I am currently using a Rowenta "Effective". I haven't been pleased with it since I bought it, it doesn't seem to get hot enough. I was just wondering what type of iron everyone is using and if you have any suggestions.

I will be interested in the replies you get. Irons are the bane of my existence! I have bought three since I started quilting last year and am still not satisfied. My husband - who indulges my hobbies with enthusiasm - is ready to blow a fuse. He hasn't complained but I can tell!

I have bought 2 of the reiable "velocity" irons that are supposed to be the best thing since apple pie and ice cream! The first wouldn't get hot and the second made a noise like it was going to explode - and did nothing else. $198 for an iron that wouldn't do anything!

I ordered a Rowenta and the company subsituted a different model from the one I ordered. It is OK, but it spits and that is very annoying. Sooooo...that leaves iron # 3 which is a Singer and the worst of the 3!

I am back to using my "before quilting" black & decker that does the job the 3 "sewing/quilting" irons couldn't do. I'm still shopping for that perfect iron!

Good luck to you. :)

Good luck to you. It seems like I have an iron in my hand all day. My Rowenta wasn't as expensive as yours, but I think for $80.00 it ought to at least get hot. This one spits real bad too, or once in a while the water just pours out.

I thought I was done ironing when 'permanent press' arrived - and then when I decided to take up quilting, I didn't know I would have to be "pressing" constantly! I wonder if it would have deterred me??? It might. It just might have because I hate to stop and start and stop and start. Oh well....I'm hooked now!

The best one I have found so far is a Shark Professional. I got it for under $30 at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I refuse to spend more than that as they end up on the floor alot. :) I'd rather spend that once a year than $200 on a "good" one that seems to get a lot of bad reviews.

I don't know if you can get Philips in the US but I had a Philips Ionic Azure which worked really well until I dropped it on the stone floor and it broke it!. Because all our sheets etc are 100% cotton or linen (husband has chronic asthma and eczema) I need something with a lot of oomph. Upon recommendation, I bought a Philips Steam System Generator. Gets wrinkles out of anything. My usual 2 hour ironing session is now 45 mins. Nice thing is as the water is held in a resevoir and not in the iron, the iron itself is very light. Drawbacks - steam generators are a bit noisy, you need an ironing board that is metal mesh not solid wood and a larger area to stow it away.

I hope you wrote the companies of the irons that didn't work. The R iron is famous for not working. I have had 6 of the O iron. The one that little legs jump up. They all dumped water. When I told this at a recent trade show the person there told me to "come back when I didn't have as long to stay." Such an insult.
Seems the most frequent answer is to get lower price irons and when they start acting up, then junk them.

I like and recommend the Shark which I got at Sears. They have two or three models, I think. I get the middle of the road one. Maybe $40.

In six years, I am only on my second Shark and haven't used any others.

First Rowenta I owned broke at 2 years old. Second one (no auto shutoff) still going strong. Third Rowenta (I bought for $10 at a rummage sale! WOOHOO!) Going Strong! (2 irons I purchased at a resale shop were scary - one got hot and leaked horribly - I think it's gasket was bad - the other would not steam at all - so those are in the 'to sell' pile labeled as Dry Irons Only)

I've read that if the iron isn't hot enough it'll spit water.

I have a Sunbeam that I bought at walmart for under $20 probably 9 years ago or so. It holds water, does not spit, never has, but I no longer put water in it. I like a spray bottle better than steam. This thng has been held together with Scotch tape for 3 years. It has hit the floor more often than Mike Tyson's sparring partner.

I have a "nice" Rowenta iron I bought from a local hotel when they went out of business, $10, looks like new and does not heat up like it should, but I have 2 ironing "stations" so I will continue to use it for now.