I stopped using steam when I noticed that I was changing the shape of the fabric. I turned down temp. on the iron and use spray starch. It has made a big difference: my work went up a notch.

Only last night I was reading through Ami Simms' "Every Trick In The Book" and came across this little gem: Wet an old toothbrush and run it ahead of the iron. I suppose if you were using a steam iron you could use a dry toothbrush.






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Steam is great, but remember to drain your iron of all water if you are paper piecing. Steam will shrink the paper and your piece won't fit. I always drain it because I don;t trust the iron not to steam a tiny bit even though it's steam feature is turned off.

Maybe the shrinkage is the kind of paper used? I accidently used steam on one of my pieces and didn't see any difference with size. There was a slight wave but I let the paper dry before continueing on (Not by design mind you but because it was my first time and I am really SLOW when I'm learning a technique. :-) I write a lot of notes.) Then again, maybe it was beginners luck. Several of us were sharing an iron and switching from steam to no steam constantly (we were all doing different techniques).

I use the steleto. God bless. penny

I am comimg in a bit late on this but it follows from the discussion of opening the seams or not. If I am working on a block or just two pieces, I lay it down seam up. Hold one edge parallel to the seam and push the dry iron away from you, flattening the seam and not touching your fingers. If it is a very small piece, use just the tip of the iron. I usually turn it over and re press to make sure the seam is completely open on the top.
Mary

I love to use steam ----- try an "Ov Glove"!!!

The iron I have burns my fingers with steam if I get too close. My previous iron didn't do that. I have been iron shopping, and I noticed that some irons have steam holes closer to the point of the iron and others are farther back.

I like to use steam.