Photo by Michael Zabrodsky An accessory used as a stand for a sad iron is called a trivet. Both came in different sizes and weights and are on display at the Portland Museum.

PORTLAND — The arduous task of cleaning clothes — the laundry–is finished.

But now some of the shirts and pants need to be pressed or ironed.

Today ironing is easy. Fill the iron with the correct amount of water, plug in the appliance, wait for it to heat up, and then begin to smooth out wrinkles and maybe set some creases.

In the 19th century, sad irons, also known as flat irons were used to smooth clothes. Instead of electricity, the irons were heated by other means.

Robert Pawlak, town of Portland Museum curator, said an accessory used as a stand for the iron is called a trivet. He said both came in different sizes and weights.

“They (sad irons) could be made by a blacksmith, so weight ranges could vary significantly, but the standard weight, once it became standardized, was 15.75 lbs,” Pawlak said.

According to oldaninteresting.com, blacksmiths began forging flat irons in the late Middle Ages. Plain metal irons were heated by a fire or on a stove. Some were made of stone. Earthenware and terracotta were also used, from the Middle East to France and the Netherlands. Flat irons were also called sad irons or smoothing irons.

Metal handles had to be gripped in a pad or thick rag. Some irons had cool wooden handles and in 1870 a detachable handle was patented in the U.S. This stayed cool while the metal bases were heated and the idea was widely imitated. The sad in sad iron (or sadiron) is an old word for solid, and in some contexts this name suggests something bigger and heavier than a flat iron.

“Smaller-sized sad irons would have been used to do little creases, collars or in the arms of the sleeves,” Pawlak said about ironing shirts.

The museum is located at 6224 Main St. and is open on Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission. Tours are by appointment. For more information