Types of Sad Irons

Cast Iron

• Sad irons from the early 1800's were made completely from iron and cast in one piece. Heated on stoves, they weighed between five and seven pounds. Some sad irons used commercially by cleaners weighed up to 20 pounds. These irons were sometimes double pointed, or sometimes shaped more like modern irons.

Mary Pott's Sad Iron

• American Mary Potts patented the removable handled sad iron in 1871. Its detachable handle meant that ironers could leave iron bodies on the fire to heat up while using the handle to iron with one that was already heated. The detachable wooden handle was also useful in that it didn't burn the ironer's hands. It didn't get hot along with the iron as previous handles had. The inside of Mary Pott's Sad Irons were hollow, to be filled with a non heat conductive material like clay or plaster of Paris. Mary Potts thought this would help the iron stay hot for longer.

Heating Methods

• Advances in the design of sad irons led to different ways of heating them other than on the kitchen stove. Early attempts included filling hollow sad irons with burning coal. These irons had little chimneys on them which were about three inches long to stop the material being stained by the smoke. Eventually sad irons were heated electrically in the 1900's. The Bakelite sad irons were electrically heated.

Combination Irons

• The 19th century was a time when people were fascinated with inventions and gadgets. Due to industrialization, things were advancing very quickly, especially toward the end of the century. The combination of sad irons with fluter irons were an example of this kind of ingenuity. While the sad irons were used for large flat areas, fluter irons were used for ironing ruffles. The two were combined to form a strange looking but dual-functioning device.