So many people have posted in the last year that their high dollar irons have given up the ghost on them. I wonder why do those irons not last for quilters. I hardly ever read of someone's inexpensive iron breaking. Is it because of all the bells and whistles on the fancy ones? Is it just because quilters use them so much? Or because they only use the hottest setting? Do most quilters turn on their irons and leave them that way all day while they happily make blocks, pressing as they go? Or do most quilters sew multiple blocks, turn on the iron and press everything at once, then turn the iron off again until the next big pressing session?
My iron is so old it has a General Electric logo on it, and Black and Decker bought GE years ago. It wasn't expensive and has zero bells and whistles. The heat setting dial and off switch are the same knob, there is no sensor to turn it off if I let it sit in one place too long, and no tilt sensor to turn it off if it falls on the floor, but the QIs have taught me to not leave the iron sitting on the ironing board unattended so falling irons just don't happen often here. There isn't even a teflon coating on the business end like so many irons have today. I wonder sometimes if the lack of frills on the iron is part of it's longevity. Mind you, I haven't been quilting long, so most of the time this iron has sat in storage on the closet door hanger waiting for the next shirt needing to be pressed or the next costume garment being sewn needing seam pressing. Even now it mostly waits for me in the closet along with the ironing board. I've got one of those little seam presser stick irons by Clover for using when making blocks so I don't bother getting out the real iron until I am putting blocks into rows. I hate setting up the ironing board because there is no good place for it so I have made good use of my Omnigrid portable cutting mat/pressing board too. At this rate I figure my old iron could well last several more years, and I want another inexpensive no frills iron when I replace it. I know my Clover stick iron won't last as long, but I don't expect much out of tiny appliances like that, and I can always get a new one cheaply with a JoAnn's coupon. I love that little stick iron.
Of course, if I had the funds and someone actually made one, the one specialty iron I'd really like for quilting would be a gi-normous ironing board sized one so I could press rows of blocks or a whole finished top in a lot less time. :-D Debra in VA See my quilts at