Good Idea

This is so important and I even forget sometimes especially if I sew late into the evening and am tired and distracted.

We have homes in two states; Illinois and Wisconsin. I try to unplug all appliances when I leave, i.e. toaster oven, toaster, curling irons, iron etc. My daughter has had 2 fires from toaster ovens when they were OFF. You read that right - OFF.

We all need to be diligent about these small appliances they are so cute and so dangerous!!! Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We need to be reminded of the dangers and control the things we can.

great tip, thanks for sharing....

When I had my sewing room redone, I had the plug for my iron put on the same circut as my overhead lights. I flip one switch and they both go on. If the lights are on the iron is on.

I sew in my basement.. and one of the great things about that is that it's dark down there.. so the last thing I do when I leave it look to see if there is any light.. no light, everything is off.. that's because everything is plugged into surge protectors, when I flip the switches, the lights, machines, iron, tv, radio, anything that can be on, goes off.. If I see any light, I know I have left something on.

I purchased a timer from Home Depot, it plugs into the wall outlet, plug the iron into it and set it for how many hours you think you will be using the iron. When the time expires the iron goes off. We have a lot of these timer to turn on and off the lights while we are on vacation and to turn on and of the outside lights daily.

Great tip, I have this problem too and will try this way to remember.

You have that right! I read somewhere that toasters are the worst! It is because of the type of switch. It is just a contact switch so they are never really Off. I don't leave ANY kitchen gadgets plugged in when they are not being used. Even the coffee maker.

My iron is on a surge protector with a lamp. The TV and sewing machine are on another one and it is simple to hit the switches when leaving the room. If we leave for a vacation, I'll unplug the surge protectors just to make sure.

At one time I had plugged my iron into an extension cord for convenience. Unfortunately, the iron would work intermittently. I thought something had to be wrong with the iron.. nope - it was pulling too much power through the cord and would just shut off.

Now I just plug it into the wall directly.

One good/bad thing about my sewing room is that as a house built in 1969, the former-formal-living-room-now-sewing-room had NO light fixtures wired into the ceiling.
All of the power outlets are controlled by the light switch.
My DH installed lighting for me.. and when I leave the room I turn off the lights and EVERYTHING is off!

I have made a habit to never turn off the light in my sewing/computer/guest room without first checking the iron. The light sometimes stays on more when I'm out of the room than I would normally leave it, but it has proved to be worthwhile several times. I do the same with my curling irons in the bathroom.