PURPOSE: To allow continuous ironing on various kinds of clothes without the necessity for refilling operation of water by providing a water tank of large capacity to a rest on which an iron body is put, and a feedwater means to refill water from the water tank into a reservoir following the movement of the iron body to be put on the rest.

CONSTITUTION: To use a steam iron, water is stored in a water tank 25, an iron body 1 is placed on a resting part 20 of a rest 2, a feed terminal 7 is made contact with a power terminal 22, then a main switch is turned on, thereby causing a heater 6 to be energized and a valve mechanism 14 to be controlled so that a dropping hole 13 may be in closed condition based on the detection by a position detecting sensor. Moreover, a water level detecting sensor 15 detects that a reservoir 10 is empty, and a sensor for iron on the rest 42 detects that the iron body 1 is properly placed on the resting part 20. Each signal is sent to a pump driving circuit 45, causing a feedwater pump 26 to be driven.