??What is a good Iron for Quilting?? Please Help
 

Hello Quilting World...I need your help...I want to get a good Iron to use for all my quilting projects...I have never had a good iron...Christmas is here in that is my one wish to get...JoAnn's is running special with 50% off on a Rowenta DZ5080 Focus Iron...I went to research and found many problems that customers were having with this iron...I have never had the chance to really have a great iron and I want to buy the right one...please if you can give me your opition of the iron you are using....so I am going to thank you now for helping me figure this out...Happy Holidays to all...Nanda from Texas

I can tell you this about Rowenta. Some are made in Germany and some have been farmed out to China. If you can find one from Germany, you will have a really nice iron. Personally, I never put water into ANY of my irons (I have four, The Rowenta for home, and three other really cheap ones that work really well for travelling, classes, etc.). I keep a spray bottle with a fine mist full of water and a spray bottle of Best Press on my ironing board. I spray the yardage with the Best Press and iron it before I measure and cut. I dry press the seams as I sew them. Then I spray the completed top with water to press it before sandwiching it for quilting. If you don't want to go with the Rowenta, I've heard that the Oliso is a great iron too.

the iron i have been using for the past 5 years AND LOVE is a $20 Black & Decker from wally world. i have had really expensive irons-that i hated...in fact i have a new one (7 years old new one-never been out of it's box) on my closet shelf=because it's twin was a piece of...
and when i threw the twin out i went shopping and bought the inexpensive B&D---it is a wonderful iron! it stays hot- it is just the right weight- it has been very relyable- and i sure hope it last's forever- i would hate to have to pull out that garbage $159 iron in the closet.
btw---i do not put water in my irons- i keep a spray bottle on the end of my ironing board- i don't care how expensive they are- or how fancy they are- every iron that someone puts water in sooner or later starts leaking- spitting and sputtering- i do not like being burned so i don't go there- i also do not like irons that shut themselves off- when i want my iron to be hot i expect it to be hot---i don't want to shake it-and stand waiting for it to heat back up- i unplug it when i'm done with it- until then it stays hot. (and the one i hate...it is a fancy- cordless- heavy---big---not my idea of a good iron at all)
i'm sure there will be plenty of people who will rave about the one i hate---but i will stick with my $20 iron for as long as i possibly can.

I have heard that Home Depot has a great iron for around 28 dollars...solid surface and a nice weight..we were going there today but since we shopped for over 12 hours ..thought we would go there tomorrow after JoAnns

Love my oliso!!

What do you want in an iron?

Spray? Weight?

I have an older now Maytag cordless iron for quilt tops. Then I have a Black & Decker steam iron, probably from WalMart.

The Oliso is great but way to heavy for me and friends have had too many problems with Rowenta for me to want one.

ali

Thank you all for the information...I myself do not put water in my iron..i use spray bottle also...the information helps...i really do not want a heavy iron also..it hurts my hands...just want a great hot iron that will last...after having some go carpet diving I do not even set the iron on the ironing board anymore...and when my family quilters come over i have to remind no water...no sitting on board...its funny...but i have a kitchen bar top that's higher and i set the ironing board in front of it so it works out...thanks again for the help...

I love my Dry Iron from Vermont Country Store - http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/s...Dry_Iron/42277

For steam, I keep a spray bottle in my work space and spritz the fabric. No more worries about steam burns, and the solid plate means no more funny indentions on the fabric.

Cheers, K

Rowenta's have a tendency to leak. I have had probably a dozen of them through the years. I liked my Shark and my Black and Decker. The electricity is weird in my house and I tend to run through irons, TV's, light bulbs, etc at an amazing rate so I have LOTS of experience. Nothing totally unsafe because I have had it checked out.....just the guy who built the house had some interesting ideas about wiring! Don't even ask me about his ideas about roofs!!!

Anyway, my current iron is awful. It is a Sunbeam from Target and it is pink. It is either not hot enough or so hot that my fingers have blisters. There is a medium setting but it doesnt seem to work. The steam just rolls out of the thing or you cant get any. I have been using it now for about three weeks and am ready to pitch it.

I literally just finished binding a table runner before I sat down here and two of my fingers are now burnt.

I am actually posting to add something to the discussion. I got one of those Miracle Ironing board covers that are fiberglass and I love the thing. If I was going to invest money into an iron, I would think about investing money into one of these covers.

Don't buy a Rowenta...or a Shark! The Rowentas are really, really bad and the Shark lasted exactly one month after the warranty ran out...I am using a Rival I bought for $5 at wally-world....not heavy enough but at least I don't have to put out another $100 or so....