Some time ago CSN sponsored a giveaway on my blog.  Recently, they offered me an opportunity to review some of their products.  Although I’d really love a new crock pot (mine is 21 years old and too small for a family of six) I thought sewing-related items might be more appropriate for my blog.  So I explored their web site and selected two items for my ironing board.

The first item is an ironing board cover.  As you may have noticed from my tutorials, my cover was very dirty.

I selected a Polder Replacement Pad & Cover.  It is one piece, has a heavy duty cotton cover, a double thick fiber pad and a bungee cord for a tight fit.  Although it was a little difficult stretching the pad over my board, the final result was a snug fit.  There were no strings to pull and tie and the extra bit of thickness of the pad is nice.

The replacement pad and cover comes with a 10 year guarantee and is designed for moderate use (for ironing at least once a week.)  It’s hard to say if I’m a moderate user.  I rarely iron shirts or other clothes.  I mainly use my board for pressing while sewing.  It sees heavy use when I am making a T-shirt quilt.  But I am very satisfied with this product and would recommend it.

The second item I selected is a Polder Cordminder.  When I iron, especially when I’m trying to press the back of my quilts, the cord gets in my way.  During this past year I searched for cord holders on the internet and purchased one from Amazon.  When it arrived, I was disappointed at the quality of the product.  It had a very week coil at the top which immediately broke.  I sent it back to the seller, at my expense, and had to argue for credit for the product price.  I am standing up for quality in my purchases.  (I cannot tell you how many major appliances broke within the first year of purchase in my house – when all the others had lasted 20 years or so….)

So I was hopeful that this product from CSN would meet my expectations.

This product does not have a review yet on their web site, but I will add mine.  My first disappointment was learning that the iron holder attachment is not included with the product.  Although the iron holder is not included in the product description, its inclusion in the photo led me to believe that it was.

The second problem is that the holder is designed for flat cords.  I have never seen an iron with a flat cord, so perhaps this is more common on European products.  I had to squeeze my cord into the holders but most of the time it popped out.

One feature that I found attractive is that the cord minder could be rotated so that the ironing board could be folded up.  However, this very design feature hampered the original purpose of the minder.

When I used the iron, the weight of the cord pulled on the cord minder so strongly that it caused the entire unit to turn into the folding position.

I tried resolving this issue by moving the cord minder to the short end of my ironing board.  However, it simply tipped to the side again rendering the cord minder useless.

In conclusion, I would recommend the ironing board cover, but I would NOT recommend the cord minder.  I will continue my quest for a good, quality cord minder.  My husband and I, as engineers,  have discussed the design features that I need and potential ideas to meet those needs.  If you have a cord minder and are happy with it, please let me know about it!