Ironing's something Kiwis love to avoid

Photo / Thinkstock

Most New Zealanders will avoid ironing if they can, a new survey has revealed, but while we may be considered scruffy, fashionistas will still fork out for high-end, high-maintenance garments.

The survey, by financial research company Canstar division Canstar Blue, shows 70 per cent of people confess to "hardly ironing".

Younger Kiwis are even more likely to avoid it - 81 per cent of those aged 18-29. For those 30-44 the figure was slightly lower, at 75 per cent, with 63 per cent for those 45 and over, showed the survey of 2039 people.

But the lack of laundry-related chores doesn't end there. The survey found 13 per cent of people never fold their washing and make their clothing choices from the clean washing pile.

"Gen Ys (20 per cent) and men (17 per cent) are more likely ... to exhibit this behaviour," said Canstar NZ general manager Derek Bonnar.

A similar British study reported by the Daily Mail found the average mum spent four months of her life ironing a laundry pile 1248m tall - nearly four times the height of Auckland's Sky Tower.

Our own aversion to ironing is for many a sign of our busy, time-poor lives, according to World creative director Francis Hooper.

"New Zealand's caught up with the rest of the Western world and it's called laundry service. Does it mean we're all slobs? No, not at all ... I know of four companies that do an ironing service and it's amazing," he said.

Garment care was important and should be taken into account with the customer in mind when designing clothes, he said.

Auckland-based fashion blogger Katherine Lowe disagreed, saying Kiwis' aversion to ironing showed a lack of pride in their appearance.

"Generally speaking, I think New Zealanders are quite scruffy."

She didn't consider whether an item needed ironing when making a purchase: "If it's really great, I'll buy it." APNZ