Interesting Findings

Good day fellow aspiring tailors! This post is a very short tip that I wish to issue to all of you who are getting started and don't quite yet have the confidence or finances to acquire a professional gravity fed or boiler steam iron. One of the core advantages of these types of iron systems is that they expel superheated steam, known as 'dry' steam as it takes substantially longer to condense due to the energy within it. I work on two vintage steamships, and there the advantage of having dry steam is twofold - the increased temperatures allow us to have a lot more pressure (power) for the engines (expansion or turbine) and secondly, the steam doesn't condense into water in the inlet pipes which would create rust and a buildup of water that needs to be drained. In tailoring, however, superheated steam has similar but different advantages. Firstly, the increased pressure associated with higher temperatures of steam allows for a much greater volume of moisture to pass through into your cloth in question resulting in more effective and efficient pressing. Secondly, the added heat allows your cloth to remain malleable for longer and easier to work with. This all sounds wonderful - however, an issue arrives when a mere hobbyist looks at the prices of such professional systems. My solution was arrived through analogy. Just as a boiler heats up water beyond boiler point, so too can a kettle. And, just as a pipe can transfer this water directly into the iron where it is then heated further, so too can you pouring it into your iron. So, what one does is first fill your kettle with distilled water (or, if you're like me and lucky enough to live in a place like Scotland where minerals don't show up when boiling water, you may use convensional water). Then, enable your kettle until it boils, at this stage when it automatically turns off you should hold down the switch to have it over-boil for around 30 seconds. At this stage, pour it into your iron (which should be switched on and preheated). Finally, press! An important postscriptum is that superheated steam is very dangerous. Steam burns can be deadly and the increased pressures of this in your kettle may cause a rupture if there is no outlet. As tempting as it may be to close up your kettle's outlet to achieve greater pressures and 'dryer' steam, do not close your outlet under any circumstances. Be wary and you shall have a lot of success with this method. I wish you all nothing short of a wonderfully productive day and commend each of you for following Reza's marvellous course.