"Excellent small steam generator boiler/iron combo"

Most Helpful Review:

I've had an i300 for a couple of weeks, and it is a delight to use. This is a no-frills commercial grade dry steam generator. The iron has a temperature control and a steam switch. The boiler unit has two on-off switches: one for the boiler itself and one for the iron. Oh, and a low-water idiot light. That's it.

What's great is the quality and quantity of steam this thing puts out. If you turn down the iron's temperature below the usual "steam" range, and hit the steam switch, you will shoot a visible blast of steam at least four to five feet. When the iron is hotter, the steam jet is audible, but not visible until it hits something and cools down.

Unlike ordinary irons, this steam blast can be held for many seconds without losing power. Also unlike ordinary irons and some boiler/iron
combos, this steam is "dry" steam under pressure. "Dry" in this context means that there are no droplets of liquid water (which is why you can't see the blast). Dry does not mean "no water". If you blast your ironing board, the pad will quickly become saturated. (That's why vacuum boards are useful, but that's another story.)

Recently I have been doing mostly garment construction, so I have been prefolding things like plackets, ironing a lot of seams and a lot of pre-shrunk yardage between the dryer and the cutting board. This unit works significantly faster than the conventional steam iron I was using. Maybe 50% faster on simple folds or flat ironing, and several times faster when trying to set crisp folds on six to eight layers of fabric (like the triangle fold on the end of a placket). I expect it to be very good (but have not yet tried it out) at construction pressing for tailored garments (e.g., sleeve cap ease on jackets and coats).

The steam is generated in the boiler unit, at the far end of the 7 foot hose, not in the iron itself. The hose is amply long to reach across the full length of an ironing board, while still letting you maneuver the iron. It doesn't get in the way due to the built-in spring-loaded support arm for the hose.

As a commercial unit, this is both less expensive and more durable than similar consumer steam generator boiler/iron combos. And it has a larger boiler tank than any consumer unit I am aware of.

The i300 is the smaller of Reliable's similar units. The tank is easily good for an entire day of sewing-with-frequent-ironing, or maybe two hours of solid ironing. If you were running a laundry, you'd buy a larger unit. If you are operating at home, this unit is a great size.

While the outside of the boiler unit gets uncomfortably warm after hours, it does not seem to be a burn hazard. I don't hesitate to put it on a board. The boiler unit comes with some silicone bumps on top so you can set the hot iron directly on it. You can't set the iron on its heel because the steam plumbing comes out there. However, you can use any rest that's suitable for the base of any conventional iron, and a separate silicone iron rest was included with my unit.

The only drawback to a unit like this is the relatively slow heatup and cooldown time. Allow 15 minutes (20 at the most) to bring the boiler up to steam heat from room temperature. And allow an hour to cool off and open up a filled boiler after making steam. Since one filling satisfies my needs, this drawback has not be a problem in practice for me.

(5 Stars)

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