I was in JC Penny and I happened to walk past the irons. I saw all types and price. Some were between $100 and $250. OK I didn’t see where the $250 iron did anything great.
At that price it had better iron the shirt for me 
I usually buy the $20 iron at Walmart or Target. There’s no way I’d spend that much on an iron.
So does anyone find or has found any real advantage of these high priced irons?
I’m happier with my Rowenta (about $80) than a cheapie Black and Decker. Part of it is that it’s heavier and seems to have a better plate that heats more evenly. I’ve had to use the cheap ones in hotels and find that I’m physically pushing down more to get rid of wrinkles as opposed to letting the iron do the work.
I don’t remember exactly what we paid but it was at Target so it was probably under $30. It seems to work fine. The only thing I don’t like about it is the angle that the cord comes out; you have to be careful when sitting the iron on it’s end because it’s easy for the cord to tip it forward.
The automatic shut-off is nice for my wife, who always worries that we’ve left it on.
I mostly steam, but when I iron I use a wonderful vintage anvilicious one that’s probably older than I am. No steam reservoir, no steam-outlet dimples on the plate. $2 at a garage sale 15 years ago. Never used a $100+ iron, but modern cheapies really suck in comparison to my old one.
I have no idea what the one I have for the craft room cost, as it was a gift, but I’ll promise you it was more than $20. It’s one of those big-ass heavy things with a separate water reservoir that pumps live steam up through the cord into the handpiece. You will replace it with a cheap one when you pry it from my cold, dead, still desperately clutching hand. Ironing with it versus, say, the entry-level Black and Decker I got as a high school graduation present is night and day. Especially for things like fold-marks where something’s been in storage or wrinkles I’ve accidentally ironed in.
The steam generator irons are a revelation, especially if you have a lot of stuff to iron, way way faster, so much less effort and until you try one, you will not ever begin to understand the differance.
You have to be careful to use distillled water or you will clog it up with deposits in no time, I got mine for free from someone that has done just that, they bought another and did the same, I simply descaled them both with toilet cleaner and was given one, otherwise it would have cost plenty - more than I would ever have dreamt of paying.
Now I just would not pay for anything less than a steam generator, sometimes it’s just worth it, really.
What is a “steam generator” iron?
We have one that cost about $60, it has a stainless steel ironing area and functions pretty well. Certainly better than the cheap ones, which tended to belch steam/water out at random times.
Usually? How often do you have to buy an iron?
My mom gave me her old one when I moved out of the house twelve years ago, and it would have been at least a few years old at the time. I’m guessing it’s a mid-range one, still works great, but the other day I had to replace the end of the cord, which had become messed up after years of yanking it improperly out of wall outlets.
As a general rule for anything, you’ll pay for what you get. A cheaper iron will be lighter weight for the most part. Now this might seem to be a GOOD thing, but a lighter iron will require more effort to iron out wrinkles, especially the ones that have set in. A cheaper iron generally won’t last as long, and it won’t have all the features of a more expensive iron. It won’t be as nonstick as a better iron.
If you’re just ironing very occasionally, a cheaper iron might be your best choice. If you are serious about ironing, and do it frequently, a more expensive iron might be cheaper in the long run.
I usually only iron when I’m sewing. Just about all of my clothes are perma press and don’t require ironing on a regular basis, especially if I’m diligent about snatching them out of the dryer and hanging them up while they’re still warm.
When I worked in a clothing shop, we had a steamer, and it was pretty good about relaxing wrinkles in clothes, though not as good as an iron at actually getting out deep wrinkles. The steamer was good for relaxing wrinkles in a LOT of clothes in a fairly short period of time, much quicker than ironing, because we could steam the clothes while they were on hangers. Steaming a blouse would usually take me less than five seconds per blouse, a dress would take me a little longer, and of course a wedding dress would usually take me a full minute, but we didn’t sell many of those, so I rarely needed to steam one.
The point about distilled water is a good one.
My old iron fell off the board and broke into pieces. I went to the Rite-Aid and saw a stainless steel model exactly like the one my mom had for umpteen years, but it was about $50 and the cashier I know well said, ‘you could do better, moneywise’. I looked around and ended up getting a brand new Sunbeam, sealed in the box, at the thrift store, and it serves the purpose just fine. I did wrap some black electrical tape around the base of the cord as it keeps getting twisted around. I don’t bother with the steam part as I’ve had unhappy experiences with water stains, so I just keep a spray bottle of water nearby.
It depends on how often you iron, how well you take care of the iron (yanking the cord will result in damage, as you’ve found) and the quality of the iron in the first place.
My husband was in the Air Force for a dozen years…and didn’t like permanent press uniforms. So I had to iron five uniforms a week for a while. Those fatigues are murder to iron, and I spent a lot of time swearing. Oddly enough, when he needed more uniforms and I told him that he could either iron his own damned uniforms or get them professionally laundered and ironed, he bought permanent press uniforms. Funny how things work out.
Funny, *my *husband has also been in the Air Force for 12 years. Still, my mom’s old iron has lasted (though he went to the no-iron uniforms a couple of years ago–yay!)
So who irons his uniforms? Or does he get them professionally laundered?
Steam generator irons
http://direct.tesco.com/buyersguide/steam%20generator%20iron.aspx
http://www.steamgeneratorirons.org/
In the UK the good ones typically cost around £200, which is about 4 times the price of a decent ordinary steam iron.
If you are in the laundrette business then the big benefit is that the hand iron part is generally a lot lighter than a conventional steam iron so its less tiring, and its also very much faster, the sole plat is much better too.
Irons are simple devices, or should be. If you have to buy more than one for home use in your lifetime, you didn’t get a good one.
I did. The new BDUs don’t require ironing (this switch was just made in the past 2 years for AF).
Consumer Reports is your friend. I found their top rated model for under $20 and it really was awesome, still is.
I have never understood why it takes so long for the military to switch to newer technology that’s not combat related. I mean, how long have we had permanent press? And the AF is just NOW switching to it?
We had a 6 dollar iron from wal-mart that did a decent job for about 2 years before it broke. It was only 6 dollars, so we weren’t really upset. We went back to wal-mart to replace it, and bought one that if I remember correctly was 34.99. It does a much better job than the 6 dollar one, but really either one would have been fine for the amount of ironing we do at our house.
My problem with my iron is I didn’t use distilled water and it clogged up with deposits and no matter how hard I try I still get gunks of these deposits on the clothes at random.