The Dark History of Sad Irons: A Look at Women’s Work
Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Death: How Sad Irons Got So Sad
My antiques tell a grim story of women’s past.
I’m a collector of “old shit,” so when my dad found an antique sad iron while cleaning out the basement of a foreclosure he was remodeling, he brought it to me. I’ll be honest: I was nonplussed by this first one. What even was it?
And so, a true nerd at heart, I commenced my research. The funny name drove my curiosity. Except it was not a funny story. At. All.
All I can say is, if ironing was this dangerous, women must have been even more disposable than I realized. Was a pair of wrinkle-free pantaloons more important than a burned / disfigured / dead wife to the men of yesteryear?
Let’s find out, shall we?
What is a Sad Iron?
A sad iron is an antique household iron made of cast iron, used from the 17th century into the early 1900s. These heavy tools, often weighing between five and nine pounds, were the common way to remove wrinkles from fabric — at great personal risk to the women using them.
While I note the irony, they’re actually called “sad” irons because “sad” meant “solid” in Middle English, and early models were of solid iron construction. I assume the Great Vowel Shift is to blame here, but that’s a topic for another time.
Sometimes these irons were also called flat irons. Because it’s nice to have pet names for the thing that might one day kill you.
The history of sad irons goes way back. They were originally invented in ancient China and gained popularity in Europe and America from the 17th century through the 19th. In some parts of the U.S., they even persisted well into the early 20th century. More on this later.
Side note: If you want a deep-dive on the Great Vowel Shift and MUCH more language nerdiness, check out the History of English podcast. Just be sure you have a few spare years available.
So this is where shit gets grim. Hot, heavy and often ridiculously dangerous, sad irons tell a chilling story of just how undervalued women’s safety was during everyday domestic tasks. And it wasn’t just women. Young girls were often users as well.
The Dangers of Sad Irons in Everyday Life
A typical sad iron weighed up to nine pounds, and was heated by placing the iron directly into a crackling fire.
And here’s the kicker: the handle was made of cast iron, too. Yes, you read that right — the part you hold is also burning hot. This meant women had to use rags or makeshift mitts to avoid third-degree burns while ironing their family’s clothes. But even with these precautions, which occasionally caught fire themselves, painful burns and blisters were more or less inevitable.
Due to their weight, the irons were difficult to maneuver on clothing, particularly around delicate areas like buttons or collars. They also had to be kept meticulously clean and regularly greased to avoid leaving marks on clothing.
Wealthier households would own multiple irons to help make the process faster, but poorer families often had only one, meaning the women faced long hours tangling with a single, alternately cooling-then-scalding tool.
Fun sidebar: The irons would cool very quickly, so women who could afford to rotated multiple irons to keep the work going without pause. This is where the expression “too many irons in the fire” comes from. It’s literally about juggling multiple irons to be efficient (or burn your hand off).
Antique Ironing Innovations: From Mary Potts to Asbestos
The danger of hot irons didn’t go unnoticed forever. In 1866, John Alexander invented the first iron with a removable handle. Yay – no more singed palms! Unfortunately, his design didn’t catch on, likely because he never actually used the iron himself. The central placement of the handle combined with the basic rules of physics made moving his iron across fabric nearly impossible.
Enter Mary Potts, who in 1870 improved on Alexander’s design by creating a sad iron with a curved wooden handle that was attached at each end, solving the center-pressure problem. She also filled her iron with plaster to help distribute heat more evenly while also reducing the iron’s weight. Go, Mary!
Sad Iron with a Detachable Wooden Handle
This is my Mary Potts-style sad iron, with the wooden handle attached. It pops on and off via the metal lever at the center.
And here it is with the handle removed
But Potts' design wasn’t the last stop on this crazy journey. At some point, someone thought to add asbestos to the irons to keep the handles cool. Because nothing says “safe” like adding a carcinogenic to a burning hot object.
Next up came charcoal irons; a.k.a., box irons. With this design, rather than putting an entire iron into a fire, these irons were hollow and filled with hot coal. This was yet another attempt at keeping the iron’s handle from becoming weaponized. However, charcoal doesn’t hold heat for long and requires “stoking”, so it also (I imagine) led to women and young girls flinging burning-hot metal boxes around to try to keep them hot. Fab.
Some of these charcoal iron models released smoke via a funnel; these were aptly called chimney irons. Love me a little smoke in the eyeballs while ironing.
Still not daredevil-y enough for you? Let’s check out gasoline irons. Yes, I said gasoline. These irons blew right past pesky ovens and coal and went straight to gas ignition. This required the use of a small gas tank placed directly on the iron handle itself.
In a shocking twist, these tanks sometimes leaked highly flammable gasoline onto the user. This led the marketplace to trial some kerosene options instead. Thankfully, everyone knows kerosene isn’t flammable at all, so…moving on.
From Sad Irons to Electric Irons: A Slightly Safer Journey?
The first electric iron was introduced in 1882. Early models had no way to control temperature, so they were just as dangerous as their predecessors. And since homes at the time only had electricity for lighting, women had to unplug their light bulbs to use their iron, plunging them into darkness while they worked.
This meant that to be safe, electric ironing was best performed in the daytime when there was natural light available. But until 1910, most utility companies didn’t deliver power to homes during the day due to lower demand. Le sigh.
1926 saw the introduction of the electric steam iron, which we still use today. The safety of ironing got much better from here, but there were still large parts of rural America that didn’t have electricity for many years. While government programs got the majority of Europe and Canada electrified by the 1920s, Americans resisted what they saw as “communism.” And so, rural areas didn't get power and the safety it brought to women tending clothes until after WWII.
Conclusion: What Sad Irons Reveal About Women’s Lives
Sad irons are more than just antique household items for people like me to collect. They are a testament to the dangerous, thankless work that women were expected to perform for centuries.
As I sit here, looking at my collection of antique sad irons, I’m struck by how much these objects can tell us about the past. While they’ve long since been replaced by safer, more modern tools, they stand as a reminder of the burdens women have carried, both literally and figuratively.
And it makes me think I might just stop complaining about my own household chores.
(I won’t.)
Want to learn more about sad irons? The Antiques Freaks podcast has a good episode.
An earlier version of this article can be found here: https://medium.com/history-detective/hunka-hunka-burnin-death-how-sad-irons-got-so-sad-f7cd3e8a16e2
