[QUOTE=Will Repair]
There aren’t any hard and fast rules here. Did he turn the faucet on full blast and then place the iron underneath. Or did he turn on the faucet a trickle and then place the iron’s water inlet underneath? If the former, quickly, have children now. If the latter, no big deal.
[/QUOTE]
Are we sure we want those genes propagating? 
Mmmmm…fried ironing!
“Routinely” or “often” is irrelevant. Once is enough, if it’s your iron. When a few thousand appliances get recalled, they’ll tell you about it, maybe. Did you send in the registration card? Have you moved since then? Do you check the Recalls section in Consumer Reports every month?
More on recalls in another post…
I grabbed a few recent issues of Consumer Reports, and I looked at the Recalls & Safety Alerts, usually on page 11.
In November:
255,000 steel belt radial tires, tread separation.
3.6 million Ford vehicles, speed control could catch fire.
811,000 Skil (Bosch) circular saws, safety on trigger fails.
In December:
22 million pounds of frozen ground beef products from Topps, Pathmark, and ShopRite, bacterial contamination.
296,000 Dodge and Jeep vehicles, ABS system causes delay in braking
182,000 Honda Civics, Brake sensor causes wheel bearing failure.
In January:
102,000 Chryslers and Dodges, coolant fan could catch fire.
144,000 Fisher Controls gas regulators (used in homes and small businesses,) flange can leak, causing fire or explosion.
50,000 Lithonia Lighting flourescent fixtures sold at Home Depot, shock hazard from loose wire inside.
In February:
274,000 Cooper Lighting Metalux fluorescent shop lights, shock hazard.
1.1 million pounds Cargill ground beef, E. Coli contamination.
57,000 Chev Equinox and Pont Torrent without roof rail air bags, “A” pillar improperly padded, possible head injury.
235,000 Nike helmet chin straps, chin cup can fail, causing facial or head injuries.
In March:
140,000 Auto Zone booster cables, assembled wrong, reversing polarity. May cause explosion and fire.
167,000 Honda lawn mowers, some sold at Home Depot, blade keeps running when handle is released.
346,000 DeWalt cordless drills, trigger switch can overheat and catch fire.
This is not a complete list, only a quick summary from 5 months. Most of these products were made by fine, respectable companies, and sold in big stores. Stuff happens, mistakes were made, and the companies did their best to get the products off the market. Even so, you might have one of these products in your home.
I worked in a factory, and one rule we all knew was, “Disconnect the power before doing routine maintenance.”
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas]
Do you have polarized outlets? That is, appliances now have plugs with one blade wider than the other so you have to plug it in so it’s grounded. With older outlets, you can’t fit them in…
[/QUOTE]
Yes, our outlets are polarized. They just aren’t GFCIs. We did have them installed in the bathrooms but there really aren’t any close to the kitchen sink (long iron cord).
[QUOTE=Will Repair]
There aren’t any hard and fast rules here. Did he turn the faucet on full blast and then place the iron underneath. Or did he turn on the faucet a trickle and then place the iron’s water inlet underneath? If the former, quickly, have children now. If the latter, no big deal.
Truth be told it would of been better to bring the water to the iron than the iron to the water.
[/QUOTE]
Well, it was merely a trickle. . .
Thanks again for all the replies. I think t-bonham@scc.net had some interesting points, and we’ve definitely had some interesting diversions into the world of recalled consumer goods.
As far as propagating genes is concerned, we are currently working on that 
. The strange thing is, my husband is usually one of the most safety-conscious people I know. I guess that’s what prompted me to ask the question in the first place.
[QUOTE=AskNott]
I grabbed a few recent issues of Consumer Reports, and I looked at the Recalls & Safety Alerts, usually on page 11.
:::snip:::
List of recalled products
::: snip:::
This is not a complete list, only a quick summary from 5 months. Most of these products were made by fine, respectable companies, and sold in big stores. Stuff happens, mistakes were made, and the companies did their best to get the products off the market. Even so, you might have one of these products in your home.
I worked in a factory, and one rule we all knew was, “Disconnect the power before doing routine maintenance.”
[/QUOTE]
::: sigh::: :rolleyes:
[sarcasm]I love it when people don’t read what I wrote.[/sarcasm]
Thank you for answering a question that I did not ask. Would you care to give the one I did ask a shot?
I don’t doubt in the least, that recalls exist. Hell I was even responsible for one back in the 80’s with Volvo (I was the first guy to find the problem) That is not what I am looking for.
So we will try this one last time The post I was questioning was
**
I am looking for a cite that a major retailer (Sears/Macys?Target/Kmart/WalMart) often/regularly sell items that do not meet US/North American safety standards.
It’s all about fighting ignorance.
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net]
Your method involves unplugging & re-plugging the cord every time you need to refill it while ironing. Thus putting additional wear & tear on the plug. The cord plug is probably the most common point of failure, and your method is putting additional stress on that plug. And if it were to fail, someone’s fingers will be just an inch or so from a definitely live electrical connection. Still pretty unlikely to get someone shocked, but maybe more likely. I suspect that there are more people shocked annually by failures of electrical appliance cords than are shocked when refilling irons.
[/QUOTE]
I’d say this is reaching, considering that unless they are doing ironing for their livelihood, the frequency of refilling the iron while it’s plugged in as got to be a very minor fraction of the plugging cycle.
I also doubt that correct plugging (e.g., holding the plug itself and not just yanking on the cord) will contribute significantly to its failure, especially for an appliance used as infrequently as an iron. The so called additional stress of a non-event, is going to be so miniscule that it can be rounded down to nonexistent.
I also agree that the chance of being shocked while adding water is going to be extremely low, for the reasons outlined in your post.
Given the low percentage chances of either event, I can’t see how to make a determination of greater risk, and any greater risk would still be insignificant.
[QUOTE=Rick]
::: sigh::: :rolleyes:
[sarcasm]I love it when people don’t read what I wrote.[/sarcasm]
Thank you for answering a question that I did not ask. Would you care to give the one I did ask a shot?
I don’t doubt in the least, that recalls exist. Hell I was even responsible for one back in the 80’s with Volvo (I was the first guy to find the problem) That is not what I am looking for.
So we will try this one last time The post I was questioning was **
I am looking for a cite that a major retailer (Sears/Macys?Target/Kmart/WalMart) often/regularly sell items that do not meet US/North American safety standards.
It’s all about fighting ignorance.
[/QUOTE]
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56063
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/home/fakes/retailers.html
I’ll try these ones again, they’re in reference to counterfeit retail goods found on store shelves not just recalls. The major retailers in these cases are Canadian, whether it is more or less prevalent in US I don’t know but several of the retailers operate in both countries. The point I was hoping to make isn’t that I expect to walk in to any major retailer at any given time and find unsafe products but that I can’t assume they are safe or meet standards just because they are on a major retailers shelves.
If you really want to iron in the tub without risk of electrocution, you could always use a regular non-electric iron. (Do they still make those anymore?)