A dozen or so years ago I had a negative iron experience, so there's one brand I refuse to purchase. And not wanting to have to live with yet another disappointing choice, as with my last iron, this time I did my homework. First I did some online research. Then I referred to a late 2009 report listing the top three iron brands. Numbers one and two were (at that time) economically-priced Black and Decker models. Number three was a higher-priced T-Fal.
Then, I proceeded to stop at five different stores looking for the latter, and not finding it! I finally made a phone call to one more place, the JC Penney Home Store, and there it was. Even better, what is usually a $65 iron was on sale for $35!
The one I've been using until recently is this black one. I just popped over to our 24-hour Wal-Mart early one morning and picked one that looked good. It proved to be a very poor choice, an iron with a design flaw. The cord continually got caught in a space between the sole plate and the base. Every time I tugged the cord back out, the cord's rubber coating shredded. The inevitable happened. A week ago there was exposed copper wire where a piece of rubber was gone. Though I wrapped black electrical tape around it, I knew it wasn't safe. Besides, the iron never removed wrinkles. Whether used with steam or dry, or even with a spritz of my homemade starch, I couldn't get fabric to lay smooth. The old iron was 1200 watts.My new T-Fal iron is 1400 watts. I don't know exactly what about the high number makes it better, but I can tell this iron has more "umph" on wrinkles. I can use steam on three different settings, or press without steam. Best of all - in my opinion - after eight minutes the iron automatically shuts off. This is good because when I leave my basement sewing room I have seven plugs and switches to unplug and shut off. If I happen to miss unplugging the iron, I have a little piece of mind.
I dislike ironing clothes and put it off as along as possible, But eventually I get to it, touching up after tumbling in the dryer, or ironing particularly those clothes that have dried on the outdoor line. Maybe this little "cord-away system" feature will help.
As for pressing fabric? I'll do that any day!
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| Fabric: "Wild Garden" by Dan Bennett |
I love to iron...clothes, fabric, underwear, sheets...well, ok I don't iron underwear or sheets..
ReplyDeleteI have had back luck with one well known brand and won't go back to it no matter how many people say they love it...
Isn't it funny how ironing FABRIC is so different than ironing clothes??
ReplyDeleteI have that iron and am with you on the positive comments. It works very well and the cord feature is a bonus. I recently purchased a steamless iron for fusing from the Vermont Country Store. It doesn't have any steam holes, of course, and it's just great for fusing. It's nice and heavy and works great on getting wrinkles out even without the steam. I, too, avoid ironing clothes (my DH irons his own) but ironing fabric is a whole different thing. I love that colorful fabric you showed.
ReplyDeleteSo... I have a product for you to consider:
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I bought this power strip a few months ago, and it has 6 plugs that turn off & on using a little remote. There are 2 more plugs where the power is on all the time, but I don't have a use for those. I really like that I can turn off all of the electronics in my sewing room with the push of a button, and the power strip actually totally shuts off the current, which means that I'm not even wasting that tiny bit of power for items that are turned off, but still draw a bit of current from the outlet. Except for my iron, I have that on another outlet and have to unplug it all the time :(
I have been on a perpetual quest for the perfect iron. I have a Rowenta and it's ok, but I feel like there's an even better iron out there somewhere. I've been considering buying this same iron for about six months. I know Bed Bath & Beyond has it for $40 and I always get 20% off coupons in the mail. I may have to get it. You'll have to tell me more about the iron the next time we see each other. I know I probably sound weird, but there's nothing like a good iron that does a great job on wrinkles. It's just so satisfying.
ReplyDeleteYours is the second post on finding a good iron that I have read today....the T-Fa was mentioned several times in comments as being a great iron. The iron I'm using right now cost about $10 at WalMart and is very frustating as it turns completely off every 30 minutes and has to be unplugged and then plugged back in to get going again! I'll have to consider the T=Fal!
ReplyDeleteI don't like to iron clothes much..I do like to iron fabric because that means I am about to start to cut into it and that is exciting! My ex-Prince did all our ironing (except for my fabric ironing!) ...we had several irons as I always had one in the sewing room and he his own downstairs....I also had a travel iron for taking to classes....and I have ended up with all three of them! So I have back up should the iron currently in service should "die". Although at the rate I use it it won't be any time soon. Coming out of winter now which means that I have to forgo the "winter"iron for my work shirts (collar and a bit of the front that can be seen under my jacket) and go with the "summer" iron.....all over!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the new iron I just bought, Linda!! It was about a month ago and I did the same fussing about having to choose an iron, it's hard to decide! But I really like it still, so I think we did good!
ReplyDeleteI totally know where you're coming from. I am sick of bad irons, even though I always buy what I think to be our best brands. I now have two - one used ( which stays on day haha) for quiltmaking, the other higher powered one used for the ironing. I was fed up with trying to get the creases out of our jeans ( yes Jeans)VBG!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, Linda. I have a Rowenta iron and it is leaky and TERRIBLE. Which is really annoying, because it was very expensive and got great reviews on Amazon. I hate it, but I haven't replaced it because I simply didn't know what else to get. Now I know what to try next!
ReplyDeleteI have a Black & Decker Digital Advantage (I've been told they don't make it anymore??) but it works like CRAZY. I use the Bo_nash Ironing Board Cover with it. Had an Oliso prior to this one and the motor burned out after less than two years...
ReplyDeleteGlad you found an iron your like. I hate to iron clothes too. I think it comes from having to do all the clothes when I was a child. I can even tell you how many white shirts I had to iron of my dads. ugh!
ReplyDelete