Are you happy with your iron?  Now that I iron my white shirts to wear everywhere, I’m obsessed with ironing.  One day soon, my friend Yvonne will post about the best way to iron a shirt, but her first piece of advice will be to get a good iron. 

Mr. Campbell and I saw an amazing iron at the Maker Faire this fall.  It has little feet that elevate the iron when you remove your hand and lower it again when you touch it.  I’ve been fantasizing about it ever since, but when Mr. Campbell seemed like he might really buy me one for Christmas, I thought I’d better read the reviews.  Unfortunately, they’re inconsistent.  More than elevator feet, I want a steam iron that doesn’t spit, sputter or leak.

This has led me to the Reliable Corporation.  I’ve read rave reviews of the Reliable V50 and the Reliable V100, so now they’re at the top of my list.  I’ll let you know if I find one under our tree and how I like it.

I’m stopping myself from requesting this amazing ironing board with vacuum and up-air.  Do you know what up-air does?  It fills your garment like a balloon so that you can lightly iron across it without getting seam imprints from the other side.  And look at this $2500 beauty.  Sigh.

I’m the opposite of my sister Donna.  She thinks she has an iron “somewhere in the house.”  There is no ironing board.  When we visited a few years ago, she suggested that Mr. Campbell simply dampen his shirt and put it in the dryer.

But no matter how much I perfect my ironing technique (and I’m not as picky as I sound), I will never get my clothing to look like it does when it comes from the store or a dry cleaner.  I learned this at the Seams and Finishes class that I took at FIT this fall.  They use serious pressers formed just for specific parts of the garment.  Take a look at this Shirt Body and Sleeve Press with Optional Sleeve Placket Pressing Plates.  Swoon.

  • Unique Size Wiseâ„¢ interchangeable bucks to accommodate all body sizes and styles
  • Pressing front, side, back and sleeves simultaneously.
  • Shirt holding vacuum and heated air blowing system built into the machine

This wouldn’t even fit in our house, much less under our tree.