Iron Stupdity
 

I have an automatic shut-off iron.

I thought it was off.

I set it flat on carpet while I changed the ironing board cover.

It was not off.

I now have an iron imprint in the carpet.

(Fortunately, this is in the basement, but still - - - _

Moral of the story: Unplug your iron when not using it for ironing.

Sigh. I hope you recover quickly from this unfortunate incident. Thanks for the warning.

Oh dear. It's always some unfortunate lesson, isn't it? My 2 year old iron has decided if it's more than 1/2 full, it will leak out water overnight.

Time for an applique?

[QUOTE=tucsonquilter;7850288]Time for an applique?[/QUOTE}]

It was the carpet on the floor that has the iron imprint.

Yikes. Put a rug over it and nobody will notice.
My iron is plugged in a switched outlet. Easy to tell when it's on/off.
I still unplug when I leave my sewing room.

I have my iron in a plug strip with an under cabinet light. When I am done with the iron I turn off the plug strip. Light is off and so is iron.

I have no carpeting - all wood floors.

Glad it's just an impression in the carpet and not something worse. Pretty scary that an auto shut off iron would do this.

Rob

My carpet has a few scars from the iron falling to the floor. I only tried once to catch it before it hit the floor and have the scar on my hand to show my stupidity.

Cari

don't try catching hot curling irons either!!

Basement? Perfect! Now put iron impressions in a pattern in a rug shape.

to look at it positively this would be a good time for a design choice..you could make iron imprints all over the carpet..lol..

Is the pile long enough so you can the carpet a haircut? I've done that once or twice. I'm not sure my auto off iron is ever really off. I should start using the plug strip to disconnect power as the cord hangs down on the way to the dogs' crates. A boo boo waiting to happen.

I did that once. It only takes once, and you'll never do it again. So you've got your turn over with. LOL!

Aaarrrggghhhh. I hate doing things like that.

When not in use, my iron is always unplugged. I know of someone whose house was gutted by fire because of an iron left plugged in.

Yes, it happens. I double check the iron with shutoff before going to sleep at night. Always a chance it will not shutoff so it gets unplugged.

I was using my Oliso and needed more room on the board. So I set it down on the carpeted floor thinking the feet would hold it up. Well, not soon enough. It made the carpet rough and crispy in the seconds it took for the feet to come out and raise up the iron.
Stupid.

Yikes...luckily it didn't cause more damage than the imprint and thankfully you weren't burned either. Thanks for the reminder...

You can never be too careful about electrical equipment. Not too long ago I was hosting a sewing group in my sewing room and someone started to use my iron on and immediately it burst into flame at the place the cord connected to the iron. It fizzled out and no one was hurt and the carpet was not burned. A lesson was learned by several people. The iron was no more than a couple of years old. I have all my things plugged into two power strips and turn the strip off at night.

This is why I love my Euro iron so much. According to the demonstration at the quilt show, it would not have burned your carpet. When I saw the hot iron put on a balloon without popping it, I was sold. They claim that you could put the iron on a piece of fabric all day without a burning it.

I can iron all kinds of flimsy fabrics without damage that other irons would destroy. I have no idea why it works. It must be magic.

I loved my euro iron when I first got it- it fell on the carpet- the carpet was fine, but the iron broke. Their new resting pad helps prevent that. I never burnt or got shiny spots on anything:)

Think of it as 'branding' your room!

Forgive yourself and move on. It might be time for one of those rubber mats that reduce stress on your joints when standing if the location of the burn is where you stand to iron.

I was distressed about something else when I did that - so - not thinking about the task at hand!

It's not a major disaster - although the carpet is crispy there. I was standing nearby and smelled something "funny".

The bottom of the iron is shiny - so the gunk ironed off on brown paper bags. What did not come off right away, I used Scour Off by Shaklee to remove. (I could not find my iron cleaner stuff.)

I sew in the attic. when i leave i make sure the cord/plug to the iron is up where i can see it. Just don't trust myself.

I had a Euro also. Had a leak problem and I was sent replacement parts a couple times. When I kept calling because it was still leaking, they told me I had to pay $80.00 just for them to look at it and then an additional payment for any labor and/or parts. And it was no longer guaranteeded. I told them never mind. I hung up and threw it in the trash. I now have a Rowenta that leaks....sigh.....I use it dry even though I like steam. My $9.00 Dollar Tree iron is the best I have. I can use water and it gets HOT!! The Rowenta does not get as hot.

Is the carpet new? Do you have a scrap of the carpet? can the damage be cut out and replaced with a scrap?

I always empty no matter how much just to be sure. I purchased an iron rest from Walmart (Teflon). Works great ($5). I rest it on that.

My friend, did burn her carpet. She put a standing lamp there. Could also use a little circle table or foot stool, one more a little storage stool or box. We all do something. Hope your day is better tomorrow.

Just think of it at a new decorating trend...:)

I really think the occasions when products malfunction and cause a fire -- they're really relatively rare -- the other things -- like leaving the iron plugged in or the coffee-maker warmer on -- sooner or later, those are going to get too hot and cause damage or a fire. I had a cooktop that had a knob on one burner just didn't turn the burner fully off -- a result of which was a cooking fire -- I smothered it with the lid, but it had a french-fry basket in there so the lid did not fully smother the fire --the fire restarted. I put the lid back on the pan, took an old towel (worn ragged) had my son wet it, took the pan with the oil, flames temporarily subsided, held the lid and threw it out in the yard from where I was standing. We had no grass in that spot for 3 months. That was okay with me -- we didn't have to cut it, and no damage to the house! lol! Anything electrical can catch fire -- the danger is always there. I try to be extra careful -- when I was about 10 years old, our house burned to the ground, and almost killed my Dad in the process. Thank God for a wonderful neighbor who saved his life! The plug strip with a switch to turn off the power would probably be the safest. Even if you have to unplug the strip to be absolutely safe, you can plug in multiple appliances you would use in sewing and unplug them all just by pulling the plug for the strip! Fire just scares the bejabbers out of me! Be safe all!

Is it just me or what? I have 3 auto shut off irons but when I move the iron it starts again, isn't it supposed to?

I'm so sorry that happened to you with the iron. Maybe you can put an area rug to cover it up.

Second lesson: do not set your landline phone on end of ironing board while ironing. If the phone rings, you may just answer your iron. Not the blush I want on my cheek.

We all have done things like that Bear and had that sinking, sick feeling in the pit of our stomach at the damage done and how close we could have come to real disaster. No matter how careful we are....it happens!
It was very good of you to point out your mistake and its result because there are those of us who can visualize it happening and, truth be known, I would have trusted the automatic shut off myself!...and HAVE.

In retrospect, the iron was cold when I had set it down on the floor - but apparently I had not clicked it to the "off" setting the last time I used it - so when I set it down flat on the carpet - it heated up. So -

I will start to unplug the iron when I leave the area. Even though it is a bother to do so.
I have to crawl under the ironing board to do so.

Why don't you ask an electrician to move your electrical outlet so you don't have to crawl?
Mine was behind a closet and had to use an extension cord. Now I have it next to my
ironing board. Save your back. :thumbup:

I did the same as sval - the worst part was cleaning the melted ick off the iron.