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Ahh!! The iron debate again. I purchased an expensive iron (steam) and only had it a few months. called manufacturer since it was under warranty. Have yet to hear anything from them. Sent email and no response. I will stick to the cheaper hot ones. I use a spray bottle can't stand the Best Press because of the price and odor. I do just fine with my Sta-Flo which I can control the stiffness. I miss my old GE but after 40+ years I guess it was time to bite the dust. A Teflon can only tolerate so much heat otherwise the Teflon coating will come off. That's why it's hard to get a good sear in a Teflon skillet for a steak.

I am back iron shopping, I love the Rowenta I use for quilting, I use steam sometimes, never leaked, yet! I replaced my broken travel size Rowenta recently, used in our RV. I did some quilting while we were up north and found that I hate the iron. It is 1000 watts, never got hot enough, pressed the same spots over and over. So now I need to replace it again. I do like to read about everyone's choices knowing that the sewing area iron has to bite the dust someday! Love these iron discussions!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Jan (Post 7862539)

Hi everybody, thanks for your help. Yes, Nora, you're missing the boat. ;) Use a dry iron with Best Press. No worries about a leaking iron and the fabric does not get so wet. You will also avoid those dirty little brown leaks from your iron. I finally settled on the Panasonic NI-WL600 iron. Purchased it through Amazon and saved money and bought the 2 year warrantee. Paid $78 plus change. Was selling elsewhere for $99 and $129. Should arrive next week. I press seams open and this one is supposed to be the bomb for that. I considered the Olisio but read bad reviews and even had one dealer refuse to sell it. Said there is too many problems with the lift springs going bad and poor customer service. Seems life expectancy is about a year. The ratings for best irons said this Panasonic is the highest rated iron with 98.8 rating. I guess I'll see! lol I'll let you know when I try it. Thanks to all who posted here. This board is the best! Janet

I have had different brands of irons. Some were good and some were not good. My last iron was the pink Oliso and it was still going strong after two years. I gave it to my daughter because I needed a lighter weight iron thanks to a torn muscle in the right rotator cuff. I got the Panasonic N1-WL600 at the same price from Amazon a few months ago. I use steam and/or Best Press; the iron works well either way. The wattage range is 120V for low heat to 1500W for the highest heat setting. After I read the manual, I got used to how it works and I LOVE it. No regrets at all!

Best iron I've EVER used is the Reliable Velocity. Not cheap: $169 on sale - but no drips, heats quickly, handles any fabric w/o scorching, generous water tank, great steam, presses out wrinkles in batiks/denim/aged fabric w/o a hiccup. I LOVE IT

I purchased a Rowenta a couple of years ago and loved it until it starting peeing like a puppy within the first year. I then purchased a B&D Digital Advantage for about $49 at Bed Bath and it's wonderful. I see they are on sale now at Bed Bath for $39. Jan, I will be curious to know which one you decide on....I'm in the "inquiring minds" category.

Here is what I ordered. Panasonic cordless freestyle NI-WL600. Haven't received it yet. Should arrive next week. Its like waiting for Christmas. Hope its as good as they say! I've never had a cordless iron and I'm anxious to try the freestyle ends for pressing seams open.
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Quote:

Originally Posted by rryder (Post 7863043)

I have a cheap Black and Decker. It's at least 15 years old, paid maybe $10 for it at Walmart on sale, get good and hot, no auto-off to hinder long pressing sessions, has steam if I want (not often since I make batches of stayflo at 50/50) and when it gets too much starch residue on the bottom I clean it with faultless iron cleaner and n old bath towel. Used in conjunction with my homemade ironing board-- which has the reflective covering it works great.

I like it a lot better than the more expensive irons I've used at my LQS that don't get hot enough to press well, or shut off too quickly.

Rob

yes indeedy same here with the cheapie black n decker, faultless iron cleaner and stayflo , i don't steam anymore.

I noticed Walmart had a Sunbeam cordless iron now.

I make the "alternative" to Best Press and it works just as good and sure is less expensive. Time after time the recommendation about irons is to buy cheap and toss when they stop working.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onebyone (Post 7862703)

One reviewer gave the best answer. She said the Panosonic rechargeable stayed hot for 60 -90 seconds before having to be put back on the charger and took about that to reheat. This would drive me nuts as I can barely tolerate the auto off after 15 minutes.

I'm not sure if I believe that. I think mine stays hot for a lot longer than that. But usually it's in my hands about as long as it's in the cradle. I press a seam or block, drop it in the cradle as I'm moving my fabric around, pick it up for the next pressing, back into the cradle for the next fabric adjustment... For that kind of work, it's just not an issue, it's always hot. I can see maybe if you were pressing a lot of very large pieces of fabric it'd get cool too fast, but for the length of time it takes to press a block or a seam, it's not an issue at all. And some of those seams are full length of the quilt, not just the little guys. Even pressing completed quilts it's been fine - anytime I have to move the quilt I have to set the iron down anyway - just get into the habit of dropping it into the cradle instead of propping it up on the board.

The nice thing with this iron is that it does have an auto shut-off, but that timer resets every time you pick up the iron. So it really ONLY shuts itself off when you haven't been using it for awhile, never right in the middle of what you're doing.

I also like that, rather than unplugging it for safety, I can just take the iron off of the cradle. The circuit isn't complete without the iron on the cradle, so it's really safe. I have a silicone heatproof pad that I can drop my hot iron on when I'm done for the day, and never have to worry about it shorting out when I'm not home.