Hot Topic: Irons for Quilters

I examine seven irons in my search for really useful equipment for my quilting studio as well as for traveling to workshops.
Rowenta ~160 degrees F
Rowenta Pro Precision ~140 degrees F
Petite Press ~110 degrees F
Clover craft iron ~130 degrees F
Walnut Hollow wood burner ~200 degrees F
Hobico Sealing Iron 300+ degrees F
Darice Mini Craft Iron ~300 degrees F
Tested but not shown:
Rowenta First Class Travel Iron ~160 degrees F
#quilter #ironing

[@lizchilders4154]

Wow! Look at your fabric! Beautiful!

[@KMCoan]

Nice job you!

[@elainemcatee4347]

My favorite iron is the Panasonic cordless, great heat, abundant steam and no annoying cord. My Rowenta iron only lasted a few months, just like the Chi and the Shark. Thanks for the review.

[@krystleroy3068]

Wow the oldest is crazy hot

[@sundogstudioArt]

They don’t make them like they used to!🤣

[@corteltube]

Thanks for the video…looking for a new iron….I have one of these temperature dealies..think I will experiment. I have a couple irons…a mini oliso which I have ended up liking….thanks…this was fun.

[@sundogstudioArt]

Good luck!

[@winkielaroo]

Really interesting, thank you. I'm surprised by how much temperature variation you found over the surface of each iron; I'd have thought it would be a simple matter for an iron manufacturer to ensure even heat distribution, but clearly I was wrong.

[@cavequilter4063]

You can't wave even a properly calibrated (which this did not seem to be) IR sensor over a surface and expect anything close to an accurate temperature reading - the sole plates are likely much more consistent than shown in the video. There will of course be some variation in temperature depending on manufacturing tolerances and design of the heat distribution, but nothing like shown here.

[@sabineviehweger3340]

Thats an interesting topic. I thought that a good iron would be much hotter.

[@sundogstudioArt]

You are not alone…We all fall for that! Of course the definition of “good” varies from user to user. (Personally, give me a wickedly hot iron with no safety shut off.)

[@saintpaulia869]

What is the model number of the first, older Rowenta shown in your video?

[@sundogstudioArt]

That old conventional steam iron is the DM 890. Made in the 1990’s. The Rowenta with the steam generating base is the Rowenta DG8430 Pro Precision 1800-Watt Steam Iron Station. It is about 6 years old.

[@SewPerky]

What temperature results in fabric scorch?

[@sundogstudioArt]

That’s a great topic for more research!* A quick internet search suggests cotton will scorch in the 410 degree range. Certainly time and fiber content are factors. *”Hold my Merlot…And watch this…”

[@cavequilter4063]

Unfortunately likely most of the readings in this video are not even close to accurate. All IR meters are affected by two significant factors - their field of view (usually described as a distance-to-spot ratio), and their emissivity calibration. The FOV/D:S for the IRT205 in the video is 8:1, meaning that at an 8" distance from the red spot (which is just a targeting marker, not an indicator of the size of the measured area) is averaging the IR emission of a 1" circle on the surface. If you don't hold the meter consistently on the same spot you will get widely variable readings as the device is not intended to be waved over a larger FOV as that will drastically affect the energy radiation calculation. If you could hold the sensor steady at a consistent distance from each iron, that would help, but it wouldn't solve the larger problem - these irons appear to have significantly different emissivity. The first few irons are highly polished, likely having an emissivity below 0.1, and the IRT205 is by default calibrated for objects which have an emissivity of 0.9 (most objects are far closer to being 1.0 than 0.0, so this is a sensible default). Also just as a practical matter there is no way that an iron that you would actually use has a temperature of 150F on a cotton setting (it should be much closer to 400F), and the steam function would be unlikely to work. Likely these irons are much closer to 400F, but the IR thermometer has not been calibrated for the extremely low emissivity of the surface. The Hobbico iron, on the other hand, seems to have lost nearly all of its polish, and thus has an emissivity that is likely much closer to what the thermometer is calibrated for and thus reads a much higher temperature (the other high-temp iron, the mini-iron, simply seems to have never had any polish). In order to properly measure the temperature of these kinds of surfaces you need to reset the emissivity value used in your IR sensor.

[@billminckler6550]

OMG! I was thinking the same as I watched the video. In summary, reflective, shiny materials are notorious for rendering lower-than-actual readings. Non contact thermometers are great; equally, they necessitate some advanced experience. All in all, it was great to see the various iron choices. And finally, I agree, steam, itself, can be engaged to achieve a lot of the work. Guilty as charged; I am an engineer AND sewist. ❤ 😂