This is a simple question that is surprisingly hard to google. What are some common household items (though I’m thinking more of items found in a boarding school and on the grounds of it than a literal household) typically made of iron? I’ve come up with cast iron cookware and wrought iron railings. Oh, and old-fashioned bedframes and horseshoes. What else?
I’m getting a bit of a historical vibe to this question, say turn of the century-ish? If so there are vast numbers of things, iron was the wonder metal of the 19th century and almost everything that could be made of it, was. As a start:
Nails.
Saws, Hammers, Drills, in fact pretty much all hand tools
Pressed “tin” Ceilings.
Hinges.
Doorhandles.
Window latches.
Window frames.
Gas lamps (I’m thinking of the wall-mounted ones here)
Electrical conduit.
Water pipes.
Gas pipes.
Chair and Sofa frames.
Andirons.
Fireplace grills.
Stoves.
Sorry, I should have addressed this in the first post. Modern day. I’m trying to determine a list of items one would have to find replacements for if you couldn’t use anything made of iron.
:slightly off topic:
I think one of the reasons for the move to steel vs cast iron has to do with the manufacturing processes involved. Steel being easier to work with, than cast iron.
? Steel is iron (w/ a small fraction of carbon), and may include various other metals for alloys.
How would your idea work if you didn’t have iron? - no iron, then no steel (and steel is used quite a lot in the home)
I remember my parents had an actual iron made of iron. You know, for ironing clothes. It was a small relic from c. 1860. Shaped the same as today’s electric irons, apparently you had to place this one in some sort of heat source to make it hot enough to run over your clothes.
I’m guessing that the OP is thinking of fey, who according to legend can’t abide iron. So iron the element would still exist in the world, and iron alloys and non-iron things made using iron tools would still be allowed.
A lot of modern merchandise labeled cast iron or wrought iron is actually made of steel. The terms are used as descriptive of the style rather than carbon content of the metal.
The crankshaft of a car’s engine may be forged iron for roughly the same reason that the cookware is made of cast iron. Iron is porous, and oil will soak in to help maintain a layer of lubrication (Of course, the oil in a skillet isn’t replenished, so it’s baked on instead.)