Irons & Steamers
Buy and sell irons and steamers in Panama.
Panama’s national costume is washed, starched with cassava starch and ironed before it is worn, and the tucks down the front of a good pleated shirt want a hot iron and a patient hand, so ironing kit still earns its keep here. Steam irons from Oster or T-fal do most households’ shirts, garment steamers take the creases out of linen while it hangs, and the gravity-feed irons that hang their water bottle over a cutting table come out of tailors’ workrooms when they close or re-equip. New and pre-owned ones both have a place, and so does the board you iron on.
Where a garment steamer beats an iron, and where it does not:
a steamer relaxes creases while the garment hangs, so it is quick on linen, gathered dresses and curtains nobody wants to take down. What it cannot do is press: a sharp trouser crease or a starched placket needs the weight and heat of a soleplate. Handheld steamers are for travel and touch-ups; upright ones stand on the floor with a bigger tank and a hanging pole, and keep going through a whole wardrobe. Among irons, the soleplate decides the glide. Stainless steel is hard-wearing, while ceramic and non-stick coatings glide well until they scratch. A steam station keeps its water in a separate base and pumps steam to a lighter iron, which gets through a basket of shirts far faster but wants a sturdy board and a permanent spot.
Panama’s national dress and the starch it is ironed with:
the full-skirted festival dress is starched before it is worn, traditionally with cassava starch, and the art is giving it enough body for the dance without leaving it stiff as paper. Many owners leave the starching, ironing and pleating that families in the central provinces favour to women who do that work for a living, and what they want from an iron is a fine tip, steady heat and a soleplate that lets go of starch. A steamer will freshen the dress, but it will not set a pleat.
Gravity-feed irons and boilers from a tailor’s workroom:
sewing workshops, uniform makers and laundries work with heavier kit. A gravity-feed iron hangs its water bottle above the table and makes steam in the soleplate itself, with no boiler. A boiler set feeds one or more irons from a pressurised tank, often beside a vacuum table that pulls steam through the cloth and holds it flat. Silver Star and Battistella are names you will see on them, and they last for years if the water is looked after. Clothes hung up warm from one of the dryers, or spun gently in one of the washing machines, need far less of any of this.
Oster and Black+Decker irons against Rowenta and the workshop kit:
an everyday steam iron from Oster or Black+Decker costs around $15 to $30 new, and unbranded ones go for under $10, so a basic used iron sells best with its board or as part of a house clear-out. The saving is higher up. A Rowenta or T-fal iron, an upright steamer, a steam station or a gravity-feed iron with its boiler costs several times as much new, and all of them can be descaled and repaired, so a cared-for one keeps most of its working life.
Limescale is what finishes a used iron:
plug it in, let the light cycle, and fire the steam burst over a white cloth. White flakes or brown drips mean scale inside or the wrong water: manufacturers warn against air-conditioner drip water, rainwater and softened water, which stain and clog the steam holes. Look along the soleplate for scratches and a brown crust of burnt starch, and leave the iron standing to see the auto shut-off trip. A steam station pump that clicks and gives no steam is often scaled up. On a gravity-feed iron, check that the valve does not drip when closed and that the Teflon shoe comes with it.
Photographing the soleplate and naming the water:
buyers judge an iron by its face, so shoot the soleplate straight on in daylight, then the cord and the iron steaming. Say what water went in it, when it was last descaled and what goes with it: the board, the bottle and hose of a gravity-feed iron. A seamstress driving over from Aguadulce for a workshop iron and its boiler will want to see steam before she pays, so have it filled and hot when she arrives, and drain it before it goes in her car.