Table Top Steam Press, are they better than regular clothes irons?

I found it too fiddly smoothing out the wrinkles on the hot thing before pressing - way too easy to press a BIG crease just where you don't want it, PERMANENTLY! On the other hand, it was great for fusing bits of garments when sewing! Wonderful for things like sheets and pillowcases in the days of pure linen ones (mine are all poly cotton, and don't get ironed at all). I've never owned one, but I have used them in various different places.

Why not just buy permapress clothes? I haven't ironed any clothes in more years than I can remember. I just wash my clothes in warm water with regular detergent. As soon as they finish their run in the dryer, my clothes get folded or hung up. No wrinkles and it couldn't be simpler.

This really is the main problem with presses. You need a vacuum to hold and smooth down the garment and by the time you've done that you may as well have ironed it. Also if you put a crease where it's not wanted you can ruin a garment.

The type of iron you use depends on the results you want to achieve. A flat iron with copious amounts of steam will get the best results on shirts and cotton items. A hoffman (or similar) press will get the best results on trousers, wool and woolen items. However, spend over £100 on an iron with boiler and you will have enough steam to do all items with a great deal of ease and there will be nothing you can't use it on.

Hope this helps

-- DrClean

And if you forget them in the dryer, add a couple of damp towels and let the dryer run for about 5 minutes.

My kind of ironing! :)

Marilee