givio

I recently bought the Panasonic cordless iron. I love it! The freedom of not dragging a cord is great. It is not a pop up iron, but it does have an auto-shut off after ten minutes. Since I've been known to leave my sewing area for hours, forgetting to turn off my old iron, I really like that feature. If I am sewing more than ten minutes, I simply press the button for heating again, and there's no problem there.

I like that it has the square base that I'm used to, for sitting it on my ironing board if I want, while opening up seams with both hands, or whatever. I saw a double pointed cordless iron that had a good review, but it's not what I want.

Mine holds it's heat for as long as I would need it for anything I'd be ironing. When you put it on the base it quickly returns to the heat you set it for. Sliding it into the base is not difficult or annoying like I thought it might be before I bought it. I saw another iron that stood up straight on it's base, which I thought might be easier to return to its base for recharging, but, as I remember, it came only in 220 volts.

The cord rolls sweetly into the base, and pulls out freely for the length I need. The base is near to the size of the iron, so it's not bulky and fits exactly to the right of my machine on my cabinet. The cover clamps on and off the base easily, and keeps the dust off it, which I like as I leave my iron out all the time. Anyone going to a guild would love the case with its compact portability.

I've always preferred a stainless sole over the Teflon kind, and like that it has that feature.

If you are keen on multiple heat settings-- it has only three. I had often used the hottest 'linen' setting on my old iron, which did cause me to scorch my cottons occasionally, but I loved the tight, crisp press it gave. This is the only drawback I find with my new iron. It's hottest is 'cotton.' I find it's really hot enough though. :-) The trade off in heat settings in order to have cordless is worth it to me.

I have not tried the steam because I always dry iron, so I don't know how effective it is. There are certainly lots of holes in the sole plate, and there is also an option for direct squirting. The way of filling the water reservoir is really cool. It's see through plastic, so you can see how much water is in it. It snaps off of the iron very well-- you simply remove it and take it to where you can pour in your water, which seems very clean and convenient.

It has a good weight, not too light or cheap feeling, and not too heavy or clunky feeling. It all seems very well engineered, and well built.