I have two mini irons--the Clover variety, and the one that actually looks like a minature iron. I've only used the Clover iron once, for sticking Hot Fix Crystals on. I tried it for paper piecing and for applique, but found I preferred my regular iron. The one that looks like a minature iron gets hot in the same proportion to its size. I could probably hold it in the palm of my hand and not get burned. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't purchase either . . . although it worked pretty well for those crystals.