Extreme Quilter

bj, I'd say that was a wonderful retirement gift. They must have been a great group to work with!

davis2se

Oh my gosh. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Rowenta - my model is "advanced" and I have never had one second of trouble with it. The only 2 little drawbacks are it was very expensive - I got it on sale for $100.00, but bought it at BB&B and had a 20% off coupon, so I really got it for a little over $80. The other drawback is you can only use spring water in it, so I buy a case of spring water and just keep it in my closet.

As far as getting really serious wrinkles out of fabric, I always use a product I buy at my local quilt shop called "Mary Ellen's Best Pess". The stuff works like a miracle.

Before the Rowenta and Mary Ellen's just would not iron anything unless I absolutely had to. Now I am even back to ironing my husband's cotton shirts and slacks!!!! He loves it too.

3incollege

davis- I think would use distilled water instead of the spring water, in my iron. It is just my opinion.

Lady Diana

FYI
You can purchase Best Press at Hancock Fabrics for alot less than on line or quilt shops. The shops charge $7.95 or $8.50 per bottle.

Hancock had it last week for $6.25....sometimes they put it on sale too.
Diana

ShirleyAnne

I love my T-Fal brand iron. I've had it for several years, use it a LOT and it's still just like new.
As for the stubborn wrinkles.....I keep a spray bottle of just plain water right at my ironing board and it works better than spray starch. I found one that has a very fine mist. I don't like to use spray starch on my quilt tops because I don't wash the quilts before I give them to my family members and I don't know when they'll ever wash them. If a quilt is stored for a long time with starch on it there's a good possibility it will draw silver fish (bugs).

buddysmimi

Hi everybody :)
The one way that I have found to effectively clean any goo off my iron is to plug it in, set it on cotton, and pour a teaspoon or so of regular table salt on a folded section of newspaper. Run your iron over it until the goo is all gone. Cost efficient and it doesn't harm your iron, or it never has mine. I do not have a teflon coating on mine however, so you might want to use a little caution there. I really don't think it would be abrasive enough to harm it though. Just keep the salt under the iron when you are cleaning. All you have to do is raise one side of the newspaper or the other to get it back in the middle. Just take an old toothbrush to get the excess out of the steam holes.
Anyway I have been keeping myself entertained looking at all of your pictures of all of the beautiful quilts. You are all doing a super terrific job. Keep up the excellent work.

weezie

I've never owned an iron that I'd recommend, although some have been worse than others. My current Rowenta works fine ... it puts out lots of steam and is fairly heavy, which I like. The bottom cleans up fine with Dritz iron-off hot iron cleaner. I appreciate the info. from John on the ConSew. I'll have that info. when my Rowenta dies, which I figure is only a matter of time.

shrabar

:) I bought a Euro Pro It ia big unit but the results are out of this world. It's like you sent it to the cleaners to get pressed. It is also a steamer I use it to steam my carpets & cleaning the bathroom. It's 2 things in one . I bought it on Home Shopping Network. shrabar

dlf0122quilting

I have a Rowenta and I do not like it, it does not get hot enough and the auto shut off causes me to have to wait so long for it to re-heat itself in between sewing time. I like my cheap Panasonic that I bought years ago in a Target store. It has the auto shut off but heats up real fast so that is not a problem for me. In fact I'm kinda glad it does because sometimes you get interrupted and forget to go back and turn it off.
I have a question though, can you run a vinegar solution through your iron periodically to remove the build-up of calcium, etc. like you do your coffee pot as long as you run a few refills of clear water through it afterward?

damaquilts

Hi. I was also looking for an iron awhile back and went on line and read all the comments. I ended up with a T-Fal. I spent under $50 on it at Target and I have to say I love it. I had been buying all the cheap ones and just couldn't see buying another nor did I have the money for a Roweta. My favorite thing on the T-Fal is the base. It is wider than normal and I need that . My other ones bit the dust because of kittys jumping on my ironing board or me bumping against it. Room is really tight in my room and I am a little wider than I should be. lol
It does have an automatic shut off, but I need that. Also I like the coating on the plate. fusible comes right off.
I had never heard of the brand but I figured I would try it and I am glad I did.