Newbie--need iron reviews/recommendations

I recommend going to Walmart or Target and getting a $20 job of whatever off brand they have on the shelf. There will be no fancy auto-off. To turn it off, you either push a button or move a dial.

If you leave it on in the upright position, it stays on, wastes electricity, but won't burn the house down. It's no different from leaving on an electric light. But turn it off anyway. A good way to make sure it is off is to plug it into a power bar along with a switch that's connected to the lights. As you work, you turn the iron off itself. When you leave the house, you turn the master switch off which turns off the lights-- so it gets turned off twice. (I don't have this system hooked up yet (which is how I know leaving it on overnight doesn't hurt anything), but I'm working on it.)

My cheapie iron works, has steam or not, slides smoothly over fabric, and basically does what an iron should do. It seems to be lasting a good long time, but I don't remember when I bought it. If it does break sooner than an expensive model, I'll replace it with another cheapie.

--Lia

I second everything that Julia said!

Nann

Welcome, Sandy, from another Sandy in a much warmer climate. ;) I have a Rowenta, and I've had no problems with it at all. Just wanted to give you a bit of reassurance about the brand. I know some people are very unhappy with theirs, but I love mine. BTW, you might want to try a travel Rowenta. It's a very nice iron, gets good and hot, and mine hasn't started leaking yet -- just like my "big" Rowenta.

I also have a B & D Classic that I bought to replace a slew of Rowentas that had gone south. They may have been the cat's whiscers at one time but the quality control has become nonexistent and the price has remained the same, High! I found the same thing about the steam holes. I have been converted to using a dry iron for flattening the pieces for quilting and have never looked back. What I did was go to Target website, and order a Dry iron. there are no holes to catch and it is simple and works for the purpose. The steam iron is great for ironing clothes but not for quilting needs. The Iron I bought is the only one that I have found that is available and is made in China. It is also sold at the Vermont Country store, and probably other places as well. It should cost you under $30 plus tax and shipping. It is called Continental Titanium, and will convert you to using a dry iron for piecing work. You really should flatten the seams, rather than iron them, or at least that is what I have found. A number of other people will probably attest to that idea as I was converted by people on this forum. It will take you awhile to break the habit of ironing, but it will soon become second nature. Try it and see if you don't concur.

John

Correction, I ordered it from Home Depot. I must have Target on the brain as I just got back from shopping there this morning.

John

I've been thinking 'bout the "Pink Iron for Breast Cancer Awareness" by Rowenta... it's gotten great reviews (unlike the other Rowentas JoAnn's offers) at JoAnn.com.

The iron I have now is a 5 year old B&D Pro ... it works well, but the nose is blunt - which makes it hard to get into tight areas, or to "nose" into seams. And it's begun leaking (though not to the point where it's unusable - just a PITA). Still, it was a good iron for all the work I put it through ... I'm sure I've put at least 5 hours a week on it in the past 5 years!! More, if you count all the shirts I've made hubby usin' David Coffin's techniques (which require a LOT of pressing!!).

Sooo ... if no one has any negative critiques on the Rowenta Pink iron, I'll be getting that next week!! :)

Hugs!! Connie :)

I wouldn't buy a take another Rowenta if you gave it to me. Three of them have leaked to such an extent that they wouldn't Iron without putting water on everything and leave a pool where it was standing. I have called the company and requested that they deal with it under warranty and they said send it back and I did and when I got it back it still leaked. Three of their highest priced professional irons at over $100 per iron. Maybe Rowenta was a superior brand some time ago, but the irons that are sold under the brand name today are junk, in my experience. They are trading on their brand name and if you look on the web,say at Amazon.com for coments about Rowenta you will find a lot of people that have had the same experience as me. If you own a Rowenta and it works, great. If you are a gambler with a lot of money to spend, then buy a Rowenta. If you want to be sure that you get an iron that dosen't leak, don't buy a Rowenta.

John

i agree, John. I bought a Rowenta, it cracked at the base and i sent it back. they didnt fix it, just plugged the hole with something. i threw it out and bought another one. it spits too. i have a Sunbeam from Wally World i like for pressing. Cheap, reliable and lightweight. i keep the Rowenta around for DS's uniforms, but never put water in it. use it dry. amy in CNY

I've had a Rowenta for several years and not had any problem with it. It was one of their less expensive models. As for the lot of negative reviews on amazon.com, I sometimes wonder if it's mainly the people who have problems who post reviews; perhaps many of the satisfied users don't post a review. You may want to check the Consumer Reports reviews and recommendations; I think those are pretty unbiased. Any public library should have Consumer Reports for you to look at.

Julia in MN

One suggestion for the On/Off issue -- I have both my iron and my sewing machine plugged into a power strip with an on/off switch. Not only do I turn them off individually -- the power strip gets turned off. The power strip has a built in surge protector as well. Remember that many of our sewing machines have computers inside them and thus are as vulnerable to power surges as our regular computers...

