This is one of those "why didn't I think of that" things. I have a problem remembering to turn off my iron when I leave my sewing room for the evening. I paid some money for it and I'm terrified of fire, but still from time to time I find I have left it on. The light on the iron is small and very unnoticable. While reading on-line today something made me think of plugging the iron into the same socket with the lamp I use next to the ironing table. I used an extension cord for now, but I plan to get a surge protector for these plugs. Now when I leave the room, I have only one disconnect for both things and if the light is on, my iron is on, too. It won't happen again!

Brilliant!

I have the same fear and I was always told to never plug your iron in to the same outlet as your sewing machine because they take so much energy, even if they are on a surge protector. My dealer even told me that when I bought my machine so I plug my light and iron in one socket on the one wall and my machine in another socket on the other wall and I unplug both surge protectors as I leave the room and everything is good

Excellent idea, no more going to bed wondering if you turned it off, if light are out it's all good. Thanks for sharing.

That will definitely make you feel safer at night. When we renovated our house and I was able to get a dedicated sewing room, I had a 20 amp outlet put in with a light switch for the iron. When I leave the sewing room, if all the light switches are off, then I know for sure that the iron is off. Sometimes I have to put the iron somewhere else in the sewing room and I always use a power strip for that (it doesn't have to be a surge protector, just a power strip will work).

This idea will be wonderful to lots of people. Thanks for posting it! :thumbup:

Excellent idea!

That's what I loved about my first apartment. It was a 1 bedroom with a huge bathroom. The outlet in the bathroom was controlled by the switch. I did all my ironing in there because it was so big and I never had to worry about leaving the iron on, because I was very OCD about turning out the light :-D.

Thank you for the tip.

Good for u!!

I plug mine into a serge protector strip along with my lamp. Then use the on/off switch for both. It's easier to remember to turn it off when the light is on.

I finally had to break down and buy an iron that shuts itself off. The only drawback is that sometimes it shuts off while I'm working cause I get involved in sewing and not pressing...and when I go to the iron..it's off.

I've always had my iron & lamp plugged into the surge protector. Yes, it works great.

I have everything on my surge...sewing machines, lamps, iron and light box...One switch to turn everything off....

I have an iron that turns itself off cause I left my iron on one time over night and it really scared me. Like the idea of light off, iron off.

Love the idea... I have a stupid iron that turns itself off after 30 mins regardless if I am using it or not. It drives me crazy... I keep wanting to get a new one but it is way down on my list of things to buy..

Thanks for the tip!!! Now I wont forget either.

My iron, a real cheap one because I dropped and broke 2 irons before I bought this one, will turn itself off after 8 minutes. It's not really "off", but the heat level is reduced to almost undetectable.

Even so, I am in the habit of unplugging the iron when I am done with it.

Great idea. It is so easy to forget to unplug them. Thank you for sharing this idea with us.

I have my iron and a radio on the same power strip. Radio playing reminds me to shut it off when I leave the room. Sewing machine and light is on another power strip.

Great idea for safety and peace of mind.

I see the light!! Thanks for the idea. From another leave the iron on quilter.

Great idea. I shudder to think what might happen. Wouldn't it be great if they made an iron that shut off after a given period of time?

I bought a little stretchy bracelet for a dollar and I put it on the handle of my little Rowenta iron. When I plug it in, I put the bracelet on. When I unplug it, I take the bracelet off and hook it back onto the handle of the iron. IF I get downstairs and still have the bracelet on, I KNOW that I have to run back up and unplug the iron. SIMPLE

If you are going to use an extension cord make sure you get a real heavy duty one - thicker than the normal ones. Irons put a big strain on regular cords. just a thought.

Thanks for the great idea. I, too have a problem with remembering to turn it completely off.

Good idea, I got tired of my iron turning off even while I was using it so I use an Old old iron that doesn't turn off and have left it on all night many times...

I, too, use the surge protecter and everything plugged into can be turned off at on time.

Good idea! I always unplug the iron and hang the cord over the ironing board, so I can see the plug end and as I shut off the light I look over at the ironing board each time and say to myself - "Yes it is off and unplugged!"

Thanks for sharing your safety idea!

Thanks for sharing this idea! I have a switch on the wall that controls an outlet. Everything that needs to be turned off is attached to a surge suppressor power strip. When I'm done, I hit the switch and all those things turn off. Plus, with a power suppressor, I bolt of lightning is less likely to fry everything!
:thumbup:

I tried plugging my iron into my surge protector and everything went dead! Had to plug my iron directly into the wall socket.

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.