On the use of ironing, I’m going to posit that since the very first irons were literally made from cast iron and heated in the open hearth, that the name stuck to describe the activity as well as the object used.
I vividly remember seeing this in action and it left a lasting impression. Several years ago PBS did a series of reality-show type programs putting various groups of people into different historical time periods and had them live life as it was lived then.
In the one called “Victorian House” the woman had to do all the laundry without any of the modern additions which we take for granted.
Ironing was extremely labor intensive and time consuming as she had to constantly rotate between several irons so that one was heating up while another was being used. And boy were they heavy. They were cast iron. Imagine trying to smooth out clothing. (mostly cotton) with those things? No paying huge sums for a gym membership, just doing the regular ironing gives them a great workout. And permanent press fabrics had yet to be invented; yikes :)
Theres a lot that we tend to take for granted in this day and age of modern conveniences.