Steam Iron Help
 

I'm sure this question has been asked many times here, but I would like to know which iron you quilters like. I'm new to quilting so I also would like to know which type of sole plate is best to look for, the stainless steel or teflon coated. I've been told that the coated sole plates are better if one is doing much applique but I'm not sure if that is true or not. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I like the stainless myself.

I have a black and decker, cost about $20 from Walmart, with stainless plate. Works great so far, been using it for years.

I have the same!!!

I just bought a Black & Decker digital on Thursday from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It has a stainless plate. So far, I really like this iron. It was only $40.00 and with a 20% off coupon, I got $8 off of it.

There are different models ob the B&D iron. Mine is from WalMart and is great. A quilting buddy got hers at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and took it back.

My WalMart Black and Decker died in the middle of a quilt earlier this year. I live 120 miles from any stores that sell decent irons, so running down to the store was out of the question. I ended up getting a Rowenta Master iron on Amazon for $49 (free shipping too). I love that iron! It steams great, gets hot fast, is heavy enough that I don't have to push on the iron, and the tip of the iron is very narrow which I love for small things and getting into small spaces. I would buy this iron again in a heart beat!!

Just a caution about buying from WalMart - look on the bottom/back of small appliances. If it says made for WalMart, it is of inferior quality compared to the same product sold in other stores like Target. It might cost less, but the quality is less than that of their regular items. I learned this the hard way on various small appliances.

I still quite new to quilting too, but I am currently using a very cheap grocery-store own-brand iron with a stainless steel plate...as so far I've actually found it a lot better for the job than my 'fancy' iron with bells and whistles than I use for ironing clothes.

My iron is a Hamilton Beach that I got at Target a year or so ago. It gets hot quickly and steams really well. If I had the money, I would LOVE to have the iron they use on the Missouri Star Quilt new tutorials. It is an Oliso smart iron and costs around $160. But it has the neatest feature: it raises itself up just seconds after you set it down. No more worrying (for me, anyway) about my iron tipping over. Maybe I can ask Santa on one this coming Christmas.

Just go with what you like and can afford. You will get hundreds of opinions, expensive, less expensive. So now one more opinion - I prefer the stainless soleplate. I once went to a class where I was told to buy the least expensive iron you can find and a spray bottle for your water. It seems that no matter what brand if it has steam sooner or later there are leakage issues. Kind of like sewing machines - all you have to have is a straight stitch, but what other stitches/options do you think that you would really use and are willing to pay for.