Good day crafters, I thought that perhaps you would be able to

[yy4me]

give me some advice, don't know where else to post this question. I am having a heck of a time finding a steam iron that is not only easy to handle but does the job without spending a kings ransom. The Rowenta irons seem to get good reviews but I am not in a position to spend $140.00 on an iron. I need just a basic metal plate (not teflon) steam iron that gets hot enough to do the job. I just bought a Black & Decker Steam Advantage to replace another B & D that died. Well, this one does not get hot enough to produce very much steam. Plus it has the annoying habit of shutting off if I leave it for more than a minute. The design is also inconvenient. The control is just under the area where you would grip the handle. If you are not careful as you grip, you will bump the dial and turn it to another setting. It also spits. If I still had the receipt, I would bring it back but I don't. Who would expect a steam iron to be so lousy. Those of you that work with fabric may have a suggestion for me that would be a great help.I need to find something to replace this one. Thanks in advance.

[Warpy]

1. Check out TarJay

or Target for the less pretentious. I bought my Rowenta there some years ago for $30 on sale, and I've seen them for under $50 recently. It's the steel plate model, not the Teflon.

The extra bucks were well worth it. It gets hot enough to produce steam, something cheap irons that died early deaths never did.

It's Rowenta's bottom of the line model, but it does the job.

[Mist]

2. Yep--I had a Black&Decker--it had all those annoying qualities--

I think it had a built-in feature that the iron would cool down rapidly whenever it was set on its "heel." (which is frequently). Drove me nuts. I finally decided to just "park" it plate down, and have a slightly scorched ironing cover. Finally threw it out after 3 years, and got an old-fashioned dry iron, and use that with a spray bottle. I like steam irons, but not at insane prices. Glad to hear about the Rowenta.

[likesmountains 52]

3. I have a Black and Decker Digital Advantage..it was rated #1

in Consumer Reports a few years ago...it has been a very good iron for me and I have a small sewing business and iron a lot..

[yy4me]

4. May I assume that this was a more expensive iron?

Digital Advantage and Steam Advantage are, I'm sure, 2 different irons. I'll see if I can find your to look at. My last B & D iron lasted 3 years and just up and died one day. It would rapidly turn itself on and off, then nothing.
Perhaps I have just made bad decisions but I seem to like the look of the B & D irons---and the way they feel. Not fond of the futuristic look of some but I'm on my way to Target this week to look at other brands. I'm at my wits end with this one. I'd e-mail B & D but I'm sure one e-mail from me would not be of interest to them.

[likesmountains 52]

5. I think it was in the $50 range, but it's been a few years so I don't

remember exactly..it stays on for maybe 15-20 minutes of not moving which works well for me. Good luck. I went through a lot of $$ and lousy irons before i found this one.