...I bought a new iron, of course. It was a bit of an angst-y struggle though. I've never bought an iron before. I lived for years without one before I met Craig. And since he wears the business shirts, buying our iron has always been his domain. I wasn't quite sure what I should look for in an iron - aluminum, stainless, teflon coated? 80mg of steam? Who cares? I just wanted something that got hot and got rid of wrinkles.
Frankly, I dreaded buying a new iron. I briefly longed for a return to the 1970s with its iron free polyester knits and stiff collars. Bell-bottoms were starting to sound good until Craig reminded me that polyester is f'ing hot. So I queried my friends about their irons and put myself on a fairly strict budget. Fifty bucks in Australia will get you a decent basic iron. Mid-range irons are a bit higher. When you're not working, spending that much on something so mundane feels like a kick in the gut.
So I bought my $44 Philips iron and brought it home. I plugged it in. It got hot. It ironed things, letting out a little puff of smoke. Craig gave it a try later that night. 'New irons let off a little smoke, right?' I googled it to be sure. 'Yeah. That's normal.'
What happened the next day was anything but... An epic smoke trail wafted from the iron. I briefly thought the Vatican was letting me know a new pope had arrived. I was pulled out of the foggy haze when our fire alarm started going off. Crap. I bought a faulty iron.
Back in the truck and back at the shops, I exchanged the faulty Philips for an even cheaper brand. I'm obviously nervous. At any moment, I expect to be smite down by the ironing gods for buying a mega-cheap model. I'm hoping this Kambrook works - no bells; no whistles; no beeps; and, hopefully, no smoke.
Thank you to everyone who has commented or emailed me after yesterday's personal post. I really appreciate your support. I'm working on replying to each of you, but that's going to take a bit of time. You guys are gems. Thanks for being awesome and understanding.
I so enjoyed reading your blog again today......Vatican was letting you know......and the ironing gods...giggle. I have paid big bucks for irons in the past and no more. The cheap irons work better at least for me.
ReplyDeleteI do more ironing than my MIL, who irons everything...but I sew! You need a good iron. I have a Sunbeam Verve (app $75aus) which has been fantastic and I am looking at getting a new one because I have worn this one out, steam button is missing and the tefal coating is coming off. Good luck on your quest!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the US...I buy 1960s GE irons off eBay for dollars. Like $3 plus shipping and they work great. Maybe you can have one for back up?
ReplyDeleteI bought a steam iron, you know one of those ones with a separate tank - from Kogan for 99. Its great for pressing quilt blocks and does pure cotton business shirts in no time. I leave it on all day which is probably not a good thing and will result in it blowing up on me before it should but in the meantime, Ive never enjoyed ironing as much.
ReplyDeleteI didn't comment on yesterday's post cos Im going through the same situation and couldn't offer anything constructive :(
irons are one of those things. I have gotten cheap ones that worked like crazy. and have gotten expensive ones that were duds and had me frustrated. I guess try them and hope you don't get a lemon is the thought of the day. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have a Philips iron - it's a GC2960 (bought in NZ so perhaps the same model exists in Aussie). My last iron was the earlier version of the same model and was still going strong after two years of hard ironing (i.e., used pretty much every day, often left on for hours at a time with water in it). It bit the dust after the cats knocked it off the ironing board one time too many. I really loved it - hot, lots of steam, no nasty spitting or rust. When I took it to sewing groups, people always commented on how much they liked using it too. Hopefully your Kambrook does work out - if not, consider this a recommendation. Even though an iron is totally mundane, as a quilter, you must use it all the time, so isn't it worth spending a bit of money to get something that works well? At least, that's how I justify it!
ReplyDeleteI know this probably doesn't help, but I'm with you on the irons (hate buying them). I've gotten in the habit of cruising the iron aisle at thrift shops, with little or no success until I found a travel Rowenta nearly identical to my broken one. It's SCARY HOT, SCARY FAST to heat up and (best part) has NO auto-shut-off. It was a mere $2, and I love it so. Hey, you never know what someone else is going to throw away. :)
ReplyDeleteI love my Sunbeam iron. I buy my irons at Target when they go on special and always have a spare in the cupboard.
ReplyDeleteI love my Continental dry iron. Talk about no bells and whistles--ha! I just spray along with water or starch. No more spitting. No more rust coming out of those little holes and staining my solids. It's available on amazon and homedepot.com.Pretty cheap.
ReplyDeleteIt's the worst to spend money on something like that.
ReplyDeleteI recently have the same problem but sparks coming from the cord not fire just a spark or two not all the time... so I kept on using it I ask my husband where the black electric he ask why so I told him now I love this iron it gets hot and stays hot no autoshutoff just because it still is warma fter it is turned off well that's beside the point so I went to kmart bought a 15 $ light and easy no shut off gets hot stays hot love! love! love ! it did I say I love it so that's my iron story ( and I went back and bought another one just to be safe)
ReplyDeleteDiana Y
I may have angered the iron gods by turning away from my Panasonic (may it rest in peace) to try a new brand (Reliable). I do not care for it at all and will probably buy a new Panasonic as soon as I get some Amazon credits! Good luck with yours. Irons can be more tricky than one would think!
ReplyDelete