It was once an essential appliance that ensured you looked smart for work or college, but the iron is fast becoming obsolete as more relaxed dress codes mean turning up in rumpled clothing is no longer a faux pas.
About 30% of 18- to 34-year-olds do not own an iron and “never iron their clothes”, according to consumer research. When asked why they did not possess an item considered vital by previous generations, the refuseniks said the main reason was “their clothes didn’t need ironing”.
The second biggest reason was that ironing was “not important to them” or “they did not like it”, although those who have been performing the chore for decades would probably confirm they do not do it for fun.
By contrast, 90% of those aged over 45 own an iron and use it regularly, according to the poll of 3,000 adults. In fact, after being schooled in the evils of creases, many probably own a travel iron for holidays as well.
The demise of ironing among young people is revealed in the annual trends report by the household specialist retailer Lakeland. The report provides a glimpse into the state of the nation’s homes and, in this case, wardrobes.
The writing has been on the wall for the iron and its partner, the ironing board, for some time. Even before the Covid lockdowns introduced people to working from home in jogging bottoms, the rise of non-iron fabrics had made life easier in busy households.
Even with people back in offices after the long hiatus, the dress code has become relaxed, enabling employees to dispense with the formality of a crisply ironed shirt and neatly pressed trousers or dress.
This state of affairs was reinforced last year by the removal of the traditional men’s suit from the basket of goods used to calculate the annual inflation rate.
But while shoppers are no longer spending their cash on irons and ironing water they are finding other more useful things to buy, particularly gadgets to help save them money during a cost of living crisis. Sales of heated throws, for example, were up 250% in the last year, Lakeland said, as consumers adopted the “heat the person, not the home” mantra espoused by the personal finance expert Martin Lewis.
Another item falling out of favour is the breadmaker, with sales down 37%, Lakeland said. In many cases once favoured gadgets are making way for incoming air fryers.
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According to the research, 45% of UK homes own the countertop mini fan-ovens, with early adopters already trading up to larger models capable of cooking everything from roast chicken to a birthday cake. Lakeland said sales of its family-sized version were up 163% in the first six months of this year.
The appeal of air fryers is they are cheaper to use than a main oven, with 6% of respondents saying they have used the gadget to cook an entire roast dinner.
Philippa Simon, the head of buying at Lakeland, said air fryers had achieved the fastest household penetration of any gadget she had seen in nearly 30 years working in retail. While gadgets like juicers and spiralizers had enjoyed waves of popularity, Simon suggested having an air fryer would become the norm. “Air frying is a game changer, it really is,” she said.
