Best Steam Iron?
 

I know I am opening a can of worms and will get lots of responses but looking to replace my cheap iron which I like just fine but is not so powerful with the steam any morel. Does the wattage on them make a difference, i.e. the higher the wattage, the more steam? Thanks for all suggestions.

I love my Reliable Velocity 100. $139 on amazon.

I have an 8 year old Sunbeam Classic that I love, but it looks like it's starting to corrode, so last week I purchased another inexpensive new Sunbeam and returned it. There was no way to turn off the steam except to empty the iron, and it had a retractable cord which wasn't working so smoothly right out of the box. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchased a Black and Decker Advanced Digital steam iron for 45 (less 20%). I LOVE IT! It's 1500 watts and has a stainless steel plate. I didn't realize how badly my old iron worked. This one beeps when it reaches the right temp for your setting (which doesn't take long). It irons out the creases as soon as it touches the fabric, and the steam has three settings (plus OFF) with lots of holes in the plate so it steams like a dream. I did have a problem with the part that covers the hole for the water. It wouldn't stay closed. I exchanged it and opened the next one to check it in the store and saw right away that the latch was made of a harder plastic and worked perfectly. I highly recommend it.

I have a Rowenta steam generator with separate tank that holds a lot of water. Love it! I know others don't like the regular Rowenta and I didn't either - bought one and returned it because it spit. My steam generator does not spit.

I have a black and decker digital
Advantage. You can also use the search function because we have had lots of discussions on irons.

Another for Reliable Velocity.

black and decker digital advantage. Love mine.

What about the one jenny uses at Missouri quilting co? Expensive though! I got mine new in box at thrift store! Love them cause they are older heavier ones so seem to iron wrinkles better!!!

Me too. This iron has LOTS of steam, and it will not leak.

Yep I TOTALLY agree!

Although I got mine refurbished on ebay for $80.

But it is one iron I WILL buy again when the time
come to get a new iron.

Another MAJOR plus going for this iron is the 1800w.


QUOTE=love 2 sew;6664405]I love my Reliable Velocity 100. $139 on amazon.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info ladies. I hate shopping for a new iron but my current one is starting to leak from somewhere. Shall be checking out both the Reliable Velocity and the B&D Digital advantage.

I got my new Rowenta 1750 at Costco for about $70.00. Love it. I love steam to get my seams flat.

I just bought Oliso steam iron. I know I spent too much money, but I wanted to be sure it was a good one and it's the one that self rises when you put it down. I've seen Jenny Doan use it in her tutes.:thumbup:

I've had my Oliso for about4 1/2 years. I have the light blue one- I love it, works as well as the day I got it, great steam and I love the self lifting feature.

I'll never use anything other than my Euro. The heat never shuts off, and it sits flat on a Teflon pad. This prevents a lot of carpel tunnel pain since I don't have to twist my wrist when picking it up and putting it down.

Your new iron
 

My only suggestion would be to determine how long the iron stays on before it automatically shuts off. I had one that shut off very quickly and that was very irritating.

I love the Euro Steam because you can never burn any kind of fabric, and you never get shiny spots on black slacks!

@ Paniacs, I have the
one like Jenny uses on her videos, I love it, works great and I got mine for around $169.00 I think on EBay. If you look you can find them cheaper. Some place they were over $200.00.

I just won a Hamilton beach durithon iron. Just started using this week and so far loving heats quick steam galore and not too heavy. So far it's a winner :)

I rarely use steam in my iron. If I want dampness I spritz either with water or Best Press. One thing that was important to me when I bought an iron was a stainless sole plate. I didn't want any coating on the sole plate to start to peel off or get scratched. I also felt it would be easier to clean it if got gucky. I use a magic eraser (Mr. Clean or other brand) on a cold iron and it comes out shiny bright. I also wanted an auto off but the auto offs they have now seem to shut off very quickly after you quit moving the iron. It would be nice to have a longer time there.

