between turning the iron off/on constantly and just leaving it on constantly.
The one sacrifice I make is saving as much pressing as possible so I an do it all in one go so i'm not up and down from the iron all the time.
Nat x
Thank you so much for the link! I'm going to check it out immediately!
DeleteI do the same, I think it already makes a big difference.
Yes, I remember the article on Karen's blog that basically showed there was no diference. I try to plan in advance and sew as much as I can and then press.
ReplyDeleteI follow Karen's blog, so I really don't know how I managed to miss such an interesting post! Now I know! :)
Deletei have a cordless iron that automatically shuts off after a couple minutes of not being used. while it is a bit annoying at times to wait for it to heat, i suppose it does conserve a bit of energy!
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the cost (to the planet or my bills) of my sewing-related ironing at all. I didn't think irons used this much energy. I typically leave my iron on all the time when I'm sewing, and only turn it off during periods in which I don't need the iron at all or only very little, like cutting fabric, hand-sewing for longer periods, etc. But there really is no way I could turn my iron on and off after every new seam I make. Maybe there are energy-efficient irons out there that it would be worth purchasing considering the long afternoons spent sewing and ironing.
ReplyDeleteI also have an iron that automatically turns off after about a minute of not being used. I actually had a conversation about this with my father who works in the energy business (well it was about our window unit air conditioner, which is much more of an energy sucker than an iron) and he actually said that it is typically more efficient to keep something running than to be constantly turning it on and off since it needs more electricity to get it going than it does to run. So I usually leave my iron on while I sew - unplugging it at night. Good luck with your quest! Unfortunately, pressing is such an important part of sewing.
ReplyDeleteOooh I never even think about that! Probably should but don't. I sew less these days so don't think it makes that much difference to my bill if I leave the iron on for longer than I need it.
ReplyDeleteGreat question! One I've wondered myself but never been proactive about :S
ReplyDeleteWell I've heard that ironing is better than putting your clothes through the de-wrinkle cycle on the clothes dryer because it is about costs about $.10 to operate a iron for an hour (at least around here) compared to however much much much more for an hour of dryer time.
ReplyDeleteAlso my iron, a Shark, has an automatic turn off. After about a 5 minutes of non-use it starts shutting down. Which is nice for me since I have little ones running around and if I forget to turn it off, it will still go off without me.
this is a really interesting topic and i thought about it when i sew as well. i don't think there is much way around it. the only thing i do that i think it helps is that to sew in a belt conveyer style, where you sew a multiple garments at once. so you are saving pressing time for 3-4 garments, instead of doing one by one.
ReplyDelete