Once upon a time fabric was made from real natural fibers, like cotton and linen. You need a very hot iron to get them perfectly pressed and irons these days just don't seem up to the task. I had a couple of pretty nice irons, or so I thought. But when I got frustrated at what a poor job they do, I went and bought the nicest one I could find locally that cost nearly $100, and found I was still disappointed. Then I found an avocado green one from the 1970's at a yard sale, remembered all the burned arms and fingers I suffered as a kid, and grabbed it up. Well the controls didn't work and it scorched both things I tried to use it on.At a recent auction I stumbled on an ancient thing called the "American Beauty", an antique from the 1930's, and was sure there was no chance it worked but it was pretty and thought I could at least stick it somewhere that it could look interesting. Imagine my surprise when I got it home, plugged it in, and it works. It works perfectly; at the half way setting it charms the fabric to a flat sheen!
This iron weighs 6 lbs and it won't stand up like a conventional iron. There's a steel trivet that you set it on when you need to rest your arm. Which is often. My right forearm is starting to look like Popeye.
This iron is smaller than today's new irons, but it does such a great job on one pass across the fabric that the job actually goes quicker. I hope she's good to go for decades more because this is the greatest tool I've ever owned!
