The Art of Ironing

[ironrite]

This may turn into a commercial for Rowental. After my third steam iron bit the dust here, and not having room for the Pfaff ironer, thought I'd check out the steam generator types of irons. Some professional models out there, but I don't do that much ironing. And I did try one of those steam press contraptions. Laundress was right, only presses and doesn't really give a nice finish. (note Laundress I did send you an email awhile back)

So, went out today to Macy's, decent sale and bought the Rowenta Pressure Iron and Steam and the matching ironing board. Rowenta is offering a free dvd if you go to their website, which I've listed below.

Set it all up, waited about 7 minutes and was shocked that the darn thing actually worked like it shows, clouds of steam, gets wrinkles out without a lot of pressure on the iron part. The actual iron is pretty lightweight as it's not filled with water. Overall I'm very pleased. Plus on full steam, you can get a nice facial while you're ironing!

http://www.artofironing.com/

 

[frigilux]

Just watched the video; the system looks slick! Can I ask what you paid for it?

 

[launderess]

Emails

Don't know why but emails from this group always end up in either the "Trash" or "Bulk Mail" bin of my Yahoo account, thus sometimes one does not get to see them. Sorry.

Where were you going to get that Pfaff ironer from? *LOL* Having it shipped from the UK/Europe! *LOLx2*

Rowenta steam boiler irons are supposedly good, but I'd keep an eye on it as there have been complaints about quality. Rowenta in general does not seem to be the irons they were known for years ago. This could have changed, but there are many complaints in various craft forums about unsatisfied Rowenta iron users.

Any who, yes steam boiler irons do give out lots of steam, in some cases are lighter since the steam is made in a separate unit. Recently acquired a commercial steam boiler iron (Hi-Steam), designed for small laundries/dry cleaning stores, tailor shops and what not, and it works a treat. This baby pulls over 1500w of power (on a 20 amp circut mind you), and once it gets going can flatten anything you throw at it. My only problems are you only have about 1-2 hours of ironing per fill, then the unit must be shut down and allowed to cool before more being refilled. Also being a steam boiler, and even though it is well enough insulated, still makes the area around it quite warm.

Had this unit for awhile, but only began using it recently after my gravity iron stopped working. Kind of miss the gravity iron as it heated up faster and was ready to go in minutes. Steam boilers by their nature take time to come up to steam (it takes awhile to bring several gallons of water to boiling), so may just nab another gravity iron if one comes along at the right price.

Steam/Dry Presses

Pressing is not the same as ironing, but with the right system can give good results. Many laundries do shirts and large flatwork such as sheets on steam presses, but those models also have vacuum functions which help greatly in the final result.

 

[ironrite]

Pfaff-Fooey!

I must be getting senile, I've looked at those things on their US website and there is even a link if you search for ironers. The link appears dead now. And as I call, it was around $2500 for the thing, but rather liked it as it was very Ironrite in the way it worked.

Launderess, the email I send was just my experience with a steam press, and not a very good one. I borrowed it from a coworker. I tried a couple of shirts and some yardage and it didn't do well on any of it. Hard to control and hot to work with.

The Rowenta can be found for about $150.00 on sale. The matching ironing board ran another $99, but figured what the heck, it's a much larger board than what I had.

I went through about 10 shirts before it ran out of steam, and I didn't have the boiler all the way full. Plus there was some time just fiddling with the steam to see what it would do. It appears that the iron itself doesn't heat up the way a regular iron does. Most of the work is done by the steam. Running on max steam, the iron just glides over the clothes.

I had a regular Rowenta steam iron before, one of the ones that died and wasn't that thrilled with it. So yes, I will keep my eye on this one. But so far it works really very well and the ironing was a lot faster as well.

 

[frigilux]

I had a spendy Rowenta steam iron and really liked it except for its propensity to spit and leave off-color marks on my dress shirts. I finally threw it out and got CR's top-rated Black & Decker Digital Advantage iron. It doesn't glide quite as smoothly as my Rowenta, but it produces more steam and hasn't left a single unsightly mark on my shirts. And it cost a fraction of my Rowenta.

This steam-powered iron looks very interesting, though. Keep us posted as to how you like it.

 

[westyslantfront]

A lot of the ironing I do is linen....Communion linens which I take straight from spin dry and then to the ironing board with a hot, dry iron. I do use steam when I am ironing vestments or what the clergy and acolytes wear. Currently, I have 2 Panasonics which are doing ok.

Ross

 

[launderess]

Steam generator irons differ from regular steam irons, including gravity feed irons in that they do not need to get very hot.

