Picture failed to upload in the oringal post...

I remember ironing linens this way on my mother's mangle back in the 40s. Hers rolled and you fed the fabric through but it sure pressed sheets nicely. I image this would work as well. Don't think I'd have room for one but who knows. Thanks for the idea.

Toolgranny, I use to mangle at home in the early 60's as a teenager. I loved doing it, but my grandparents gave it away.

I have a press like that, though not a steam press. I use a misting of water if I need steam.

Shoot, if I'd known you wanted one I'd have shipped it to you for just the postage, LOL.

I used to use mine for fusing stabilizer on large pieces of fabric, back when I was in the needlepoint finishing business. I now use it for pressing napkins, and for pressing the occasional fat quarter. It works reasonably well for pressing the occasional dress shirt - but I send those out, since DH only needs one about twice a year.

I find it awkward for pressing large items and yardage.

I find it IMPOSSIBLE for pressing a pieced seam! Well, maybe not impossible, but certainly more difficult than using a regular iron. How much finger-pressing are you willing to do before the final pressing?

I've tried to get good results with the press, but there are too many slips "betwixt cup and lips" with this method. You will end up with not-so-flat seams, and often with tiny pleats and tucks.

I have seen rotary irons (new term for mangles) made by Miele.... they are not cheap though!

I've seen a lot of reviews from sewers who use these solely for fusible web or stabilizer...

Mary, I bought this for 75 bucks on C/L, new in box from a guy who does storage unit clean outs... they are impossible to find in stores.... I've always wanted one. I do get little unwanted pleats sometimes and that is annoying... but I've found that if I soak the whole piece of fabric with the spray bottle first, it really helps to aleviated that problem.

I noticed that Conair had one that was just a press and didn't make steam.... I'm glad to have the steam as an option, but find it virtually unnecessary as the press uses so much pressure and came with a spray bottle which provides more control....

I wondered about pressing finished seams.... You wouldn't have much control with which direction they went and I have enough trouble not pressing a crease along the finished seam even with a regular iron.

I tried it on sheets and it was tedious and I had more wrinkles than I started with by the time I was through! Same with shirts, but apparently there is a learning curve...

Most of my stash is fat quarters rather than yardage, and I quite agree they are much easier to press!

The backs of my hands look so awful.... I just know everyone at work thinks I'm into self mutilation or something! I'll learn eventually....

I wanted to add that part of the reason I bougt this was I thought it would really help with pressing individual fabric pieces before stitching... they always get a few wrinkles between the time I measure and cut and acutally sew them (somethimes those two events happen weeks, months, or years apart from each other). I think if I pressed each piece before piecing that I may have more accurate results in the end.... it would be nice to put a bunch of small pieces on and press them at once... when I do it with the iron I push some of them out of the way accidentally or the blast of steam acutally blows the ones that aren't under the iron off the board if I'm using a Rowenta or Oliso...

Toolgrany, about not having the room... the thing locks closed and you can store it vertically for compact storage.... it takes up slighly less room than one of those small table top ironing boards.

The verdict is still out on whether or not I will like this and use it regularly or if it will just collect dust once the novelty wears off, but it's fun to play with for now... I'm discovering fabric I didn't know I had. :o)

Actually, Bobby, you've just found the perfect use for this press.

I would use the press dry to flatten and press already cut pieces - but I would also use the press to starch and press strips and such before cutting the individual pieces.

Enjoy it!

Toolgranny/Linda, That was my first thought, too. Memories of sitting at the mangle iron set up in the rumpus room next to the laundry room in the basement.

SharonG/FL

In earlier Eleanor Burns programs, she used one of these. She didn't seem to use it very long. Must be a reason.
Theresa

Oh this forum is deja vu. I have two of them at my parent's house. One is a tabletop unit and one is in its own cabinet and even has a matching chair. I am going to bring the tabletop unit here, because it's easier to tuck away if/when I need the table for other uses, and it's also newer and gently used. I know they call them mangles here and that's confusing, because a mangle is also the term for a wringer washer in GB. I wonder, does it have anything to do with the company who (perhaps) built both laundry-related machines? My mother used them for large yardage items like sheets and also pillowslips. Yes, you can get a seam down the middle, but it was necessary for cotton bedclothes to iron them and I still prefer and use some cotton sheets and pillow cases.

I'm not actively working on any sewing projects at the moment so I worked more on organizing the fabric stash...

My stash went from all of it looking like this:

to this:

Before:

Look at all that steam! And the healing hands where the thing "got" me multiple times... the other hand looks just the same :o)

After:

crease:

Control panel