Antique & Vintage
Pressing Irons & Sadirons 

Nobody has bought or sold more antique sad or pressing irons than we have. We have handled several collections of antique pressing irons numbering in the thousands. We have sold pressing irons for world record prices. Over the last 20 years we have handled and sold well over 10,000 irons.

We are primarily interested in rare and unusual examples of antique pressing irons, and especially irons with unusual or patented features.  These can be found on antique fluting irons, gas or liquid fuel irons, alcohol irons, revolving or reversible irons, combination irons w/ fluters, pre 1900 electric irons, and most any other type of unusual antique pressing irons.

Both American & European irons can have features that make them very desirable. We are always interested in unusual fluting irons, goffer irons, and gas or fuel heated irons. We are always looking for unusual patented antique flat irons or sadirons that have unusual features or handles. We are also interested in any ironing related advertising or early store displays for ironing devices. 

If you have any unique or unusual antique pressing irons that are for sale contact us via email at AntiqBuyer@gmail.com giving us as many details as possible and we will get back to ASAP. 

If you are interested in buying or want to see antique pressing irons we have for sale please visit our sister site at www.Patented-Antiques.com to view our current offerings of vintage & antique irons.

Machine Fluting Irons

Fluting irons are were designed to crimp, ruffle and press little pleats into starched fabric. Fluters were used for collars, cuffs, etc. and these vintage tools were an invention that saw their heyday in America from the 1860's through the 1880's. Some very rare and unusual electric fluting irons were made into the 1920's for the movie & costume industry. 

Pictured above is the Holly Patent  machine fluter--- it operates by means of a hand crank which crimps the fabric as it transports it between the two fluted rollers.  Machine fluters are also referred to as pleaters, or pleating irons, crimpers, crimping irons, or rufflers and came in a myriad of designs---some had pedestal or tripod bases, some were clamp-on models etc.

Rocker & Roller Fluting Irons

The McClure fluting iron is an example of a rocker fluter.  It is the name and the makers name of this fluter that make it rare, not the form or style, which is common.  With this rocker style of antique fluting iron the ironer would manually rock the top half of the iron over the bottom half with the fabric in-between.  The iron pictured in the very top left corner of this page is another example of a desirable and interesting antique rocker fluter known as the Dion, and like the McClure it too is named after the inventor who patented it.

The Dion fluting iron was patented in 1868 and 1870 and is a highly sought after example that in the past has sold for as much as 5K.  At the other end of the value spectrum is the common Geneva Fluter. When offered on eBay the Geneva routinely sells for 20.00 or less. The moral being there can be a huge difference in value for a given style of fluting iron.

A third style of fluting iron is the roller style fluter where the top piece is manually rolled rather than rocked over the bottom to press the fabric into the flutes. Unusual irons of this style would be those with unique handle designs or other odd features.  There is one rare versions called the "Indicator" because it has a thermometer built into the fluting plate.  Another unusual one that has a double roller on the handle.

If you have unusual irons that you think we would be interested in, please contact us at AntiqBuyer@gmail.com with the details.

Gas / Liquid Fuel Irons

Another category of antique pressing irons are fuel irons, antique irons that were heated by whale oil, gasoline, kerosene, alcohol, natural gas, carbide-acetylene, or over a gas-jet or lamp, etc.

Perhaps the best known and most commonly found or offered for sale of this style of iron is the Coleman gasoline iron. Blue is by far the most commonly seen color, but Coleman also made irons in many other colors that are more desirable---turquoise, red, green, tan, etc.  Other manufacturers, such as American Machine Co., also made colored enamel irons.

Fuel irons from Sears and Montgomery Wards are considered very common, and even when found in like new the box sell typically sell for under 100.  These companies were still selling gas irons well after WWII to regions that had not been incorporated into the "grid".  Coleman was manufacturing irons into the 60's in Canada for that market and the Amish, who are still big buyers of them.

