I love the fact that mine “shuts down” and saves electricity, when I need to use it, I walk up, give it a little jiggle, wait about a second or two, and I am ready to iron again. I also found a silicone “rest” ( shaped like the iron face) for my iron that allows me to set my hot iron on it face down and it allows my iron to cool in a safer position, since I have a cat I’ve had for 17 years who thinks that nice warm spot the iron leaves is just for him. This way I do not have to worry about him tipping it on himself trying to get to the warm spot. He won’t go near the iron itself, but he knows there is a warm spot with his name on it. I leave “ his towel” over the ironing board in between uses,so he can nap there. At seventeen, if he wants to sleep in the warm spot, he deserves it.

*(My ironing board is against a wall, so I can just pull it out a bit for larger items, so it is safer for Bruno. {oh the things we do for the fur kids})

I was reading this thread to my husband. He agrees with the suggestion that distilled water will corrode, he says most people forget that water is a solvent and will eventually dissolve whatever it comes in contact with. He also says distilled water can flash-boil, which may be another very good reason to use plain tap water.

I wonder if bottled drinking water would be better than distilled. We live in the country and have a well, and our water is so bad. When I did use it in an iron a long time ago, it sputtered and spit out rust colored water. This is despite me emptying it every time. I never used water at all after that (ruined my project-the rust would not come out without bleaching the fabric) and just use a spray bottle with distilled water now. I'd like to use actual steam in my steam press but there's no way I'm ruining it with my awful tap water. We ruined at least 2 fish tank filters with our tap water.

Might be worth a try. Most bottled drinking water is from a municipal supply, despite how fancy they try to make it sound.

This thread reminded me of a conversation I had with my 17 year old son last week. He went on a boy scout rappelling trip to Zion last summer and had the time of his life. We were looking at the pictures, and he pointed out a spring I hadn't seen before. He said they drank from that spring and it was the best-tasting water he had ever had. I was kinda jealous!

I wonder the same thing Gale. We also have well water which is very hard. We have a water softener, but that also is not good for irons. I use my reverse osmosis tap water in a spritz bottle. The only fish that will live in our water are gold fish. I use hard water and they are now 14yo, so must like it okay. I have to clean the mineral build up out of the filter or it would be clogged and dead too.

I have a small travel iron that I have had for 30-40 years. It is the most wonderful iron ever. It stays hot irons seams and irons out wrinkles with no steam. I have picked a few more up at thrift stores. When my friends use the iron, they always say "If you see another at the thrift store, please buy it for me. I love this iron". I have bought about 10-15 since I started quilting 10-12 years ago. they are treasures.

That reminds me of the water I had in Texas. I tried to filter it, and it ruined the filters. It left white reside in pans and calcium like bubbles floated on plain boiled water. Spring water for me. Only spring water.

DonnaC: I bought the BLACK+DECKER Digital Advantage Professional Steam Iron, LCD Screen, Gray, D2030
Hopefully this link will work.