Steam irons mainly function the same way they have since being invented: water is dropped onto a heated plate/into a heated chamber to produce steam. This means that the iron must get hot or there will be no or little steam. If one examines many vintage steam irons from even as late as the 1960's, many only made steam when set to their highest heat settings. Usually this was "Wool" to "Linens". Even today many steam irons will dribble and spit, (sings of too low temperature), when used as a steam iron for low heat fabrics. The clever solution to this problem was the Teflon ironing shoe, which once fitted over the soleplate, acted as a pressing cloth. Now one could iron most everthing on "high", and get steam without risking damaging textiles.

Steam boiler irons are different in that the steam is made in another chamber (the boiler), thus the iron itself does not need to reach very high temperatures. Indeed find can iron many fabrics using regular "cotton" on my steam boiler set up that previously required an ironing shoe. However many steam boiler irons still may not produce steam, or enough of it when set to anything below "Wool". For that problem it is back to Teflon ironing shoe.

There is a third type of steam iron, but it rarely is found outside of commercial laundries. Called an "all steam iron" it is as the name suggests, the iron does not heat on it's own but requires steam (from a boiler)to both produce steam and heat the soleplate. These irons are popular for doing fine ironing such as on silks and such because they do not get very hot.

Commercial and even some quasi commercial steam boiler ironing units can produce 50 psi or more steam pressure. While steam boilers (either small stand alone units or central systems), can go from 80psi to 100psi or more. That is quite allot of steam pressure and those boilers are to be treated with respect. Steam from such boilers is also used to clean jewellery, dental instruments, and pretty much blast away many types of muck and germs.

One wants "dry steam" otherwise whatever one is ironing will become damp and will need to be dried before moved, otherwise it will wrinkle all over again. Even "dry steam" will eventually saturate ironing boards/tables, so commercial laundries use vacuum and or heated surfaces to keep the padding dry and more importantly to dry the material being ironed so it can be moved without wrinkling. It is this system that has worked it's way down in the form of "LauraStar", "Rowenta" and various other steam ironing/vaccum ironing board systems.

Vacuum tables also function as a "third hand", as if the suction is strong enough, it will keep whatever is being ironed in place on the table.

Ironing is all about resetting textile memory. Much as when ladies set wet hair or blow it dry using various brushes. Wet fibers are more easily rearranged than dry, which is why steam is used to remove wrinkles/smooth fibers. As we all know our gramdmothers used to dry iron wet textiles which though giving a fine finish, took ages.

Have a commercial but portable commercial heated/vaccum ironing table, but it is a PITA to drag out and set up. Find can iron damp laundry dry faster using my Proctor ironing board or large ironing table and get the same or better results. The only area where steam ironing shines is with man made fibers,as the steam protects such textiles from damage, and of course wool.

L.

 

[launderess]

Pfaff

Ironers:

Would be very surprised if they sold those units outside of Europe/UK,due to power requirments. Everytime one contacts Pfaff USA technical support about my ironer, they have to email over to Germany.

At 3kw of power,when one includes the boiler, just cannot see many being sold for American domestic use. Would take a dedicated 220v 15 amp (or maybe higher) circut. Through one of my sewing groups, found someone else who owns a Pfaff ironer, but she brough hers over from Germany. Ran it off a converter until they had the wiring in the house redone to accomodate the power hungry best. She smoked more than a few converters (can releate to that), but guess that is better than smoking down the house!

One thing I don't like about the Pfaff/Ironrite set up is that when doing large long items of flatwork, they will tend to bunch under the supporting arms. At least with the Miele, one could allow the material to fall behind the unit and rest on a cloth covered table or something.

L.

 

[buffster]

Rowenta Fan (atic)

Michael,

Welcome to the Rowenta family. I've been a fan for years. IMHO, they're simply the best. Currently, I have a Rowenta Professional iron that I purchased at Costco a few years ago and a Rowenta Perfect 1600W iron that I just purchased at Tuesday Morning's for $99.

Mike

Rowenta USA: Irons, Steamers, Vacuum Cleaners, Fans & Air Purifiers

Enjoy technology with our innovative solutions for home comfort & linen care. Visit Rowenta official website.

www.rowentausa.com

 

[tlee618]

Hi Mike, boy that looks like a great iron, keep us posted as you use it more and what you think. I have had the Rowenta Professional now for about 6 years and have always thought it was a great iron. Ross this new one looks like it would be perfect for you!!

 

[westyslantfront]

Sometimes, I need an iron that irons dry, specifically for
Communion linens as linen has to be ironed when it is wet with a hot, dry iron.

Ross

 

[ironrite]

The ironing board is one of those metal mesh jobs which will let the steam easily pass through. As I write this, our outside temperature is 94 degrees, 6% humidity and a dew point of 16 degrees. Next month, when the monsoons come in, our humidity will go up into 20-30% range or so. That's humid for us. Plus with the AC running, it's pretty dry here. Where the weather report is taking us is, even setting the iron on full steam, in one spot, though the fabric was a bit damp, it's also hot, so it's drying fairly quickly. So far I've been using a blend of our very hard tap water and distilled water, as recommended and no spiting or dripping, my fingers are crossed.

