Pfaff Ironer
Hate to tempt you but.....
There are several UK vendors that seem to offer "worldwide" shipping on these units. Soooooooooo.....
You can Google "Pfaff Ironer" to find them, but considering the exchange rate between pounds and dollars you are looking at a quite dear sum to be the proud owner of a Pfaffie.
Yes, it was sad to see the Thor go, but what could she do? Mike Arnold is the only person I know who repairs these things, and it would have to have been shipped/taken to his shop. Thor GladIrons do NOT ship well (the base is a strong but brittle type of cast iron), and damage is not uncommon. The most frequent damage is when the cast iron base plate snaps off near the area of the spring. Once that happens one is really out of luck as the metal must be welded back together and not all welders want to do the job.
My advice for those seeking a vintage ironer is to go with Ironrites or later models of GE,Kenmore,Speed Queen etc; anything produced up until the 1960's will at least stand a better chance of finding spare parts. Thor's can only be repaired by finding another unit to raid for parts. Keeping a 60 year old ironer working for weekly use is not an easy task, made more difficult if they are not new to begin with.
Now that Miele makes a 120v ironer, think many will consider going that route since parts and service are easier. Mind you one is still spending quite a bit of money,but OTHO there is not the worry of being out of pocket should the unit stop working.
Proctor ironing boards are a gem! Cannot think why they stopped production and why no one else picked up the design.
I do shirts by first flipping down the edge to to the collar and yoke. With the edge fliped up the surface is ready for sleeves, and body. Nice thing about the Proctor is both ends are square, so one can do even large items like flatwork easily. Am always on the look out for another, but am told these units are rare and held dear by those whom have one.
Pfaff and Ironrite.
Like Ironrite Pfaff makes a great deal of promoting the fact their ironer's heating plate is at the bottom allowing heat naturally rise thus being more efficient.
Launderess