I have a Panasonic cordless iron and I LOVE it. The iron heats up in the cradle and then as long as you put it back into the cradle instead of just setting it on the ironing board it stays nice and hot. Plus, while it does have auto-shut off, it detects that it's being used each time you lift it out of the cradle, so I've never had it shut off on me while I was using it. Love not having a cord all in my way. And the water tank detaches from the iron so you can leave the iron in the cradle (heating up) while you fill the tank at a more convenient angle.

It also has a heat-proof lid that clamps onto the base, and the cord retracts into the base as well. So if you take it to a class or if you don't have dedicated ironing space you can bundle it up while it's still hot and nothing bad will happen.

Has really good steam, too, although it does hiss and spit when I put it in the cradle sometimes and I wish it didn't. That's pretty much my only complaint with it, though. I've had it about a year and a half now.

I LOVE my Oliso!!! My first one (purchased at a quilt show several years ago), fell for the 4th time onto a hard ceramic tile floor........this time was knocked off a shelf that was over 5 feet from the floor......it was temperamental after that (sometimes auto lift would not work) but it STILL heated up just fine! However, to be on the safe side - since I could hear things rattling inside, I got another.........and I just love the auto-lift - 1800 watts of power and tons of steam.....my seams are so nice and flat! Love this iron.....and well worth the money ( Nancy's Notions has it on sale periodically )

I also have the Panasonic cordless and LOVE it. It is so convenient to not have to fight the cord and it stays hot. Ditto to everything Sewnomo wrote. Great for carrying to class or on trips.

I have paid $130 for a Rowenta that not only died, but it took out my fabric and ironing board cover with it.....POOF...set the cloth on fire....with NO warning! (and no, I didn't forget it)
I've bought cheap to expensive.........the BEST irons I've had are the ones I get at thrift stores or garage sales. Face it, they're going to die, so buy cheap....then you don't cry so hard when they die.

As for steam.....I use a squirt bottle and spritz the fabric. A LOT easier than worrying about cleaning the steam irons or whether they even steam or worse....they spew out ugly dirty water.

That being said, my friend/co-quilter, bought a Panasonic steam iron -- CORDLESS.....now that one has excellent steam and is CORDLESS!!!!! I may get it! :)

I don't use a steam iron, because so far, every brand and model I've gotten eventually leaks. Like citruscountyquilter, if I need to dampen the fabric, I spritz with water or Best Press which has been diluted 50% with water. I have a Continental dry iron (Amazon $45, but someone said they bought theirs at Home Depot for $30) with a stainless sole plate. I originally bought it to use with fusibles because I didn't want the little unfused places where the steam holes are. It does not have an auto shut off, which I also wanted. And best of all, it gets hot and stays hot. If I ever decide to get a steam iron, it will be the Reliable Velocity. My sister loves hers, and I noticed that Fons & Porter have switched to it. Doug Leko, a young quilt designer and teacher, swears by them. He says that the company guarantees the iron 100% and has replaced his iron twice.

mckwilter.........the Reliable Velocity may guarantee, but I question that he has had to replace it twice!!!!!! Late on Saturday night sewing marathon, the iron goes out, I'm IRRITATED!
I will expand my comment based on yours. I don't like the auto turn-off.....irritates me to no end. I hook my iron up to a power strip. My lamp is attached to it, too. If the lamp is on, the iron is on. :) :) No fires!

My old Black & Decker died, so I bought a cheapy Rival............Mistake! Would not even slide on fabric! Found a Singer Perfect Finish II (1700W), and love it! Only $30 at Big Lots. Has varying steam settings and does a fantastic job on wrinkles and fold creases in fabric.

Love mine too--after 2 horrible Rowenta irons the Reliable has proven to make my day, month, year---lol.