Ross, I think you might be able to iron that linen fabric when it is dry. This thing really puts out a lot of steam. I may now actually get some linen to make a couple of summer shirts.

Laundress, you must have been watching me with my former iron! That was its exact problem, you couldn't set the temperature low enough and get steam and I was cooking some of my embroidery designs when I would press them. And wasn't that old, one of those Sunbeam Heritage models I bought at Target about a year ago. I'm getting back more into my sewing and I'm looking forward to see how well this will do with fusing interfacings and things. Oh, P.S. that's what I had written you about, I found a Huskylock 800 serger on Craigslist to go with the Viking #1+. Though I think the serger is from the late 70s! Just gotta love old sewing equipment as well.

Mike, I don't recall the model of Rowenta I had before. As I mentioned, it wasn't a great experience with it, so I was a bit hesitant to get this one. That iron never seemed to get hot enough My other choice would have been one of those Europro steam generators. I haven't seen their other products, like vacuums and sewing machines do that well, so that one was off my list.

Terry when you get to Vegas again, you can come on over and I can give you a demonstration of it.

 

[launderess]

Ironrite

Got a Bernia 335DS five thread serger several months ago. Got the darn thing threaded and finally working, but simply have no time. Hopefully as summer wears on, will get some projects done. Nabbed a "darning" cam for my vintage Elna Supermatic, so that needs to get used as well.

Ironing Linen:

Linen LOVES water! It is much better to iron damp to wet linen dry as opposed to steam iron dry linen. That being said most commercial irons produce enough steam to get the job done. I find using either a good gravity iron or steam boiler iron set up on damp linen gives excellent results. Linen flatwork comes out a treat on the mangle, as the pressure from the roller flattens and smooths the linen fibers.

Steam "Presses"

Ironrite, if you really want to work with a steam press, try and find a vintage Hurley dry press. Have one and am here to tell you they are streets ahead of the Singers.

Clam shell pressing works best on items that are just slighly damp. Too much moisture and items will need repeated pressing to dry them. Commercial units solve this problem by having a vaccum under the buck to suck out the steam.

Ironing/Pressing Embroidery:

Best way to do this is with a pressing cloth or one of those Teflon ironing shoes. You can get the steam you need, plus protect your embroidery.

You also want to be careful when ironing embroidery as sometimes the backing and or threads are not happy with high heat and or steam. Have seen things stick to irons and threads bleed, not very pretty.

 

[ironrite]

Launderess, that sounds like that serger does a cover stitch if it's a 5 thread model. Tried to find a pic of it, but not successful. When I bought mine, I had never heard of an 800 model. It is a 3-4 thread model, but I do have my eye open to find a cover stitch serger, maybe a Viking 936. These were made by Brother for Viking. Which explains why the original box has some stickers from Air Nippon on it. One of the members from my #1+ group was kind enough to send me scans of the instruction manual and I've got a couple of the accessory feet on order. It really does a beautiful stitch. When you get yours going, try some wooly nylon in the loopers it really makes a difference. And check out the website for Shoppersrule, very good sales on a lot of sewing things.

Ok back to the ironing. We are going to be going through some major remodeling soon. After that is done, I may look for one of those fold up Ironrite models. I just couldn't warm up to that steam press. It was a Simplicity model. I can get a better finish to the fabric with an iron and more control. When I had my Ironrite it was so easy to do a shirt, pants or linens on it, so I just got spoiled by it.

My #1+ seems to like the poly threads better. Of course what I did on my first major thread order, was to order rayon by mistake. Ah well, the machine will have to get over it.

 

[scott55405]

Another happy Rowenta owner here, and it's fun to read about the various pressing and sewing equipment and techniques. I never did get really into the sewing thing, but I was always fascinated by the machines that do so much, such as the Viking, and the sergers. My mom had one of those and it really did give such nice professional results.

My Rowenta is somewhat of a collector item, since I purchased it in 1989, before the wall came down, and it still says "Made in West Germany." It is the top of the line model which would be equal I believe to the Professional of today.

 

[launderess]

Yes, the Bernina 335DS is a five thread/coverstitch model. They are quite elusive to find as Bernina didn't sell many and can easily see why; the darn thing is a PITA to thread for 5 thread/coverstitch. Took me several days of nearly pulling my hair out and or tossing the machine across the room before finally got it to work.

Thanks for the tip about Wooly Nylon, but after the heck one went through threading those &&&&&& lower loopers, what thread is there is staying for the duration. *LOL*

Nabbed the original workbook off eBay and that has made things a bit clearer. IIRC Bernina discontinued the machine as there were some design problems, and apparently they didn't want to bother fixing. Back then 5 thread/coverstitch models really weren't where home sewing was going. Sewers wanted sergers mainly for doing stretch, fleece and that sort of thing. Even today five thread sergers are NOT for everyone, just so much effort to thread (even the best of them), and learn how to use. However for those of us who work mainly on woven textiles as opposed to knits, a true five thread coverstitch is invaluable. One can run up all sorts of items like canvas laundry/peg bags and such on a five thread serger, without needing a sewing machine.

