steam press?

Have had several and currently own three (Elnapress, vintage Hurley Press, Spartan Press), each have their own uses and all are "dry" presses.

You didn't say what model you were considering, so any advice we here can give must be generic by nature.

Depending upon the model, clam presses can exert greater pressure then one ever could with a hand iron, thus are great for pressing woollens, and for use in sewing projects. Personally wouldn't bother with using the built in steam function, and use a lightly dampened press cloth. Using the steam function has the same problems using any steam iron would. You have to fill the unit, wait for it to reach the right temperature for steam, when done wait for it to cool so you can empty the water out, etc... Not to mention sooner or later like all steam irons, the unit will need to be descaled/cleaned out.

Singer used to make a decent steam press, but from what one hears, the new stuff isn't worth bothering with, which explains why so many seek out and pay vast sums for the vintage models. Either way such units last much longer if they are not used with water as above.

What you should do is take along some sample items to the store where the floor model is and ask if you can run some tests. Bring a water bottle and a press cloth so you and experiment that way as the unit likely will not have water.

You want good heat even heat on all settings, as well as good even pressure when the shoe is brought down onto the buck. Also take into over all consideration how well the unit is built. Does it sit firmly and level? Does it wobble about as you operate the unit? If it will be stored when not in use, is it easy to set up? How heavy is the unit? My vintage Hurley press is made of cast iron, steel, and chrome (hey it was made during the 1950's, so what do you expect?), but darn thing gets HOT, and will flatten out anything I've thrown at it.

Candide

Thank you, generic was what I was looking for. I've taken a deep breath and decided to hold onto my wallet for a while longer. More research and time to think is a find idea.

-Liz

Keep your eyes peeled for steam press units at thrifts, estate sales, and of course eBay or Craigslist. There are tons of them out there and sometimes can be found near MIB for a very good price. IMHO vintage units even from as late as the 1980's are streets ahead of the Asian stuff one finds today. Even Elna's presses aren't what they once were.

Look for Singer, Spartan, Elnapress, Hurley and Bernina, as they were the most common units. Singer, Elna and Bernina are still around, so finding parts and other information should be easy.

Candide

I have two, found at thrift stores for $10 each. One is an older Elna without steam, the other a slightly newer Singer with steam, but a smaller plate than the Elna. I have been unable to decide which one to keep. So I kept them both. The Elna had been used to do an iron-on transfer, and they got the transfer in backwards. I spent a few hours removing the melted on transfer, after which the thing was good as new.

I've had my Elna-Press for many years and it's been extremely reliable. I especially like it for large amounts of fusing--- though I don't do much of that anymore. It's great if you have lots of table linens too.