I have a Shark from WalMart, the one with the red tank. It is auto shut off, but comes right back on if you jiggle it. We have well water, so I buy gallons of spring water and that saves alot of stress and brown spots on my fabric.
As for the tulle, try the hot iron cleaner. I got it at JoAnn's and I think WalMart has it too and it works great.