My Rowenta iron will leak water if I try to use it before it's heated up thoroughly...hot hot hot! So I turn it on - find something to do for a few minutes and then iron away.
My current model does not have the auto shutoff. IMHO that's the worst kind for a quilter to have. We sew, we sew, we iron, we sew, we cut, we sew, we iron, etc. Previous iron had auto shutoff - couldn't stand it.