Thursday, July 19, 2012

TNT with Oliso

A little while back I did a post about "A Tale of 3 Irons", which shared my dramatized version of my irons breaking down.  At the end of the post I wrote the following: 

But we will have to wait and see, Irons and me seem to have very fickle friendships :)  If #3 and I don't get along very well I might have to consider looking for a replacement in the Royal Family of Irons.  I hear Oliso is quite the Family name of Pressing!

We'll the story picks back up today.  Iron #3 was rather disappointing.  (Shocker, I know.)  And it was time to try out  Oliso.   I learned more about their quilter's iron (the TG1600) and it sounded amazing!!.  So I decided to give it a whirl!!!!  And may I say . . . I LOVE IT!!!  (Sorry to shout, but I really love it that much!)


So, let me tell you a little about my experience with the Oliso TG1600

The full name of this particular is the Oliso Pro Smart Iron with iTouch Technology TG1600.  Now, if you were like me, you are wondering what iTouch Technology is on an iron.  Well let me show you!!

The iron has 2 scorchguards. (I like to think of them as feet.) You can rest the iron on them like so.  It's not touching the fabric so you don't have to worry about it leaving marks.  



Now, when you are ready to iron, simply hold the handle and the schorchguards lift allowing you to press.


As soon as you are done, simply let go of the handle and the schorchguards lower automatically lifting the iron and preventing burning or scorching of your fabric.



Yup, you never have to lift your iron up.  I can't tell you what a relief this is to my wrist!!!!  And, it saves so much time!!  I didn't think lifting your iron up and down would use up any measurable amount of time but I really noticed the difference, especially when doing a large pile of pressing.  And every bit of time saved pressing is more time for piecing!!!

Another great feature of the Oliso TG1600 is the power (heat and steam) behind this iron.  In the past, pressing meant running the iron over the piece several times or standing there with the iron for several seconds.  With the Oliso TG1600 it is just a quick zip over the fabric.  The heat and auto steam set the seam instantly and with one pass!!  Yes, it truly is One Pass Pressing!!  (Oh yes, more sewing time there, also)



And, I don't have to iron the right side.  This really blew me away.  I always flip over my piecing to press the opposite side just to really get a nice crisp seam.  But every time I turned over a piece to press the front I found the seam already perfectly crisp.   Another huge time saver!!!!


Another  favorite thing about the Oliso TG1600 is the detailer tip.  Now I am sure this would be great for clothing, but let's get real, when was the last time I ever ironed clothing.  And this is a quilter's iron, and I tell you it is fabulous for pressing seams open!!!  I get so frustrated pressing seams open when I have to practically finger press the entire seam in order to get it to stay open long enough to get my iron in it.  The detailer tip combined with the heat and steam from the TG1600 make finger pressing a thing of the past.  Just start at the end of your seam and let the iron do the work.  No fingers necessary.  Ahhh!!!  Love it!!!


The tank on the Oliso TG1600 is a side filling tank.  I loved not having to fill  my iron at the sink.  I could just refil it at the ironing board and continue on. No time wasted.


The Oliso TG1600 also has an anti-drip system that prevents spitting and leaking while the iron is hot.  Love it!!  Seriously, this is what my old irons have done to my 1 year old ironing board cover.  So sad.  Now that I know I won't be having any leaking issues I think I best be making a new Ironing Board Cover.



And the last 2 things show how much they had quilters in mind during the design phase.  First, A 12" cord with 360 degrees pivot.  And if you spin around your ironing board as much as I do you will totally appreciate that.  And second, a 30 minute auto off timer!!!  Finally!!!!!  Doesn't it just drive you nuts when you have been sewing 3 seams and you go back to your iron to find it has shut off!!!   No such thing with the TG1600.  It waits for you to be ready.  (But, it still has auto shut off if it is knocked over, good safety feature!)  



I gave it a major first test run pressing this entire pile of piecing.


Into this pile in under 2 hours!!!   


So, to sum it up   . . . I really, really, really love my Oliso TG1600 and I will never be pressing with anything else!!  







So that is what I have been up to this week??  How about you!!  Link on up :)

   
 
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22 comments:

  1. Wow, what a fancy iron, and I love the color!

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  2. Cool iron (I should say 'HOT' iron)!! I don't iron my clothes - only fabric!!! I need one!!!

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  3. I too loved my Oliso when it was new. It won't last any longer than any other iron. It spits and the delayed turn off is failing...I've owned it just over a year. It was nice of them to send you one though...I paid too much for what it is.

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  4. Sounds truly wonderful. I didn't know about them when I bought my Rowenta Professional but if that one ever gives me a lick of trouble, it will be outa here and replaced by one of these. Thanks for the review.

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  5. Glad to hear that your iron troubles are finally over. This iron is on my wish list or is next in line if my current one ever gives up the ghost. However my mom has this iron too. She does love it! It took her a while though of breaking the habit of constantly wanting to set the iron up right. Also the detailer tip kinda drives her nuts some time too, cause it will get caught in corners and so on. Other than that she really does love it.

