I don't know if you can get them over there but I have one with a cordless feature - it is brilliant and it reheats in seconds on it's stand. You can also use it corded for ironing yardage (or shirts!) but it stays hot cordless plenty long enough to press a few blocks. It only cost around the equivalent of 20 USD. In fact I've got two, one in the sewing room and one downstairs for DH's shirts - guess which one gets the most use? ;-)

HI, are you ironing fabric a lot of it or just the blocks. At JoAnn's the have that little mini iron.... no steam which you do not use when ironing blocks. $reg 19.00 I used a 40% off coupon. It is so small and so great... I had a B& D iron too and the same thing I got a Rowenta and the same. The steam thing was replaced and it did fine for a few years... then started spitting again, and DH got me the big seperate water steamer. The I won a new rowenta still in the box... The little cheep iron I got at WalMart about 7 or 8 years ago is great. So you do not have to spend a lot but frustrating when you think you are getting a good one and it goes so fast... They do have a year warrenty on most of them...

I have a Black and Decker that doesn't shut off for an hour and a half. It was pretty cheap but has done great.

Maybe we should do like Barb M and get our irons from the thrift stores, never thought about that. At least we should buy a backup from there. Great idea Barb.

My favorite irons are the old heavy ones that can be found in thrift stores and garage sales. They get hotter than the new irons and don't have automatic shup off which I don't like at all.

And the best part, they usually sell for under $5 a piece. I own about 10 of these as I use them at my Quilt Retreats. When one dies or gets dropped, I just pitch it and get another one. Many times the only thing wrong with them is the cord is shot so I buy a 12 foot extension cord and have my husband wire it on the iron for a new cord. Works great!

Does anyone else wonder why we can't buy an iron without steam? Seems to me that the manufacturer that comes up with a hole-less plate on an iron that gets hot enough and has an always on option could sell quite a few units...what do yall think?

I think mine is B&D. I bought it a couple of years ago when my old iron gave out. I could not justify spending the big bucks on a Rowenta. I searched and searched for a reasonably priced ($50 or less) iron that wasn't made in China and could not find so I got a made in China one at Walmart for around $20, may have been $30. The steam feature quit working and it leaks water like crazy if I try to put water in. I just use it with no water and keep a spritzy bottle in my sewing room. I can't help but wonder if using steam features and putting water in an iron shorten's their lifespan. Also I am pretty sure the auto shutoff doesn't work any more either because it always seems to be hot whenever it is turned on but that is fine by me. I found it annoying as well but when it did work it only seemed to take a minute or so to get up to heat. This thread makes me want to go out and buy a backup though.

I believe it does shorten the lifespan, no matter how often I clean my iron eventually it has a calcium build up and I only use bottle water. When it starts to spit, which they always do, you get some hard white residue that will come out. I have tried vinegar and let it just steam and steam, it helps but does not get it all out.

Is there an 'iron virus' going around? My Oreck died last week. I had not used it for about 6 weeks. When my classes started back up it was dead. It was free with the purchase of my vacuum cleaner so I did get my money's worth out of it. I had an old one so I dragged it out. Think I'll try the thrift stores too. The Reliable at Joann's is that a brand name?

Mine is a WalMart $14 Proctor Silex Model 17135, teflon soleplate, no auto shut off, it gets hot, has decent steam and a point on the tip. If it lasts 1+ years I will be happy :D:D:D
I bought it in Oct/Nov