Flat chance

SIR – Like Eleanor Robins (Letters, May 6), I have happily given up ironing since retiring. So imagine my horror when, assembling a flat-pack sofa earlier this week, I found that the first instruction was to iron the covers. Jill Champion

Braintree, Essex

SIR – Until recently, my 88-year-old mother ironed everything including socks, towels and underwear. Then one day she switched on the iron and her new smart meter jumped from two to 44 pence an hour. She has now joined the folding army.

Pat Edgecombe

Slapton, Devon