aashley333

BTW, I plug my iron into a surge protector with a control toggle switch. I use my toe to flip the power to "ON" to the surge protector, which powers iron.

gardengirl1331

Oh I'm so glad someone here has this iron! The reviews are pretty good on it, so I assumed it'd be ok, but I wanted to hear from a quilter on here just for peace of mind. I worry about it not having auto shut-off but it's not like I use it in some room I don't go into often, I drag the darn ironing board and iron into the living room and it's kind of in the way, so it gets moved after I use it. But just as a safety feature I wanted it. Oh well. I'd rather not have auto shut-off and not have the steam holes! Thanks so much for responding! The warranty is great too so less to worry about there as well!

platyhiker

It just occurred to me that you could set up an auto-shut off for your iron by using a Lamp and Appliance Timer. You plug the timer into the outlet, and then plug your iron into the timer. You can set up the timer to switch into off mode at the time interval you want. Now, this "solution" does add some cost, in that now you have to pay for a timer, but the timer is also useful for turning lights on and off, which I find very useful when we go away on a vacation, as I like to have the house look lived in so that it does not look an inviting target to thieves.

gardengirl1331

The auto-shut-off for me is more about it shutting off for a bit while I'm sewing, if something distracts me (have to use the bathroom or eat or make a cup of tea of something) and it takes say 20-30mins to get back the ironing part I don't want to waste the electric or wear out the iron too much. It's less about leaving it on on accident when I'm all done, as I normally iron in the middle of the living room, which it has to be moved to do anything in that room when I'm done.

gardengirl1331

OK I'm bringing up an old post, but when I search for things on forums I get frustrated when I see a post and then they don't post what happened...

Well the VT Store iron was good, but I did have to send it back. The part of the handle that connects to the iron body itself got a bit hot and my fingers hit it a couple times. Plus the bottom of it wasn't nice and smooth, it kind of "stuck" to the fabric while ironing so it was hard to use and would drag my fabric a bit. Maybe over time it would smooth out and become more slippery, but I didn't want to chance it. It did go over seams VERY nicely compared to the one I have with the holes, for that part I'll miss it. So I'm still searching. I guess I'll probably wind up keeping what I have until it dies then worry about it!

michelem

I’ve been using a Sunbeam Steammaster Steam Iron I bought from Amazon. I’ve tried more expensive irons but found this works just as well and less expensive.

sewingpup

I went back to using my cheap black and decker when my shoulder was sore, as it leaked, I used it dry. OK....so today I put a quilt on the longarm that had been pressed with that iron. Oh, my, I found that the seams had not stayed crisply pressed and I had to make sure the seams were actually laying flat before I quilted over the seam. I have never had the problem before. So it looks like I will be going back to my heavy professional Rowenta. I had noticed the light weight Black and Decker did not heat up quite as hot as the Rowenta.

quilting cat

I'm also in the market for a new iron, and I much prefer steam, especially when pressing fabric before cutting. (I wash all my fabrics before taking them to the sewing room.) Anyone with steam iron preferences?

WMUTeach

I asked for a simple iron for Christmas and my Dear Son and Daughter-in-law got me a Black & Decker Easy Steam Compact iron. It is a full sized iron, smooth face plate, nice point, and does nothing but get hot and steam if I want it. No auto turn off, no retractable cord, no fancy little feet. They laughingly mentioned it is hard to find an iron that just irons. You bet'cha!

sewingpup

I am going against the stream here, but I want an iron that turns itself off. I am ironing, the phone rings, somebody comes to the door, the dog starts barking, a delivery man comes, the dryer rings it is done, etc. Problem is that sometimes something else is a distraction and I may forget that the old iron is just sitting there. When I get ready to iron something, I bring it to the ironing board, give my iron a shake, arrange my pieces to press and by the time they are arranged on the board, the iron is hot again. My iron simply heats back up pretty fast with a little shake. There have been times when my iron is blinking at me indicating it has turned itself off and the sole is totally cold. Oh my, was I ignoring my iron that long? The safety folks made iron's that turn themselves off for a reason. I think if you called and asked your local fire department what they think of irons that don't turn themselves off, you will get an opinion. Now you may be more focused than I am. I do unplug my iron when I am done or know I am not going to need it for a while.
Oh, I do have my ironing board where I need to get up and walk to it as I figure I need to get up and move once in a while so I press my piecing in batches, not as I go.