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I purchased a lot of ribbon flowers from China on EBAY and they are all lovely but some come with very elaborate ribbon bows and streamers that need to be pressed before use. I can't get a regular iron into the tight spaces and I keep thinking there MUST be a small, narrow iron, rather like a haircurler, that would do the job but I have googled and can't come up with anything. Does anyone have any ideas ? I thought of trying a haircurler but think it might be hot enough to melt the ribbon. Any advice would be welcome !
I have seen a lot of people say they use hair straighteners. I can't imagine that they would melt the ribbon, I think hair is way more fragile than ribbon. Another way could be to pull them tight in your hands, then hold them in the steam from a kettle- keep your hands well clear though!!!!! I can remember my Mother straightening wool this way, from unpicked knitting, many, many years ago.
Actually, what I often do with bows that are already made and then crushed and creased in storage (think Christmas wreath bows) is to put a good amount of water in my whistling teakettle and bring it to a boil. I then hold the bows over the stream of steam coming out of the whistle hole. They "miraculously" lose their wrinkles and fluff up again. My hubby laughs at me for taking the time, but sometimes I just like the ribbon and want to reuse the bow!
If things are small, you'd want to hold it in the steam with tweezers. Steam can burn you quite quickly.
Thanks, ladies ! I just ordered the Clover Mini-iron from Amazon after looking at the picture- exactly what I Need ! Cost $22.01 with free 2 day shipping, so I can work on these Christmas gifts by Wednesday. I may need to buy another one for my sister. Thank you so much for your suggestions. I'll try that steam trick with some larger bows.
I use a hair straightener and it works great. I have not had any problems and at Christmas time I straighten quite a bit of ribbon. The key is to run it through quickly and sometimes a few run throughs are needed. On thick grosgrain ribbon you can go a bit slower. Great results every time! No need for an ironing board either and easy to store in the craft area.
If you have a lamp nearby, you can use the lightbulb. That's what I use most of the time. Sometimes I use my old hair straightener. You have to watch though because some of them can get quite hot and will burn synthetic ribbon. My new one can get up to 220degrees and it will definitely burn synthetic ribbon.
Thanks, ladies. The ribbon I need to press, though, is narrow and intricately looped around ribbon flowers so I needed something to get into the small loops . As soon as I clicked on Fionna's sugestion for the clover mini iron I knew it was exactly what I was looking for so I ordered it from Amazon and it arrived this afternoon (36 hours after ordering !).. I haven't tried it yet but it will get a good workout tomorrow. I have used the lightbulb trick with flat ribbon and it works pretty well for odd jobs. I'll bet the hair straightener would work well, too, but I don't own one. Thank you all for your help !
They make mini flat irons that would work but I would have recommended the clover iron too. It helps to have a cool finger as well. It's a finger cover that keeps your finger from being burned when working in tight places.
__________________ RebeccaEdnie Mixed Media Artist, Paper Crafter, Jewelry Designer SCSDirtyDozenAlumni Www.Boxofchocolatescrafts.Com YouNeverKnowWhatI’mGoingtoMake
how to iron ribbon ?