Am sure you know this, but all sergers are now made in Asia by the same few makers. Pfaff, Bernina, Juki, Huskylock, et all are all either from Japan, Korea,Taiwan, or lately China. IIRC the Japan made models such as Bernette for Bernina, Juki (the later mades the Bernette sergers, and sells similar or same models under their own name), and IIRC Huskylock, are better than the others.

Presses vs Ironing/Mangles.

Depends on what one is doing, but in general find better results with linens and such when they are done either on a mangle or ironed on my ironing table. Still if one does not mind creases and or doing small items like pillow slips/napins, a press can work a treat. Where presses really shine is for "pressing" wool and other such things that one does not "iron".

By all means keep your eyes peeled for an Ironrite 890/portable unit. Have been using mine more and more lately, and in fact just changed the gear oil. Got tired of hunting around and just cleaned out the gear box, and bunged a few ounces of White sewing machine oil. Had to do something as one could hear those poor gears grinding from lack of an oil change. When the weather cools down in a few months, and thus can keep the windows open, will totally clean out the gear box and fill with several ounces of thick 85W gear oil. That should be thick enough not to leak out when the unit is tipped on it's side for storage. My efforts with the White oil lead to "leaks", but soon took care of that by cutting a gasket out of a sheet of cork had in my stash. Once placed under the gear box lid, and same screwed down tight, no more leaks.

Only thing I do not like about Ironrite ironers versus my Pfaff, is that the former goes really fast. This means sometimes more than one pass is needed to completely finish an item. Usually will just stop the roller for a bit to concentrate a bit of extra heat.

L.

 

[ironrite]

Launderess, short of getting one of the Babylocks with their airjet threading have you tried using a dental floss threader? I was surprised that for the age of my machine the lower looper threading is semi-automatic. However still trying to get the thread through the looper eye, even with tweezers was a pain. The floss threader are just long, thin plastic things with an eye on the end. Put the thread through the eye and it's very easy to thread. Especially the wooly nylon as it stretchs quite a bit.

I had used just a good household oil in my old Ironrite and did have to cut a new gasket for that machine as well. For the serger, I used Triflow oil and their white grease and the machine is very happy with it. Look around at an auto parts store for some non-flameable brake cleaner. It will get out old grease and gunk, but you're right, do this in a well ventilated area.

 

[gansky1]

I have a couple Rowenta Professional irons, one with auto-shutoff and one without. They are great irons, IMO and have had no trouble with them. When I bought the constant on model about 10 years ago, I also bought one for my mother who is an avid quilter. She had lots of trouble with leaking and after several exchanges, got one that worked OK but it didn't last long for her - quit steaming after about 18 mos. She is now using a couple of vintage GE irons I've found at sales with distilled water and they are holding up well.

I would love to try the new steam generator, a client of mine has one sold by Bernina with the vacuum table and it is a very nice unit. She does all of her husband's shirts and uses it weekly. Pricey, but worth it for the use it gets.

I've been wanting a serger ever since I saw two (Bernina and Viking) at an estate sale last fall. Mom has a newer Bernina that is a snap to thread, I think a four-thread model. I don't know that I've seen the five-thread models, I'll bet that would be a huge pain to learn. I should have bought the Bernina last fall as it was a good deal, but hesitated and it was gone. I have two Bernina sewing machines that I've kept, a 1090 computerized and an 801 Bernina Matic portable. I've found and sold quite few at sales through the years but kept only two. I love those fine, precision stitches!

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[ironrite]

Well, my thread so it's turning from ironing into sewing! Greg, if you're not familiar with a serger, I would recommend buying one from a dealer that can show you how to use it. When I worked at Viking we gave free lessons as well as helping those with Viking sergers. Where I work part time now, at the Babylock dealer, we too give lessons on the machines, even used ones if we know how to work and thread them. Many times people will upgrade their older sergers and you can find a pretty recent model at a good price.

Most sergers use 4 thread, but it's the type of stitch you are doing that you will only use 2, 3 or 4 threads. The 5 thread and beyond, Babylock has an 8 thread model, are for doing coverstitches and speciality stitching. Look at a tee shirt or knit pull over. That double stitch at the bottom along the hem is a cover stitch. That can be duplicated on a sewing machine with a twin needle. But the serged seam is a bit stronger and has more stretch.

Like Launderess mentioned, you can easily run up pull over shirts, shorts and things. I recently made a new swimsuit and pair of shorts for the house here, and it took less than an hour from cutting to final product.