I've got the cheap B&D iron from Walmart for 4 years now. It's the best iron ever for quilting.

I bought an iron in 2000 at a Tuesday Morning store...it carries a Faultless Starch name and I've never known who made it, but it's great...still going strong.

I have a B&D that I got at a yard sale and i love the amount of steam i get, it's a little bigger then i'd like but will deal.

I have 2 Rowenta's and love them.

I had an expensive iron but went to WM and bought a Black and Decker, the cheapest one I could find. The expensive iron was much too heavy for me, but the B&D is very light weight. I made the mistake of buying the B&D with a teflon sole plate, and now I'm thinking of looking for for one with a metal soleplate. I don't ever use my irons as steam irons, perferring to spray the fabric with water from a spray bottle and then to iron. Nothing ever spits out and ruins my fabric that way :lol: I even think a travel iron with no ability to steam would be a good idea for anyone to use. Nice and light - that's the secret!

I think I've tried them all. I'd say go for the one that has the features you want. Personally, I hate the dial when it's under the handle. My current iron is a Sunbeam I got at JoAnn's. You don't have to pay a ton of money for a good iron. And if you decide you don't really care for the one you got, you didn't invest a fortune. I also prefer one that isn't too heavy.

I have a Rowenta and love it.

I bought a $29.00 Black and Decker at WalMart. It has the auto shut off which I like because I forget to unplug it. It is also self cleaning and it is pretty heavy. I like it a lot. I won't buy an expensive one because I have knocked so many of them in the floor.

I have 2 Rowentas and still prefer my cheap one.

It depends on the water you put into the Rowentas. You do not want to use distilled water because the iron is designed for "tap" water. Our water is so hard I won't even drink it so for several years I have used bottled "Drinking Water" which has the rocks and such filtered out.
It also depends on when and where the iron was made.
In our litiginous society irons which get "too hot" can cause burns which people will/have sue over. sigh.
(Check the instructions..... most irons have instructions to the effect of "Do not iron clothing while you are wearing it." )

I used to average 9-10 months before burning up an iron. Literally they would start to smoke at the cord and so forth, none actually caught fire, but..........
Bought a Rowenta that cost 3-4 times what the less expensive irons cost, but lasted for over 12 years. I was sold. Had a couple of the basic type Rowentas, then had the money, needed a new iron, and they were on sale so I bought a Rowenta Steam Generator iron. I love it. No water in the iron. The tank is a pressure "boiler" that holds a quart of water. You can have no steam up to a whole lot of steam and then some or anything in between. If/when it dies not sure what I will get, since Rowentas are no longer being made in Germany (as far as I can tell) but it will be a steam generator for sure. wonderful for all kinds of pressing/ironing.
The iron gets as hot as the vintage GE dry iron I have that was my ex's Grandmother's. <G>

Yes I have several irons currently..... and none of them are auto- shut off. When I go to the iron I want it HOT and Now. <G>

Pati, in Phx

I have a Rowenta and I won't get another one. Does not heat up enough and is very slow at heating.

I use a Sunbeam and love it. When it quits, I am only out $15.00. I have had really good luck and can't see spending 40 or 50 bucks.

My Hamilton Beach from WalMart has done it's best for me.

Well, ladies and gents, I feel for all of you purchasing all of these different irons over the years. Just last night as I was ironing pieced blocks my dh made a comment about the iron being so old. My instant reply was, "NO ONE has an iron like mine anymore"!

I got it 39 years ago from my dear dear Aunt as an engagement present. It's a GE "Spray, Steam & Dry" iron. Never once needed a repair. Works like a charm each and every time and always delivers steam when I put the button in the "steam" position.

They don't make 'em like they used to.

I love my Rowenta full size iron and have had it for 15 or better years. But I just recently purchased the Rowenta Travel iron to take back and forth to the Quilt Guild workshops and classes and I love that one too. The handle folds and makes it nice and compact.
Bed, Bath and Beyond is the best placed to get it and use your discount coupon that is mailed if you are signed up. It's more expensive at JoAnn's, but if you get a 50% off coupon, some stores won't honor it on a Rowenta iron.

Hi, I've had 2 Rowenta Professionals that died on me within 2 yrs. (>$120). Vowed not to buy another one.
Then went on a quilt weekend and several people had the Rowenta "First Class" iron and loved them. They are small and meant more for quilt getaways and ironing blocks and smaller pieces. Well, I bought one. LOVE IT! so much so that I bought another one to do my "daily" ironing with. Even use it for large quilts - just takes longer because the iron is smaller than a standard iron. Drawbacks are that it has no auto-shut-off (if you want one) and the water holder (tap water only - great) is small and needs frequent filling if doing a lot of ironing at one time. Pluses are it's small for travelling, dual voltage, use with or without steam, burst of steam, vertical steam, storage bag for travelling, lightweight. They can be bought at Bed Bath and Beyond for $40 minus any coupon you may have. They cost more at Jo-Anns and you cannot use a coupon at Jo-Anns for irons. Bought one at Jo-Anns, saw the better deal at BB&B and returned the one to Jo-Anns. BTW one of mine stopped giving out steam after 2 days of use. I had bought it several months earlier and saved for a weekend. I went back to BB&B and told them no steam, bought long ago, not used long, no sales slip. They looked up my "sales" on their computer, saw the sale, and exchanged my non-working one for a brand new one - no problem - GREAT SERVICE!

