We’ve all heard of futbol, bicycling, art, and Formula One Racing as Italian pastimes... and no one would doubt cooking and eating would fall into this category. But there’s an activity that consumes a huge percentage of the average Italian woman’s time that no one ever talks about.... Ironing.

Italy (and the rest of the world except definitely the US and maybe Canada) do not use dryers for their laundry. They hang it on an outside line, or more likely an indoor rack, to dry the old school way. This is traditional, is environmentally conscious, and is sustainable.

However it leaves the clothes (and towels and sheets) wrinkled and feeling crispy crunchy.

I remember as I child getting up extra early to hang the laundry on the line before school. (This was obviously before I walked the 5 miles uphill through blinding snow, but I digress.) What a pisser for me when it rained during the school day!!! Digression due. I remember from those days that when the towels were dry, they were kinda crunchy, but boy were they absorbent... Much more so imho than those from the dryer.

And so, the average Italian woman has piles of crunchy laundry (her own multiplied by n, where n = (men + children) in her household). Quindi, a good portion of her not-working-not-cooking-not-sleeping time is spent standing over the hot, steaming iron.

Thankfully, these ladies have The Mother of All Irons at their disposal. Ginormous mothers attached by a hose to a reservoir holding easily 2 liters of water. And heavy duty boards to withstand the weight of the iron as well as the resentfully vigorous ministrations of a hero who must spend hours ironing even towels and sheets (wtf!!) while unnamed others watch futbol or Formula One Racing.