Upping my Pressing Game & The Quest for an Iron

Sewing friends, we all know how important pressing is. Even as I am teaching my dear sister how to sew, she has learned "it'll press out". *laughs* 

Up My Pressing Game

To back track, I made the decision to invest in some pressing tools earlier this year to up my pressing game. There are a ton of tools out there, but I have boiled down to these as my initial investment. 

Point Presser

• Point Presser (recommended by the Dr. Kenneth D. King)
• I bought a Point Presser from Wawak, which is actually made by Jackson Woodworks, LLC (https://jacksonswoodworksllc.com/shop/).  !NOT SPONSORED! It actually is very well made, and now I'm interested in their wooden sleeve board as well... The only tip I have is not to steam it too much so that the grain gets all raised. 

Tailors ham and sausage

•  Tailor's ham and sausage
• After um-ing and ah-ing if I should make my own or buy these, I caved and made my own. Is it cheaper? No, absolutely not. But it's worth it because I can control what size to make it into. I will say, if you don't have the time, don't bother. Just buy it. But if you want your own larger size for tailoring purposes, I highly recommend it. The stuffing part is quite messy, but fun because I can do so in front of a screen. 
• I mostly followed Kat Makes's tutorial here: https://www.katmakes.com/blog/2019/6/11/tutorial-tailors-pressing-tools-part-1/ 
• Seam stick
• I bought a 2x2" cedar ~2' in length from Lowe's or Home Depot. It has proven to be useful for really long seams, but feels quite bulky to use. I may get a half round when the wood prices finally drop again. 
  

  

  Organza pressing cloth

  
  
• Pressing Cloth
• I cut up a square of organza and hemmed the edges. It was so easy. 

In the future, I shall be most interested in getting a sleeve board and a ham holder. But until then, I actually need something more important - an IRON! (and an ironing surface...) 

My Quest for an Iron

The iron that I have been using is starting to give way. Granted, it is a mystery iron my partner likely inherited from his roommates in his graduate school years. It's gunky with build up on the inside, and I'm lucky it hasn't ruined any of my creations so far. But I've really had it now that the rudimentary temperate dial is broken. 

I really want this new iron to have, in order of importance:

•  Large water tank
•  Heats up fast 
•  Be heavy
•  Around $100 or under
•  At least 8' of cords
•  Doesn't leak
•  Don't die on me so fast (I'm not asking for a lot here, am I?)

I've done an informal survey on my instagram asking for iron recommendations, googled quite a bit, surfed through Pattern Review forums. Here is what I end up downselecting, in table form because I have yet to see anyone compare irons that way. I have ruled out all Rowentas because of all the negative reviews I saw. *All Image sources are from Amazon or company websites

brand	model	Weight (lbs)	water tank (oz)	watts (W)	cord length (ft)	auto shutoff (min)	heat up time (s)	soleplate material	cost
B&D	D2030 digital advantage	3.85, 3.2 empty	10-12	1500	8	8	?	stainless steel	$40
CHI	13101	3	10	1700	10	30	120	ceramic	$60
B&D	Allure Pro	inconsistent across websites	unknown	1600	8	8	?	stainless steel	$35
silver star	gravity feed iron	4	4L	1000		none	? heard it's fast	aluminum + iron shoe options	$110
Reliable	Maven 120 IS	6.4 (incl base)	1L	1500	5.5	10	30	ceramic	$170

CHI Iron

Black & Decker D2030

Reliable Maven 120 IS

Gravity Feed Iron

Between the two Black and Decker irons, there are minimal differences... however, I did hear tons of high praises for the D2030. Unfortunately, it seems no longer available. The CHI seems amazing too, with the longer auto shutoff feature, but it wasn't too important for me. I really wanted to try the Reliable iron, but in addition to the iron cost, I need to factor in a $15 filter cartridge that seems hard to find in the US. It also doesn't help that by the time I'm ready to purchase, the iron is now sold out as well. Perhaps I chose a bad time to upgrade my iron.  

In the end, I chose the gravity feed iron because it is much cheaper than a home iron + large water reservoir. I'm so excited for it! If it doesn't work out, I can always fall back onto a cheaper home iron. Next up, will be my ironing surface adventure. So stay tuned! 

PS. The treadle is still being restored... slowly. Very slowly, but I will post an update when I get it back into one piece. For now, know that parts are cleaned!