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I am a wife, mama and grandmama getting through life by hanging on to a needle and thread.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Too Good To Be True

I was wandering through one of our local thrift shops the other day and stuck back in a dark corner I noticed this Rowenta iron...for only $5.00!  I grabbed it up, handed the clerk a five dollar bill and ran for my car like a thief in the night!  I half expected the clerk to chase after me yelling that there had been a mistake...this deal was too good to be true!  However, once I got home and plugged the iron in, I realized that it was too good to be true...the iron only heated if the cord was held "just right".  Darn!  But wait, I'm married to a pretty handy guy...I wonder if he could fix an iron?  As hubby is unscrewing the base of my treasure he is telling me that he's never taken apart an iron before and I'm slowly losing hope that my "new" iron will ever press fabric again, but the news was good...simply a broken wire in the cord!  He shortened the cord a bit, wired it back together, screwed the base back on and success!  It works just like a brand new $100 iron!

20 comments:

Betsy said...

Susan, I have 2 Rowenta's and they do not dissapoint. Good buy and good hubby.

Sewing Junkie said...

Good thing you figured out the trouble so you didn't have a fire. I own two of them and really like them. Chris

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

What a find!! Thank goodness for handy husbands :)

quiptowngirl said...

I found a Rowenta at my thrift store 3 weeks ago and it was also 5.00. Mine needed a good scrubbing of the soleplate, but it works great. It is smaller than my original Rowenta, so it is much easier to press my quilt blocks. Love the thrift store!!
Cindy

Julia said...

Wow! You are so very lucky!!!!! I would love to have a new Rowenta! I need to shop thrift stores more often.

Jocelyn said...

Wow what a bargain!! And having a handyman to fix it was topping on the cake :-)

NeverBored said...

I love my Rowenta and had the same experience of the wiring in the cord breaking near the plug after many years of use. Luckily I figured it out, got a plug replacement part at Wal-Mart for less than $2, replaced the plug myself and was back in business. So relieved not to have to spend over $100 to replace the iron I love. It did make me wonder how many things we toss that could be easily fixed.

Mary L. said...

What luck..both with the iron and the husband. LOL.

Needled Mom said...

Oh yeah!!! You can't loose for only $5 if you have a handy hubby.

Ann Champion said...

What a great find..the iron AND the fix-it hubby! ;)

ktquilts said...

I know exactly how you feel! Check it out:

http://ktquilts4fun.blogspot.com/2009/09/admission.html

Blessings!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Oh, the joys of being married to a "handy guy" -- I am constantly grateful for mine!

Anonymous said...

yay for you!!!!!!

evelyn said...

Lucky lady! I just love the thrift stores. I lucked out on Tuesday, 10 yards of cotton fabric for $10.

Gypsy Quilter said...

I collected old irons for years and had my dad fix them. I've even bought new cords for them at Lowe's, as some of the old cords were unsafe. Glad you found a treasure.

Mary @ Neat and Tidy said...

You are the lucky dog!

Dora, the Quilter said...

I picked one up at a thrift store a few years ago. I figured that one had been donated because the newer models were lighter in weight and less "clunky". I've used it some but have to admit it's not my favorite iron, although it has some features I do like. (I've been using a little palm size iron for most of my quilt making.)
Congratulations on your good fortune and the ability to make the repair.

Joanne Lendaro said...

hahaha!! Cute story...congrads on the iron, fix that man a pie! That's what I do when hubbie rescuses something for me.

Heirlooms by Ashton House said...

What a buy! Glad your hubby could get it working right again! I love my Rowenta. I have two of them.

Anonymous said...

I bought a Rowenta new several years ago. Less than a year later the cord got worn away at the plug area. My clever husband cut it off and attached a new plug. Then a few months after that the cord got worn away at the base of the iron and it was shootin sparks! Hubby told me to throw it out as it was dangerous. That was my one and only Rowenta. I never had that happen to an iron before or after. Since the the warranty was expired nothing I could do. I'll never buy another Rowenta iron again. Other brands are better and lasted longer for me. Maybe I got a lemon? But I told this story to other quilters I know and none of them were too impressed with Rowenta's either. You can get a lot more bang for your buck with other brands as Rowenta irons are rather costly.

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