Originally Posted by martha jo
Hate to brag on it but my Rowenta is about 15 years old and works fine. I keep a small iron next to machine when piecing that is a Craft Sealing Iron. It gets hot and works great. Not that tiny little one I have seen.
My Rowenta Powerglide 2 is also about 10 yrs. old and I've not had any problems with it, but know it might be on it's last legs. They don't make this model anymore, since it does not have the auto-off feature.
I looked up the Reliable iron someone mentioned and their irons seem to be made well, if they do what they say. A bit pricey but if they work for a long time, I'd say 10 plus yrs., they're worth it. The Digital Velocity V 100 is the model for home use. It has a auto shut-off which can be disabled. It has a demineralizing anti-scale system w/ changeable filter (once a yr.). Their webste is www.reliablecorporation.com. They also have a steam generator with a removeabe water tank, which you use tap water in. It doesn't have the pressure cap to open the water tank, which is hard to get off on other styles of steam generators. This is lots more than Rowenta's steam generator, so don't know if people want to spend that much on a steam iron system. I guess it depends on your needs and your pocketbook.