Presto Iron...Kid tested, Mother approved

[austinado16]

So you guys warned me that I'd love the circa 1968 Presto steam iron that I found at an estate sale for $2 about a week ago.

I gave it a good clean, and polished the ironing plate with Simichrome, but hadn't used it yet, other than firing it up with some water in the tank.

Well, my mom's in town for a visit and wanted to do some ironing today. Out came the Rij-gid iron and the Presto. (She has a modern Rowenta and hates it.) She loves the Presto and says it's the best iron she's ever used! LOL....now she wants one.

One thing that kind of amazed me about the Presto is that it staye hot forever after we turned it off and unplugged it. A sure sign of a quality build IMO.

I polished up the circa 1975 GE and she's taking that home in her suitcase. Guess I'll keep an eye out for a Presto!

Anyone have a Presto they want to sell?

Here's a photo of the Presto with the 2 GE's in case you missed my other thread.

 

[dynaflow]

will keep my thrifting eyes open

will be in touch

 

[mixfinder]

Pristine

Your appliances look great and you have taken care to really detail them. I remember when this iron was introduced along with a really cool can opener the Presto Rock and Mix. I like a sturdy ironing board, tons of padding and a heavy iron.

 

[austinado16]

Funny thing is, that's pretty much the way I found the irons. They were just covered in dust. All 3 work perfectly. The Presto is definately a heavy "substantial" iron. with the ironing plate (hot plate? hot shoe?...what's it really called?) polished, it glides super easy.

Thanks for keeping an eye out for me Dynaflow!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations on your irons! I think I remember that Consumer Reports liked irons that cooled quickly for times when they were used at a higher temp and then needed to be used for something that was heat-sensitive (not a good practice, but sometimes necessary). It saved time and possible fabric damage if the iron was able to cool faster to the lower temp.

I remember that Playboy did a spoof on it decades ago in rating various types of potential sex partners who posed at ironing boards while holding an iron and wearing next to nothing. The one like your Presto iron ranked highest for the same qualities: Heats Up Quickly and Stays Hot Longer.

If I have to cool the soleplate quickly, I run the iron over a wet washcloth a few times then use the damp washcloth as a pressing cloth to serve as a safety buffer between the iron and the heat-sensitive fabric.

 

[austinado16]

Great idea....

....for cooling the soleplate!

That's funny that PB combined sex/irons/humor like that. Would be funny to see that.

 

[paulg]

1960s memories

When I grew up in the 1960s I remember the Jewel Food Stores had a toy aisle. They carried the toy Presto Iron. I am almost certain it was in black. They also carried toy irons that you could plug in. Those were turquoise with a pink handle.
I wanted one the PRESTO one so bad. The cool colored pushbuttons really appealed to me as a child. As an adult I have seen a couple in really awful shape along the way. Perhaps I should have purchased as parts units or made a Frankenstein version that I could call my own.
In the meantime, I will go clean my GE and Hoover irons today with Faultless iron cleaner. They're serving me jus' fine until I find a PRESTO to go along with them.

 

[washernoob]

GE

That GE on the left is EXACTLY like one I just saw in a thrift store today! Original cord too!

Wow its gorgeous! I think they were asking $8 or so for it. Had I not been scouting for vacuums I would have picked it up because it looked so retro and well built.

 

[austinado16]

Vacuum jeolousy!

Man, I'm loving that shine on your vacuum! What model is that?

Makes me want to spend a few hours polishing my Royal. (Why does that sound weird?.....okay, polishing my Royal Upright. Mmm....no, that's even worse.)

 

[washernoob]

vacuum

Hehe. Thats my restored Kirby D80 from 1968. Unfortunately, I cant access the archives for the super forum, but I did have a thread a while back on it.


What model of royal do you have?

 

[austinado16]

Well, that's some serious polishing there!

Super nice work on the polishing.....

I purchased my Royal new, in about 1988/89. It's a model 886 with the 6amp motor and blue bag. Couldn't afford the 10amp version. It's been my daily driver, now "our" daily driver, ever since. The only problem I've ever had with it was when my wife sucked up a dime and that broke a fin off the impeller. Not the first time it'd eaten coins, but the dime must have caught it just right. I popped an updated impeller on, and it was back to work.