Oh  didnÂt know these were sold in the US as wellÂ

Well, I have a steam cleaner (Kärcher) with iron accessory and IÂll never go back to a traditional non-pressurized steam iron. My steam cleaner works very similar to the LauraStar Steamax -> lots of hot steam and pressure, yet the iron is cooler than a traditional one.

The vertical ironing (vertical steaming) function is great. I know most traditional irons offer a similar feature but they just donÂt have the same pressure as these semi-professional systems.

The LauraStar Magic additionally offers an ironing board with a built-in fan to quickly cool/dry items. A very nice feature  have seen it several times on QVC Germany  but I donÂt think it's necessary. I do however like this Teflon Sole Plate. It reduces the temp to about 175°F  very useful for colored and delicate items.

There is a learning curve when you first use one of these systems: what I had to get used to was that I didnÂt have to go back and forth with the iron several times to get the creases out. Regular items like sweaters, t-shirts or even jeans donÂt need to be ironed from both sides any more because of the pressurized steam -> saves me 50 % time.

Before I had my steam cleaner (and the iron accessory), ironing would take an hour  now itÂs 35 min. or less. I can also iron bedding and other over-sized items, which took me forever in the past. Now I just fold them once or twice and iron them that way.

If you do a lot of ironing the LauraStar Magic might be worth it. Otherwise the Steamax should be sufficient.

Of course you can also check out similar (non-imported) products by other manufacturers  these will be less pricey and basically work the same but may have less features (if thatÂs important to you).

HTH, Alex

Here is a link that might be useful: Laura Star USA

I've had a laurastar magic for about a year and I love it! My dh and I saw it twice at home shows and were tempted but it was so expensive! I started researching on the net and found a company that had one as a demo and sold it to me at a deep discount.
It changes the entire process of ironing. There is a learning curve because you need to hold the button down to get steam, and push it once or twice at the beginning depending on whether you want the ironing board to suck the fabric toward the board, or blow air into the fabric so it dries quickly...
Whether it is worth it is such a personal question.. I iron lots..My dh doesn't like dry cleanters and we hang dry everything excepting sheets and towels. So I press everything. It is so fast and easy with this system--I can't imagine those folks at the home shows sell many due to the price, but we were fortunate, and for us--definitely worth it!

I saw a Laurastar at a home show and wanted one instantly. What I didn't like, though, was the hit to my wallet. Instead, I ended up with a Rowenta DG-980 and a beefy new ironing board with the lower shelf. I put the DG-980 on the lower shelf where it fits perfectly and doesn't make my ironing board top heavy. It's a great system and I highly recommend it for those who don't want to spend the $$$ on a pricey (but very nice!) Laurastar unit. (

A search led me to this post. I just saw a LauraStar demo at Costco a couple of days ago and was very impressed. It was the Premium S3 (I think it was S3) for a little over $1000. I'm having a hard time justifying spending that much for an ironing system, but I liked everything about it. My dh has a lot of cotton shirts and some of them don't come out very well with a standard iron and take so long to do.
Is this a decent price and does anyone have any of their other irons? I liked the fact that it was such a dry steam. I've had cheap steam cleaners that put out too much moisture.

I bought my LauraStar three months ago. My friend recommended it to me. I already love it! I think this is the best (and I know much about ironing). First of all, steam is heated twice: first time inside the generator and second time in the iron itself, which makes it very powerful and iron never ever drips. Second, I have unlimited time of ironing. I mean I am not limited by the capacity of the boiler. It's some new LauraStar technology with a removable tank on top of a steam generator. One more important thing is their Teflon shoe. You should not ever adjust temperature of the iron! Oh, I can go on for a long time. It's just awesome!
By the way, it's better to buy it in Canada, it's cheaper there, even with shipping.