    Also for those who are worried about the price. Keep an eye on Jo-Ann Fabrics sales and coupons. My mom hit a sale where the coupon was available to use on the irons (I know majority of the time they are not) but she ended up paying I think $75.00 or $99.00 for hers and not the $199.00. Just keep reading the fine print of those coupons!

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  6. Wow I have the cheapest iron from the supermarket! This looks amazing!

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  7. Fancy! I had a horrible iron for years and my hubby finally bought me a new one. It's no where near as fancy as this one but it's SO much better than my last one I don't seem to mind. I love all the things that makes yours faster! I hate ironing so any time off is great.

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  8. What an amazing iron! I've had my iron since I first moved out on my own and if yours is a Rolls Royce of irons then mine is likely the Pinto of irons. ;) Glad you love yours!

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  9. I've had a chance to use this iron during workshops at the local quilt shop, it is fantastic! We have hard water here though, which means even the best of irons will start spitting and clog up quickly.

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    1. MC, use distilled water. Problem solved! :) I finally figured that one out.

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  10. I would love an iron like this. I have an iron for clothes, and one for quilting. This one for quilting is a good iron, but I can't put water in it.so this would be wonderful.

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  11. I have this iron too. Owned it about 3 months now and I love it. Besides the fact that iron turns off if tipped over, it will also turn off after 30 minutes of no use. I very rarely hit the 30 minutes, only when I forget to turn it off when I go make dinner. But I am very glad not to be waking it up every two minutes too. If you can afford this iron, I would recommend it.

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  12. Wow what an excellent review. I just had it with my second Rowenta and I'm back to using my trusty old Shark. I might have to look into one of these.

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  13. WOW!! This seems like an excellent iron. I will have to look into where I can purcahse one of these!

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  14. I have owned one for over a year and my arm isn't falling off and nothing gets scorched -- well worth the investment -- look for sales on-line or free shipping !)

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  15. I purchased the TG1100 -- very similar to this iron, but with a shorter cut off time back in May or June. Love it. I opted for the shorter time, because my friend's iron which I borrowed seemed to go through water so quickly. My dealer suggested that I flip my steam setting to no steam after ironing. It seems to be working. But the big thing to remember is when you go to class, a retreat or use any other iron is to remember to set them up! Between borrowing my friend's iron and buying my own, I used a little Rowenta travel iron and forgot scorching the cover. Last week I caught myself leaving the iron at class down as well -- at least I caught it that time before it had a chance to scorch the cover.

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  16. Wow that iron looks great! I think I may have to invest in one! I mostly iron fabric- Clothes HA!- This would be really useful...I must look into it further =D

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  17. Thanks for the great review!

    Linda

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  18. Everything looks good but the price. It's out of my ball park! I too have had zero luck with irons.

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  19. I've had this same model iron myself. Initially I loved it but lately I'm ready to put mine away and use the old one it replaced. It spits water all over whether the steam setting is on or off. I can live with that although it's not making me happpy but, the biggest problem I have lately is when I grab the handle to start ironing the feet don't come up as they should and I literally have to grab around the handle moving my hand back and forth a few seconds until it acknoweldges me almost like a sensor in there isn't quite working correctly.

    I do love this iron which is the reason I've still been using it and not the old one. I've had two hand surgeries in the past two years and not needing to pick my iron up is a huge blessing as I've lost some strength in both my hands because of those surgeries.

    I will also say the company is awesome because this was actually my 2nd Oliso iron with my first purchase coming from a quilt show. That one failed within about 2-3 months and I was extremely upset given the cost of that iron. This became a very long story at this point but I won't go into all of it. Just to say that the company I bought it from at the show was NOT an Oliso company seller but a company they license to sell. Buying from them meant I had to deal with them and not the Oliso company themselves and I was obviously very upset with this knowledge while speaking to the Oliso company over the phone. After a very lengthy phone call I was able to speak to one of the owners I believe it was and she herself authorized shipment of a replacement iron to me. She not only was nice enough to ship a new iron out, but she upgraded mine to the one that you now have. She was awesome to deal with.

    I hope your iron does much better than mine. I'm very sad at the cost I paid and really when I bought this my husband kinda pushed me to do it since it was a better price at the show and I'd been wanting one since first seeing them. My old iron was still awesome and very much loved. I had no problems at all with my old iron and as we walked past the booth for the third time that day on our way out as the show was closing he pointed toward that booth reminding me it was my last chance and I jumped at that.

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  20. What a thorough and detailed review. I will have to consider an Oliso when mine konks out.

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  21. Thanks for the review! I saw these in Costco earlier this week, but thought it was a bit much for an iron. I went back last night and bought a TG1200 (they didn't have the 1600), took it home and I'm very impressed with it. I am keeping my old workhouse, though, just in case!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa