Use of old dry irons w/o thermostat

[Gramountoto]

Hi there,


I've been using a very basic steam iron for shaping until now and although I could obtain nice results, it's clearly not adapted.

I recently purchased for a few bucks two old dry irons (2.5kg and 5.5kg) but they lack a thermostat.
I used the lighter one recently and although I applied water with large paintbrush on the cloth, it got burn in 2-3 sec. I fear the iron is just heating on and on until it melt. This iron is meant for 220V so this is not the problem.

How should I use this kind of irons ? Unplug them once they're hot ?
Is there a system to adapt a thermostat ?

The big one has nothing written on it and as it looks very old it might work on 110V as it was usual in France before the 60's. I'll probably have to buy an adapter...

Any advice welcome.

T

[Schneiderfrei]

I think you do unplug them Gramountoto.

Somewhere on the C and T I read that once they are hot enough to give a hiss if you  flick water onto the flat surface, you turn them off.

I would love to know if this is correct though.

G

[jeffrey]

try these posts on the cutterandtailor.com

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3975

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3075

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1617

[hutch--]

Something I learnt while handling this very light lycra, something that you should not overheat or use an iron on, BE FAST or fry it. I had this problem with the lycra curling and the trick was to iron it flat on my cutting table but you had to be fast so you did not wreck it. I am old enough to have seen the ancient solid iron types as they tended to get used as door stops and the fabrics of the era they came from would generally have been a lot more robust than modern synthetics but the old rule applies, be fast enough NOT to burn the fabric.

[Greger]

Some cloths need a "cool" iron. Heat, as well as cloth, is chemistry. Synthetics responds very different than natural cloth under different temps. The amount of pressure from the weight of the iron matters, too. Thin cloth doesn't need much weight, and skippy Synthetics, practically nothing. A 20 pound iron and shirt cotton you might be holding up 10 to 15 pounds off the cloth. To flatten some seams you need more weight, so you let some more weight settle down. The old tailors had a lot of muscles. When you look at home sewers irons you see a dial to adjust the temperature for different cloths and the entire weight of these irons are skimpy. The old tailors learned how much weight and heat and how to use press cloths and when to use water and how much water to use. Many tailors today use 6 pound irons because the cloths are so light. If they were making dresses the iron might be even lighter. Some tailors are artist with the iron.

[Gramountoto]

Thank you all !

The threads on the CT forum are actually very helpful, thanks Jeffrey.
I should have checked there first but I must confess that these blind photobucket pictures everywhere make me sad and frustrated so I avoid visits there as much as possible.

T.

[Schneiderfrei]

I am right with you about the photobucket Gramountoto!  They still mostly yield up their images if you click on them tho.

[Schneiderfrei]

Thank you Jefferey,

The comments I remembered were in the "Vintage Irons" post, the last one, especially J Maclochlainn #9:

"Yes, Mr. Kelner

What you want to do (and this takes... what's the word?... experience) is to let it heat up. periodically as it heats up you want to make the iron speak. You know it's the right temp as soon as striking the iron with moist fingers you get a good pitched "SPPPPPSSSSSS". Unplug and use the iron in quick movements to get your desired effect. You can't massage the cloth like you did in your video. Each movement must be solid and deliberate. "