I've had my Rowenta for several years now and have had no porblems but I might look into a Black and Decker as a second one for downstairs.

Amen!

I always thought that Rowenta was the only iron you should have. Each year or less, I would have to buy another one and they're not cheap. Hancock's had a sale on their irons and I bought 2 at $12 each. Great irons. The first one lasted almost 2 years which the longest I have ever had an iron. I was also told not to use tap or distilled water but purified water and I don't get the spurts.

i buy the cheapest w/steam at wally world, usually about 9-12
why bother when the cat knocks it down, and it workw just as good as the 60-80 range, and when it goes in 3-4 yrs, i got my money's worth.

I started quilting at the end of 2002. I guess I'm a slow learner. I have purchased 6 Rowentas. I think I've finally figured out they aren't worth it. My last one had a terrible bladder problem; it kept my ironing board wet all the time.

Someone said last week that if you add cold water to your hot iron that it will eventually leak. I had never heard of that.

Rowenta has a travel steam iron that to me is the best for steam and it was a gift.
Angeline

I agree with Sadiemae. I hate when I'm sewing that the darn iron shuts off and U have to wait for it to heat up!! I have a Pro Glide Plus that I bought several years ago at a sewing shop. Its not an automatic shut off.

I bought a Rowenta from Joanns - lasted 2 months before it started leaking like a sieve, spitting and sputtering - hate it!! Bought a B & D from Walmart and it works great. Not a lot of steam but I keep a spray bottle close by if I need more oomph!

I have a Rowenta and I too love it! It has worked like a champ since the day I bought it, about 20 years ago! I also just bought a small travel Rowenta and really like it, too.

I bought a Rowenta on sale, and I like it. I also bought a Shark (heaard good things about them) at a garage sale for $5.00, that is the one I use in my sewing room. The Rowenta I keep downstairs because sometimes I take my project down and I didn't want to have to carry an iron back and forth. I did have a black and Decker and it was great til it went out, that's when I got the Shark. From what I have read, next time I'll just go to Walmart. Only thing my B&D did not hold as much water as the ones I have now.

Hope you don't mind me asking a question. I have the same question as Lucky Lindy but my problem is it seems that the iron never gets hot enough. Anyone else have this problem? I remember the days when you could actually burn your fabric, not that I want to.

When I bought my current iron I specifically looked for a certain wattage (or hotness, I guess). My old one was pretty low watts-it was a cheap sunbeam. My new one is higher but I can't remember how high.

I have had my Rowenta Professional for 10 years and LOVE it! It had never given me a single problem, and I like that it has some weight to it. I can't find a new model that is the same as mine by them. I have also always used an iron safe on it - $9.00 at JoAnn's. Never have to worry about scorching or changing fabrics.

I have a very expensive Rowenta, I do not like it.
I went to Khols and bought the one that turns off automaticaly and love it.

I have to agree about the cheap WalMart iron. I was at my daughter's house babysitting my granddaughter and while she was napping was doing a little piecing. My daughter's iron was wonderful! It was not so heavy, and got really hot, doing a good job on pressing seams. I told her how much I loved her iron and she said, "oh well, it is just a cheap one from WalMart." I have a Rowenta, which is ok, but nothing special, and it leaks sometimes. I am thinking of trading irons with her!

I just bought a Hamilton Beach at Walmart, cause I wasn't happy with the Black and Decker I had brought home couple months ago, it's going to the Goodwill or Salvation Army, think I am going to like the new one!

Have to cheap irons. Find the more expensive ones like I got from ORECK too heavy.

I have a Black and Decker with a long cord and auto shut off. The only thing is it shuts off when I need it. Got at Wal Mart. Have used B&D for years. Good irons

Had three Rowentas. They all leaked and they were top of the line. Never again.

If you have a leaky iron, it might be from using all distilled water in them. The instructions say to NOT use distilled water, but tap water or half spring water and half tap water. I'm not sure why the distilled would make it leak, but it does.

Oh is that a pain! My old iron did that, and it was also too heavy. Went to KM and got a cheeeeeep Black and Decker. Love it!

I am so glad to hear the comments about the Rowenta Professional Model. You have given me peace of mind. I always used distilled water and after experiencing the problems with the Professional was not willing to upgrade to a more expensive mode. I spoke with the Rowenta rep who told me they never had such a problem with this model. Perhaps we need to let them know!

Let's be honest here......my iron gets hot.....I press my seams or my wrinkled fabric.....the job is done. I cannot imagine paying huge bucks for an iron when there are soooo many other toys out there I'm dying to own. My Walmart special (<$20) works just fine. Just my opinion. By the way....I do get a little peaved when my iron goes to sleep on me and I'm still quilting. LOL

So happy to read this thread. One would think an iron was an iron, but not so.

I just got a Hamilton Beach from Walmart too, and I'm not happy with it. Doesn't seem to get hot enough, and doesn't put out steam worth a flip.

Must be who made the iron on any given day. Mine was made by the guy with the day off.