I love my man, he's a pain in the butt but I love him. In fact, I love him so much that when we first moved in together I could see he was in great difficulty with his shirts. You see, Italian men are "abituati bene" - meaning they have it too good!
In addition to an Italian mom (don't worry she's not a "typical" Italian mother-in-law, she's actually super cool and modern) he had a cleaning lady AND an IRON LADY! Seriously, this exists in Italy! A woman would come to his house one or two times a week to iron the family's clothes.
I remember our first month of living together without the "iron lady", he would literally bring all of his shirts to his mom's house every week! This made me laugh, while simultaneously making me angry.
COME ON ITALIAN MAN... time to cut the cord! It was literally a battle between us every week and so I offered to teach him to iron, or technically, he asked me to teach him to iron after a few of his most prized designer shirts were "sacrificed" by me to the iron Gods (did I mention I'm easily distracted). Although I turned them into relatively sexy dresses for myself, he was NOT impressed.
My husband got very good at ironing his shirts, but let me tell you a story....
My mom was visiting from Canada and brought non iron shirts for my husband and father in law....and their lives changed. Hung on a hanger, straight out of the washer they dried perfectly and looked as though they had been pressed.
I like to refer to them as the marriage savers in our house! My husband being Italian has the tendency to wear ties on the weekend and dress shirts for a grocery store run. Fashion conscious men like him are aware of wanting to look their best, and even though he is an artisan he meets with clients, bank managers, distributers and showrooms daily, so he's always ready to make a good impression.
Ironing 5 shirts every weekend was eating into his free time (lest we forget his bad wife has stopped ironing his shirts and the "iron lady" isn't around!). And so he found himself relying more and more on non iron shirts, which were always perfect and ready to wear.
One of the biggest differences of non iron shirts is that you don't need to worry about traveling! I cannot tell you how angry I was last year when I went to Rimini for a business conference and the 4 star hotel where I stayed did not have an iron!! A non iron shirt gives you the confidence to travel for work without the stress of meeting clients with a massive crease down your shirt.
What Makes Non Iron Shirts So Special?
I was recently at a textile fair and stopped to speak to a textile specialist about the magic of non iron materials to understand what they were all about. The woman explained that normal dress shirts are made of cotton, which is the most transpiring of all textiles. I was shocked to learn that non iron shirts are also made of cotton but it is a long-staple cotton, and its spun yarn has no impurities thanks to a specific treatment called "combing".
The yarns are twisted two by two, so the cotton is shinier. It is then processed at high temperatures, and it absorbs less water, so it will not shrink. So they are not synthetic at all but all natural fibers.
As far as washing goes, she suggested that when I wash my husbands non iron shirts I should always do up the top button and tuck the collar and cuffs so they are facing inward, wash in cold water and then hang on a hanger....and they will always be PERFECT!
Hello. Forget my husband, I need to get rid of ALL of my dress shirts and replace them with non iron ones. I can't tell you how many times I've avoided wearing something that needs to be ironed and will usually go with the faster outfit.
I'm already planning to buy a few more non iron shirts for him as gifts from the online store Xacus Eshop, they are based in Italy and ship internationally and source from some of the absolute best textile manufacturers in Italy. I like to consider replacing all of his shirts with non iron ones as an investment in our marriage, what do you think?!