Another type of gas heated pressing iron is the gas jet style.  This style of antique iron resembles a common cast iron "doorstop" sadiron  but closer inspection reveals a hollowed out body.  These irons were heated directly by a kerosene lamp or by a wall-mounted gas jet apparatus and were hung on the apparatus so the interior of the iron could be directly exposed to the hot flame. The iron shown here is McCarty's patent, which was granted in 1879.  Examples of smaller gas jet irons are the Acme and the Sultana.

One example of a very interesting early fuel iron is the c.1870 Crocker Farnsworth reversible iron pictured here. This is an alcohol or oil burning iron which is recognizable from the style and shape of the fuel tank. Others from this early time used whale oil as their fuel source. The most interesting  feature of this antique fuel iron is that it revolves.  The theory behind the revolving iron was that heat rises and therefore the top of the iron body would retain its heat longer than the bottom, so that if you kept turning the iron over you would always get to work with the hotter side.

Unusual Patented Irons

Other antique revolving irons were heated by means of a slug that was inserted into the body.  Revolving slug irons often featured two, three, or even four  different ironing surfaces.  The body could be revolved and the handle locked into place so that the top bottom,  or either of the edges of the iron body could be used.

Oftentimes one or more of the surfaces were specially designed for fluting, polishing, glossing, or embossing designs into the fabric. The Carver patent pressing irons pictured here are an example of this type of iron.  These irons were manufactured with a variety of  names such as the Family Laundry Iron, Victor, Majestic, etc.  The rotation mechanism and the door itself as well as the latch for it are all very fragile on these irons and often found broken or damaged.

Other revolving antique irons were patented by inventors named Hewitt and Mann, and two of these unusual antique combination fluting / pressing irons are pictured here.

Revolving irons were also used by tailors and in commercial applications.  The unusual revolving iron pictured here was heated by means of natural gas and weighs a whopping 24 or more pounds and is about 15 inches long. The weight of the iron was thought to make for an easier job in the pressing of wool suits and coats and other heavy garments. This huge tailors iron could be flipped over by means of a handle release so that the second side of the iron could be put to use.

Another unusual revolving pressing iron is the Avery patent sadiron that is pictured  here. This design permitted the iron to be turned on any of its four surfaces by loosening the wing nut built into the handgrip. The serious drawback of this idea was that the handle not only unlocked from the body to allow it to rotate, it actually released completely from the body if loosened.

I am sure his idea was meant to make life easier, but the truth is it takes three hands to reattach and tighten the handle in place, and that is when it is cold.  Unusual Patented Irons like this, that were really "lousy ideas" and were only manufactured for a short period of time if at all are the type of irons that we are most interested in buying.

Please let us know if you have an antique fluting irons, any type of vintage fuel iron,  antique child-size or salesman sample irons, special purpose irons of any sort, figural irons such as swans, goats, trains, flower irons or leaf irons, early electric irons (1907 or earlier) or patented antique irons in unusual shapes that you want to sell.

Please note:  The antique pressing irons pictured above are examples of the caliber, condition and quality  that we are primarily interested in buying.  Please check the Iron Past Sales Archive on the right to see some of the Irons we have sold in the past.

If you have similar irons to those seen here that you are looking to sell, please email us at AntiqBuyer@gmail.com

To see other examples of antique pressing irons that we currently have for sale please go to our sister site at www.Patented-Antiques.com and visit the antique iron sale pages you will find there.

Thank You!
Larry & Carole

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Please Note:
The reason you do not see any doorstop variety irons, or simple / common fixed handle irons without any special features, or later electric irons from the 50's -70's discussed here is because we do not buy them or deal in them.  Later common sell for little more than scrap values these days.

If you have these types of more common sad irons and are looking to sell them simply look at eBay for a while to see what common irons actually sell for.  On any given day or week there are approx. 4K listed there. Take a look, and you will then understand.