The earliest Chinese irons date back over 2,000 years. Here’s how they evolved

I am not nearly as obsessive about ironing as I am about doing the laundry itself. Even so, I prefer to finish the day’s ironing rather than allow unironed clothes to accumulate over several days or, as some people I know seem perfectly content to do, an entire week. A towering pile of wrinkled shirts and trousers gives me mild anxiety.

Ironing is also one of the very few activities during which I can completely switch my brain off – something I regard as a rare luxury. I put on some music and, through a series of practised manoeuvres, watch the creases magically melt away beneath the iron. Occasional observers have noted that I even subconsciously dance a little jig at the ironing board, keeping time with the music as I work.

There are limits, however, to my domestic diligence. When the ironing becomes too overwhelming – for instance, after returning from an overseas trip with a week’s worth of laundry – I happily leave the task to the weekly cleaning lady to set things right.

These early irons used heated charcoal placed inside a bronze or iron container with a flat base. The heated base was then passed over cloth to remove wrinkles and shape garments. The classic Chinese iron resembled a shallow pan or ladle with a long handle and was known in ancient texts as the huodou (“fire ladle”) or jindou (“metal ladle”).

That resemblance to a kitchen utensil survives in the modern Chinese word for iron, yundou: dou is a ladle-like implement, while yun describes the act of smoothing cloth with heat.