I shouldn't be surprised to find that Wikipedia has detailed articles on ironing, even so I was a little amazed :-)
They actually make a good read, the two Wiki articles I found were Ironing and Washing Symbols. The Ironing article actually gives you the temperatures for different materials which is quite useful.
I did wonder about helping maintain the pages or perhaps creating a Middlewich Ironing Wiki page but somehow didn't imagine anyone would read them, and if I really had time :-)
Enjoy anyway...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_symbol
Here are the temperatures that Wikipedia has, really useful (click the link above to see and read the full article) - pasted here but all produced and copyright by Wikipedia:
Recommended ironing temperatures
| Textile | Temperature | Temperature | Dot mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toile | 240 °C | ||
| Triacetate ("Estron", "Silene", "Tricell") | 200 °C | 220-250 °C | |
| Cotton | 204 °C / 400 °F | 180-220 °C | * * * [8] |
| Linen (flax) | 215-240 °C | * * * [8] | |
| Viscose/Rayon | 190 °C | 150-180 °C | * * [8] |
| Wool | 148 °C / 300 °F | 160-170 °C | * * [9] |
| Polyester | 148 °C / 300 °F | * [8] | |
| Silk | 148 °C / 300 °F | 140-165 °C | * [9] |
| SympaTex | * [8] | ||
| Acetate ("Arnel", "Celco", "Dicel") | 143 °C | 180 °C | * [9] |
| Acrylic | 135 °C | 180 °C | |
| Lycra/Spandex | 135 °C | ||
| Nylon-6 | 150 °C | ||
| Nylon-66 | 180-220 °C |
| Dot mark | Temperature |
|---|---|
| * | < 110 °C |
| * * | < 150 °C |
| * * * | < 200 °C |
Lindsay.