For years I used my wonderful Oreck iron... best one I ever had (it came in a package deal with my vacuum). Sadly it finally bit the dust. Then came a period I like to call "iron quest" (!) where I bought and returned at least seven different irons... they were all horrid. Spitting water all over, not getting hot enough, you name it. A couple of months ago I picked up an Oliso iron on sale at Jo-Ann's; it's the blue one, which is the least expensive model. Love, love this iron! It gets nice and hot, doesn't do a lot of spitting (unless I try to use it too quickly without letting it heat up like the directions tell me to), and I love being able to just set it down on its little feet. I have a habit of knocking irons off the ironing board and this iron prevents me from doing that! I paid $60 on sale and I'm very happy.

I am fed up with irons. I bought a Rowenta. The first one lasted 3 months and started steaming so much I had to refill after about 10 to 15 minutes. The floor under the ironing board was wet. The store gave me a new one different model. The next one lasted just over a year and started dripping. More like pouring. I replaced that with a Shark. It is about 2 years old and is leaking now. I am trying to figure out what to buy next.
I have been looking at the Reliable. I know a lot of people don't like the auto shut off, I like it. I feel safer with it. It is really rare that I forget to turn it off but I do on occasion. I also installed a smoke detector in my sewing room. I will keep following this as I need an iron NOW!

Does the Velocity stay heated for projects needing ironing every few minutes, like the Rowenta Autosteam, 1600 W?

I absolutely love this iron. I got mine at All Brands on line and very cheap. It is what they call a returned model for any number of reasons. I thought I would give it a try for the unbeatable price and I am not sorry for taking the chance on it. The one I received had a small scratch in the finish and that is the only thing I could find wrong with it.

Love, love, love it!!! Had it for over a year now and not one drip or spurt has spewed from it.

It does have an over ride for the auto off so you can use it with or without the auto off feature.
peace

My Rowenta is not a steam generator but I have had mine for 20 years and it does not spit at all ever!
It is a Rowenta Commesrcial Professional and is very heavy..... great for setting seams and pressing.

I have two of them. One I keep at home and one I take with me just so I know I have a reliable iron when I'm working on a project in a class or in our group.

I have purchased every iron that was recommended practically and every one leaked or burnt up...so the last time I used one my husband had in the garage that he used once to attach some laminate. It cost $12...I used that one longer than any others....It did finally give up after a 2-3 years, so now I buy a cheap one and don't feel bad when it dies.

I guess I didn't phrase that quite right. I didn't want the auto-turn off which irritates me, too, so the Continental is perfect for me -- no steam holes, no coating on the sole plate, no auto-turn off, and it stays hot.

I also plug in my iron, Ott light, Bernina and fan to a power strip, which is plugged into another power strip. Then, I don't just turn the power strip off, I totally unplug it from the other power strip. I have always unplugged my sewing machines when I am not using them, so unplugging the power strip made sense to me.

Just got the black and decker digital advantage yesterday from reading this board. I LOVE IT. Presses so nice and love the features........Thanks everyone......

Which steam generator did you have? Thayer have more than one price range I found out after I bought minr, Or what did you do different? I used store bought drinking water and it still spit terribly. Maybe if I had gone to their website and purchased the better one I would have been ok.

I purchased a Euro Steam at a quilt show. Does not spit if you don't over fill. But pressure builds up and you need to release a burst of steam every 10 min. Great for pressing quilt backs & clothes as the sole plate does not get hot. No scorching, and you can control the amt of steam a little or a LOT. I like it a lot but am a LA Quilter and have more quilt backs to touch up than doing piecing right now. I generally press dry with a little Best Press for piecing.

I only purchase Rowenta... very reliable. I have both the steam generator and steam iron and would not trade them for anything. oh yeah..... They use only tap water too!

How timely! I too need a new iron. My 15 year old Rowenta decided to "puff out" rust onto some white fabric. Up until yesterday I had no problems with it. Thankfully the problem occurred before I sewed it into my quilt.