Rowenta Steamers

[sikiguya]

I have a business selling kids clothing on eBay (soon to be in consignment sales with the way eBay is heading). All items come from garage sales or thrift stores. Needless to say, I have to wash everything when it comes in the door.

Lots of items need to be ironed or at least freshened up after the dryer. I am looking into a new steamer. I had a Conair steamer but the movers lost my water jug during the last move. I have tried to order it from Conair but they say it's not available anymore.

Have been looking at the Rowenta Steamers and the Steam Generators/Iron combos. Does anyone have any opinions on them? I prefer to be able to have the item hanging up while steaming it vs. laying it on the ironing board. I also have read that the base to the iron/steam gerenator is heavy and a regular ironing board will not work for it (so you need to buy the Rowenta ironing board).

I am looking forward to your advice, I always appreciate it!

Heather

 

[panthera]

Hmm,

We have a Rowenta hand held steamer, no special board required.
Works fine, however:

I see them virtually every single week at thrift shops, so before you spend money on a new one, try a thrift shop value priced one to see if you like it.

Good luck with your site!
Please email me the link!

 

[petek]

I have a Tobi that I found NIB at a thrift store for around $10. It works ok though it could be a little more powerful with the steam I think, still I use it. Not sure if it would be better than the Conair or not.
I also have one of those handheld ones for steam cleaning around the house,, sinks, stove etc. , it actually puts out more of a blast of steam and would probably be ok for steaming clothes. Another thrift store find.

 

[sikiguya]

Thrift stores

I have never seen one at the thrift stores I go to or I would have one already. LOL

I saw a couple on eBay for $60 or so, which seemed like a great deal. I was just seeing if anyone here had any advice before I decide.

I don't have a site, just on eBay. This spring I will be selling in a real consignment sale called Just Between Friends, which sells all kids items. I did it in the fall and made $2000 in 2 weekends. There are 3 sales coming up starting next month and I am trying to get everything ready.

Thanks Keven!

 

[launderess]

I'd Look For A Jiffy Steamer

Instead of Rowenta.

Better quality and older models (and some new), can often be found on eBay, CL or thrift shops for not allot of money.

Rowenta quality these days seems all over the place, with many complaints of leaks and or other problems.

The steam generator irons made by Rowenta do have a heavy base, and today's lightweight ironing boards may not be able so support. The base is essentially a mini boiler that makes the steam, hence the weight.

If you intend on steaming for long hours at a go, look for a steamer or such that either holds lots of water, or does not require cooling down before it can be refilled.

Have an older model "Jiffy" steamer and it is perfect for steaming items hanging up. OTHO it is hard to steam things lying down as the steam condenses and the water must be able to drip downwards in the hose and into the steam chamber. If the steam head/hose are held low long enough, said water will drip on whatever you are working on.

Jiffy steamers, and suppose the others make sort of a gentle "wet" steam, but will get the job done. Steam generator/boiler irons produce a much hotter and dryer steam, at great force.

 

[sikiguya]

Other stuff I sell

I do sell other stuff on occassion. Bought this canister set for $15 and sold it for $70 to someone in Australia. I was happy with that turnaround.

Sometimes I sell vintage clothing as well but it's really hit or miss with that since I don't know too much about it. I just buy what I like and hope that someone else does too.

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[sikiguya]

Laundress

Thanks for that information. I will start to look into Jiffy. I am new to the whole steamer thing and had no idea where to look first. I loved my old (late 80's) Rowenta iron so I thought (or assumed) that it would be a good place to start.

 

[launderess]

Have An "Older" Rowenta Iron

One with a detachable water tank (DM.82.1)"Professional Excellence" and have come to the conclusion that sooner or later they all leak, period.

Rarely use mine as one has to spend more time ironing dry the wet spots from the leaks, that might as well use my gravity steam iron instead, despite the time it takes to hook up.

 

[ironrite]

Love it!

Have had my Rowenta steam generator going on to three years now and don't know what I'd do without it. I did buy the Rowenta ironing board to go with it, to hold the generator part. For me the iron part doesn't get as hot as a regular iron. I do get lazy and not always return it back to the rest between items. I've never had it scorch the cover yet. Downside to the heat thing is when I iron on a fusible stabilizer, for embroidery and shirt collars, it takes a bit longer to heat it up to make the stabilizer stick.

When you first fire it up you will get some spitting, but this goes away in a few minutes as the unit heats up. You can use it in a vertical position as well as on the board. On a full tank and steam set at a quarter setting I can iron about 12 men's 3XB shirts, so for me it has a long run time. Once it runs out of water, I very, very carefully open the fill knob to release any steam pressure. Let it cool a bit, then can refill.

On one of the previous posts about these steam generators Greg posted a pic of another steam generator iron that he found at a Bernina dealer. Hopefully he'll post that again, as it looked like an interesting iron.

 

[sudsmaster]

I saw a Conair stand type clothes steamer at the Costco Business Center today. Price: $63.99 Model number GS10RHR.