Many newer fabrics don’t require ironing, or not as much of it at least. Newer washing machines and driers, as well as newer fabric softeners and detergents, seem to play a role in the non-wrinkliness of clothing, too.

I rarely own anything that would require regular ironing these days. I tend to avoid buying clothing that looks like it would be a pain in the ass to keep wrinkle-free. I guess in our parents’ era there ware no such choices available.

Plastic in clothing might have circumvented the need for ironing, but of course it has brought its own issues. Plastic might be an apocalyptic death substance, or it might actually be fine to have 5% of our bodyweight to be nylon. Not sure which yet.