I wonder how many of us actually have our computerized sewing machines plugged into a surge protector????

I'll have to check out the dry iron, John, sounds like a definite possibility--but yes, I'm pressing, not ironing. Just used the wrong word--sorry. It still catches the stupid corners often enough to drive me crazy!

I was also looking at the pink breast cancer Rowenta at Joann's, Connie--and people really liked the pointy tip particularly--but when I went to my Joann's they didn't have it. I figured before I paid for the iron and shipping to boot I'd check out other possibilities. Someone told me that if you could get a Rowenta made in Germany it was still good, but a lot of Rowentas are manufactured in other places and have some serious issues. I don't know how true that is but I'm not even sure how I'd know where it was coming from anyway.

I have a Consumer Reports online subscription (very useful!) and have checked that out too--but there's nothing like getting reviews from quilters who have used various models and know the pros and cons in terms of quilting itself! This iron won't be used for regular ironing purposes--it's in a completely different part of the house--so I don't have to worry about other possible needs. It's very quilt specific. BTW, Consumer Reports "best buy" is the B&D Digital Advantage...

I went to Target and Walmart over the last couple of days and didn't see anything that I was confident in...and even a lot of the cheap models had the auto-off (and short time periods, too). Amy, which model of Sunbeam do you have? I saw a couple at Walmart but I've never owned Sunbeam anything so I didn't know how good they'd be.

*waves hand wildly in air* I do, I do, I do!! And my Macs, my printers, scanners, etc.

In my mind (and heart, LOL!) my Macs and my SM are in a class together in value and necessity. I don't know how long I could live without either. :)

Hugs!! Connie :)

I have a Rowena and it is great. It has fallen off the ironing board 3 times and no leaks, and it presses great! Don't know how it irons as I don't do clothes LOL.

Denny in Fort Wayne

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SewVeryCreative wrote:

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The sad thing is that almost *every* brand of iron now has duds. I wouldn't use another Black & Decker if you gave it to me.

It would be nice if we could get solid information from manufacturers on which of their models were any good, and on how hot they really get. :(

That was the issue with the B & D that I came too also. It is an iron that is designed for ironing clothes , not tiny fabric pieces with long points. One of the good features of the dry iron is, it has a long narrow point. Very useful for those pointy pieces that you are trying to lay to a fine point. I think there are enough comments regarding Rowenta irons to give one pause about buying anything from that company regardless of whether a representative proportion of people who post their opinions are any kind of concensus. I am not willing to discount my own experience. the sad part is that I didn't pay attention to my own instincts after the first failure. I played the game two more times until I finally realized that it wasn't making sense any more. What is the old saw: fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me three time Come on you idiot, what don't you understand about this lemon. I think they gained a good reputation over the years, but like so often happens, they off shored the manufacturing and quality suffered. They also don't seem to spend as much money on their repair side of the business as would be warranted, by the high price of the irons. You will probably get good use out of the dry iron. Interestingly enough, there is another dry iron listed for sale at Atlanta Thread Company,

which is a vendor forthe tailoring trade and other professional sewing folks, and that dryiron is over $400. I would love to have it, but I just can't justifythat for an electric iron at this time. Maybe some day in the futurewhen this one gives up the ghost. John

On Dec 7, 6:32 pm, "Kathy Applebaum" wrote:

mailto: snipped-for-privacy@KayneyNOSPAMQuilting.comhttp://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/> remove the obvious to reply I agree that there are duds in every category. The problem with the Rowenta category is that they cost over $100 for the models I was buying. In the case of the B & D, they can fail every day of the week, and you are only out $25 or so. Not that that is a good thing, but it is certainly better that the $100+ failure. I think that most people who have Rowentas and love them bought them about 10 years or so ago. They were still made in Europe and probably better made at the time. Not off shored. So, you should be judging apples and apples. How happy would you be buying a new Rowenta with all the commentary these days? The commentary is not formed in a vacuum. they are based on real experience, with real people. Maybe you are really talking about two different products, even though they have the same name. Kind of like the Bernina sewing machines that are made in Switzerland, and the ones that are made in Thailand. the same brand, but two different quality of machine. I have one of each, so I am well aquatinted with both. Actually though, I like the mechanical one made in Thailand, the best of all of them. But I have had problems with another one of the same style and took it back and traded it for a Swiss made one. It would be nice to have a total cash back return policy on failed products, though not the return in the original box with all the paperwork and other requirements. . That is what I am hoping for, someday.

John

I don't shop at Wal-Mart, so that's not a problem. :)

Well, I think they probably are not the only ones doing this kind of stuff. Model #'s are different on lots of electronics for different stores. I just bet there is a difference in quality in manufacture sometimes. There seems to be a big variety in the quality of Rowenta irons. It might be over a period of years the quality has diminished but I wonder how the place of purchase fits in. Maybe I am off here but maybe not. Taria

Kathy Applebaum wrote: