How to Iron 7 Shirts in Less Than 15 Minutes

I hate ironing. 

I find ironing very difficult, largely because ironing boards are designed not to fit anything in particular.  So, I decided to make an ironing board to fit the shirts that I wear.  I began by making a cardboard template of a man's extra-large shirt.  I tweaked this template until it would fit inside a buttoned-up shirt. 

Next, I cut a piece of particle board to match the template, then covered it with some cotton batting and a cloth cover (I actually found "ironing board cover" material in a fabric store).  After I upholstered the particle board with the batting and cover, I screwed it to a standard ironing board using 4 screws (screwed in from underneath).

Now I find I can iron a shirt (and do a good job) in less than 2 minutes, which means I can iron a week's worth of shirts in under 15 minutes, including the time it takes for the iron to warm up.

I begin with laying the sleeves out flat (not shown in the photos) and ironing them the normal way.  Next I place the back of the shirt on the re-designed board (2nd photo) and iron it.  Then I iron one side of the shirt's front, then the other side (photos 3 and 4).

For pullover shirts that need ironing, I simply slip the entire shirt over the board, iron it, then turn it over and iron it.  A pullover shirt can be ironed in a matter of seconds!

This design works well on men's shirts, however it probably wouldn't work very well on a woman's blouse, due to the complexities of women's fashions, body shape, etc.

I still hate ironing, however now I only have to hate it for about 15 minutes each week!