Pres Kloth

Before home irons came with a steam feature there was Pres Kloth.

I happened to acquire one recently with it's nifty pamphlet: 

Apparently the Pres Kloth isn't just a simple piece of fabric...it's permanently sealed with chemicals!

Here is the package from another brand of press cloth  (all of these items were together) and it claims silicone as the chemical.

I wanted to give it a quick try so I used it on some super wrinkly flannel fabric.  It worked just as well as my steam iron did.  I'm not really sure if this thing is just a vintage unnecessary gadget or not.

It seems to me you could just dampen a flour sack towel and get the same results...but you would miss out on all the steamy chemical goodness!