Last Wednesday, my Iron died. Yesterday, I bought a new one exactly like it.

It’s a Shark . . . the most inexpensive model they make . . . and I love it.

Yes, the old one died on me, but guess what? So has every other iron I’ve ever purchased, no matter how much I paid for it!

So . . . a few years ago, I bought the $29.96 Shark iron at Wally World, and when asked at checkout if I wanted the 2-year warranty for an extra $2, I said YES.

Since it’s been my experience that I will kill it within a year, that meant that I could get a replacement for free if my iron kicked the bucket. Well, I got three irons for the price of that first one, because evidently, they aren’t meant to be used all day every day, which I do. The third one is the one that just died, and it outlasted the warranty, so yesterday, I had to start over. I paid the $2 for the warranty, and we’ll see how many times I have to make a claim with this one!

Some would ask . . . so why do you keep buying the same one over and over, then? The answer is:

Because I absolutely love it!

• • The weight of it is perfect — it’s light enough to be easy on me, but heavy enough to do the work of pressing for me — I don’t have to push or exert extra effort to get it to do its job.
• • It makes great steam. Yes, I put water directly in my iron (distilled water). I know there are those that say if you never put water in your iron, it will last forever, but I LOVE good steam, and I don’t want to make the extra work for myself of spraying the fabric, then pressing. I just do it all in one fell swoop!
• • While the cord is not retractable, it’s long, so I have plenty of room to maneuver without getting anything caught up in the cord. Plus, I can plug it in, and take it over to my design wall and use the vertical steam feature if I need to.
• • The sole plate is smooth (even tho it has steam holes) and the tip is nice, so neither one gets caught on my piecing, and the iron doesn’t shove the fabric around while I’m pressing. Only twice has it ever spit up on my project, and that can be blamed squarely on me for not using the self-cleaning feature often enough.

Shark has a couple other models, ranging from $35 up to $55, but I only need the $29 model — it works well for me, and if it gives up the ghost within the next 2 years, they’ll replace it for free.

If there’s one thing I don’t like about it, it would be that it shuts itself off too quickly, and to turn it back on, you have to tip it down AND press the button to re-select your heat level, but I’m so used to doing that now, I just live with it, because the other great things about it make it worth it.

I have a shelf full of spare irons that My Cowboy has picked up for me at thrift stores, so for almost a full day, I had to use a spare, and while I’m thankful I had a spare to use, it really, really made me appreciate all the features I love about my Shark!

Now I need a new ironing board cover!

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about my Shark iron, so you can read more HERE, and also, I encourage you to read the comments on that post and see what other folks have to say about their irons.

I know quilters have very strong opinions about their irons and the use of Steam, etc., so keep in mind, the above is just MY opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

But . . . I’d also still like to hear what you have to say about your iron, so leave me a comment and let me know — what do you love/hate about your particular iron?