My ‘Little Hottie’ Vintage GE Iron… an unexpected review

Irons are the best, aren’t they? There’s nothing like a hot iron to make your sewing project look amazing, even with a few imperfections. This little hottie is my new favorite – it’s a vintage GE iron!

This 1950’s GE F-49 Travel Iron came to me with a bunch of other sewing stuff that I bought from someone who was switching hobbies. When I found her I thought she was a broken relic and stuffed her in the back of a cupboard.

At the time I was pressing and ironing with a beautiful Panasonic 360 Degree Freestyle Iron. It has a ton of features… it’s cordless, a marvelous steamer, and it never drips. But it turns off. After just 10 minutes. When you’re sewing 10 minutes goes by SO fast. I’d be turning around to press pieces of a quilt block and my iron would be cold. Again and again and again.

One day in desperation and curiosity I pulled out that little box and plugged in the vintage iron to see if it even worked. And she did! She got very, very hot. Almost smoking hot, but she’s on the highest setting, lol!

I couldn’t believe how wonderful it was to see my seams so flat. All that day I sewed and pressed, sewed and pressed, and my iron never turned off.

She does have some faults…

This is the water tank for steam.  You fill it up and screw it on the side. I’m not sure if I’m installing it correctly because it spits and leaks. But I don’t use steam when I’m quiltmaking so I don’t care.

And, of course, I have to be very careful not to leave my little hottie plugged in when I’m done sewing. Irons didn’t have automatic shut off in the 1950’s.

Lastly, she ruins all of my ironing board covers. They gradually turn scorched and yellow. This is only after a few months. It’s really annoying because I like to use my ironing board to take pictures, and this is not pretty.

Even with all her faults, I love this little thing. She’s just so good at what really matters… heat! My husband loves the Panasonic so we’re always switching the irons back and forth. He’ll set up the cordless one to iron his shirt, and then I’ll trade it out for my little hottie after I take the kids to school.

I wish I could tell you the best place to get a little iron like this, but the only place I’ve seen them online is eBay. And they’re super cheap. Who knew? But if you get one and you burn your house down because you forget to turn it off, don’t blame me! I gave you all the facts right here.

What do you think… Which iron is better, old or new? Tell me in the comments. 🙂

xoxo,