Panasonic 360 Degree Freestyle Cordless Iron–My Review

I was thrilled to get an email asking me if I’d like to review the Panasonic 360 Degree Freestyle Cordless Iron – a sponsor of QuiltCon  -  on my blog.  Of course I would love a free iron to try out! I’ll start this review out by sharing what I typically use for my iron.  I use an old school, super heavy, crazy hot, garage sale special iron.  I have a couple of these super heavy irons in  my back up because I have never found a different newer iron that I would prefer to my heavy old school irons. The Panasonic 360 degree freestyle has changed my way of thinking.  Don’t get me wrong – I still love my old school irons but this one is really nice and I’ve been using it steadily while I quilt for the last week.  First I’m going to point out some of the features included: · Equipped with a stainless, curved bottom and ergonomic design, the iron glides in any direction without bunching or wrinkling the fabric (it’s pointy on both ends) · Ability to steam or dry iron I have a disclaimer here –  I haven’t attempted to fill this with water and use the steam.  I don’t use steam when I press my quilts so I tested it the way that I will be using it.  It is a wonderful dry iron. · Fully recharges in eight seconds Yes!  This is awesome!  It doesn’t run out of heat ever! When I posted the above picture of my ‘Toes in the Sand’ block beautifully pieced and pressed with the assistance of my Panasonic 360 Degree Freestyle Cordless Iron friends reeled off a bunch of questions which I’m going to attempt to answer below.

Let me know what you think. I think this is the one I read about that fits inside a lot of embroidery hoops. I’ve been tempted to get one. 

I really like this iron.  I don’t do embroidery but it is slightly smaller than my other iron. The dimensions of the iron is …5-1/8" x 3-15/16" x 8-11/16".  I also think the double pointed ends would be helpful. 

Does it stay hot enough to iron a whole quilt top (or back?) or do you have to reheat it?

It stays hot enough!  I’m always working on more than one block at a time.  I had to press open 40 half square triangle blocks plus a few other random pieces in one stretch and the heat of the iron kept up with me.  I also did finish a quilt top with this iron.  When I press a quilt top though I do set my iron down quite a bit as I adjust the fabric.  Since you have to set it down in it’s base which reheats the iron it worked great to keep hot as I worked. 

I’m very curious about this, too. I almost bought one at AQS then paused when I considered getting it home.

Be curious no more!  This a great iron and I would recommend it to anyone!

How heavy it is. I’m always on the look out for a light weight iron that gets plenty hot.

This iron is 4.4 lbs.  It’s definitely lighter than my old school irons but not so light that you have to put addition pressure to get a decent press.  That’s always been my complaint about other ‘newer’ irons is that they just don’t weigh enough … this one has found a great middle ground. What don’t I like about this iron? I would say that my one con about this iron is that you can’t stand it on it’s end like most irons.  It has to be set in the base when it’s not being used.   This is good because then it’s getting reheated … but it can be annoying because then you have to remember where the base is.  I would strongly consider purchasing a second base so I could have one on both sides of my ironing table …  In Summary: Pros

• Cordless!  You can utilize your entire ironing table without the hassle of a cord!
• Heavy, but not too heavy and gives you a decent press with little effort
• Pointed on both ends
• Stays nice and hot and reheats on the base in just 8 seconds.
• It’s adorable!  Seriously – isn’t this the cutest iron you’ve seen?
• Automatic shut off – don’t worry about forgetting to unplug your iron anymore!

Con

• Has to be set down in the base

Thank you to Panasonic for this iron!  I have loved using it for this past week and I’m sure I will continue to love it for many projects to come!