pressing matters

 

i've had another first - a new mistake i've never made before! this was a bad one that could have been disastrous. my lovely pink oliso iron has feet that retract when you grip the handle. this is to reduce wrist strain by allowing the iron to rest horizontally and not have to be turned upright every time you pick it up. i wasn't sure i liked this feature, but i've gotten used to it. and i do agree it helps with wrist strain.

well, apparently i set it back down unevenly on my pressing surface, which jogs a bit where the pressing top i made is surpassed in length by the ironing board under it. this caused the iron to make contact with the pressing board surface for a little while, long enough to begin scorching it.

it was making a smell when i noticed it, but i actually saw, not smelled it first. yikes! that was a close one. i was completely caught off guard by this. i've never done that before and it was absolutely unexpected. there were a lot of things happening on the board that i was working around, which must be why i set it down in an unusual manner.

while we're on the topic of my iron, i'll comment on my experience with this oliso. i like it! i don't think it's perfect, but it's been a good iron. i've been using it for over 5 years now. i'm not a heavy user of the iron, but it's lasted very well for my purposes. 

pros

• easy on the wrist with the retracting feet
• turns off after extended period of unuse, but not too quickly
• heavy, presses well - i'd give it a B+ or A- for this
• steam option
• gets very hot but not too hot
• pretty colors to choose from

cons

• steam tank is a little hard to reach for filling and emptying
• sometimes the retracting feet are annoying or i want it turned off, which you can do, so i really can't complain about this one. however, the times i've turned it off, i forget not to just set it down, which is a problem. so i just leave it on and get annoyed every once in a while.
• the tip is rounded and the outline jogs a little (see below), which both mean they are less precise for running along an seam edge when pressing my seams open. a sharper point and continuous edge would be better. a sharper tip would be able to get right into a seam whereas this blunt one doesn't really.
• i haven't thought about it in a long time since my pressing habits are better, but there was a time i felt it could be heavier, that that might be helpful. but since i am better at pressing and use my floppy books to help flatten blocks after pressing, this is not really an issue.

this review came to mind because an IG friend recently had her oliso die after two years of use, and was looking for a new iron. however, she contacted the company and they replaced it for free! after my experience with the oliso, i was surprised hers died. hopefully her new one lasts her a good long time.

my former iron was a rowenta, another moderately expensive iron. it began leaking on me after a couple of years. i now know that was because i was just leaving the water in the tank all the time, not emptying after use before periods of unuse. live and learn! i now (usually) empty the tank after i've used water. but most often these days i don't steam at all, but rather use the spray bottle to spritz the fabric.