page_title: Clothes iron
section_title: See also
hierarchical_section_title: Clothes iron / See also
caption_attribution_description: English: Josephine Baker ironing. Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 1956
context_page_description: A clothes iron is a small appliance that, when heated, is used to press clothes to remove creases and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Domestic irons generally range in operating temperature from between 250 °F to 360 °F. It is named for the metal of which the device was historically made, and the use of it is generally called ironing. Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in polymer fiber materials. With the heat and the weight of the ironing plate, the fibers are stretched and the fabric maintains its new shape when cool. Some materials, such as cotton, require the use of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds.
  Before the introduction of electricity, irons were heated by combustion, either in a fire or with some internal arrangement. An "electric flatiron" was invented by American Henry W. Seeley and patented on June 6, 1882. It weighed almost 15 pounds and took a long time to heat. The UK Electricity Association is reported to have said that an electric iron with a carbon arc appeared in France in 1880, but this is considered doubtful.
context_section_description: Flatiron Building, of cross-section like a flatiron
  Flatiron gunboat, flatiron-shaped in plan view
  Hair iron
  Home robot
  Mangle (machine)
  Soldering iron
  Mary Florence Potts, inventor of the detachable cold wooden handle for irons
caption: Josephine Baker ironing (1956)
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