The Sewing Place
Tools of the Trade => The Haberdashery => Topic started by: Acorn on July 11, 2022, 19:50:53 PM
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I could wax diabolical about the horrible thing for hours, but I know I have moaned about my iron in various other places on here, so I won't go into details. Just believe me, it has no redeeming features.
I have been looking for a new iron for over 6 months, with an increasing sense of desperation. My requirements are simple. I want a shiny stainless steel soleplate, and well spread out holes for the steam* - no grooves or indentations. I don't want to pay more than £40-£50, which seems reasonable as I don't want any clever gadget-y features.
However, it is incredibly hard to see what the soleplate of an iron looks like when you are shopping online, and stainless steel doesn't necessarily mean shiny. I have looked (in person) in
- Currys - the only shiny s-s soleplated one was labelled for 'occasional use' :facepalm:
- Asda - ditto
- The Range - nothing like it
- Sainsburys - nothing
I have been through so many listings on Amazon that I am losing the will to live.
Has anyone seen anything like this anywhere? Is there a secret, brilliant place for buying irons?
*I need the steam for non-sewing ironing.
If you really want to know, this (https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07M8S2BR6/) is the offending article.
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I can't help you, I just upgraded to a steam generator and paid the price of an old used car for it. Price not withstanding, I wish I'd of done this years ago.
If you want to up the cost a bit, a gravity feed iron is loads better than a typical household steam iron and will have all of the requirements, plus it will also give you an option of an additional sole plate you can add to diffuse the steam better.
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I did the same as Kwaaked and thought it was the bees knees at first, then it needed cleaning, 6 months on and it's still spitting limescale and black bits out despite having a special pipe that's supposed to let flush the tank inside the actual iron itself :headbang:
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I don't really want something that takes up so much space - either on/by the ironing board or in the cupboard. The steaming isn't greatly important - anything that steams with reasonable energy will be fine, as long as it doesn't have grooves on the soleplate.
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I did the same as Kwaaked and thought it was the bees knees at first, then it needed cleaning, 6 months on and it's still spitting limescale and black bits out despite having a special pipe that's supposed to let flush the tank inside the actual iron itself :headbang:
Mine didn't get to pressure in 15 minutes and I was on the phone to Reliable wanting to return it. They extended the return period another 30 days to see if using it would help the system. My gravity feed has maintenance on it daily and weekly. Because I close on Sundays and Mondays, I leave it drained and rinsed out for a few days (I don't sew on Saturdays even if I am there, so I do this on Friday). Bit of a pain in the backside, but I don't use distilled water, so I am sure I will have to delime it sooner or later.
I have a gravity feed iron that did this and wound up having to flush the system with vinegar and water 6 times before I got all the brown spitting out.
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https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6707644 is mine. The sole plate isn't shiny but it's not that awful sticky ceramic stuff, it's light and pointy and manoeuvrable enough for me to just use an edge on a seam, when needed, heats up super quick, has a long cord and belts out the steam when it's needed.
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I'm a Steam Generator fan, mine is a Philips Perfect Care Performer, and I love it. Steam on demand, never burns, no thermostat, switches off when no in use - what's not to like.
I do keep a cheapie 'Normal' iron - just in case, but haven't needed to use it yet.
Jessie
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Another steam gen fan. I have the cheapest (at the time) Phillips. It beeps annoyingly when it wants cleaning. That’s an easy process. I use either distilled water or water from my tumble dryer. I also have a cheapo Tesco jobbie that I bought for craft use, such as when I use bondaweb, but I also now use that for sewing. You are not meant to keep water in the tank of the steam gen when not in use and there are often gaps of time when I use the iron for sewing projects.
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When online the description should include the soleplate being either stainless steel or ceramic etc.
When looking for a replacement for The Lemming (ie looking for an exact double but without the lemming gene) I looked through Currys w/s and found they had the one I wanted with the correct description ... ie stainless steel soleplate.
I didnt think you could get a steam iron without grooves but then again what do I know?
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Mine doesn't have grooves, just holes but it doesn't have a SS bottom.
I do actually like it.
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@Iminei They have the description, but don't say (or show) whether it's shiny stainless steel.
You can get steam irons with just holes and no grooves at all, but it is possible that that's only with non-stainless steel plates. I have seen a couple of shiny plates with holes that have a bit of an indentation alongside but not actual grooves, but they only had them around the outside, which means the steam isn't going everywhere.
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I hate any iron, so I don't use them :laughing: :laughing:
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I think the reason that irons aren't made with stainless steel soleplates is that in order to heat up evenly they would need to be either very thick and therefore heavy or else sandwiched with aluminium, in the way that good quality stainless saucepans are.
The last time I had a dead iron I trotted off to my local John Lewis, cornered a 'partner' and told her to sell me a steam iron with specifications of 3m cable and enough oomph to steam coat weight wool. That narrowed the range down to two (those steam gizmos that can 'go from denim to silk at the same temperature' wouldn't cut the mustard for sewing applications, she said) and I bought the Bosch option. Apart from the fact that the cover of the water tank occasionally pops open unbidden, I've had no problems with it.
I don't use tap water in it so I have no limescale problems (Hertfordshire water is fairly chalky). I buy 5lt containers of demineralised water from Halfords and use that instead (and in the steam mop too).
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I'm a big fan of steam generators, from 1992 when I got my first one. I've got two at the moment , one for sewing upstairs, and I have found the Phillips irons seem to last a long time (I use distilled water in them). I had a brief sojourn with a Russell Hobbs that didn't last five minutes. I quite like the ceramic plates as well.
https://www.philips.co.uk/c-m-ho/ironing/latest#availability=onsale%2Cinstock&filters=STEAM_IRONS_SU
My best neighbour like you @Bodgeitandscarper she starts laughing if ironing ever gets mentioned.
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Another steam gen fan. I’ve got two Philips. The cheaper one I use for dressmaking and has variable temperatures. The much more expensive one I dislike because you there is no temperature to adjust. You have to have it on less or more steam which annoys me.
And personally I hate stainless steel plates. Curious as to what you like about them @Acorn
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In my experience they slide better, give better heat and are far, far easier to clean.
I have had a ceramic plate that I liked in the past, but most of them now have strange names, and there's clearly no way of knowing whether it will be OK or not. My current horrible iron has a 'multi-directional diamond ceramic soleplate' which sounds wonderful (although 'multidirectional'??? :[ ) but is terrible.
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I think I’ve had a ceramic sole in the past and didn’t like that. Each to our own. :)
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I with Acorn regards stainless steel so much easier to clean and sparkly shiny too!
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I think I may have found one!! :D
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I just bought this Rowenta (made in Germany) with stainless steel soleplate. I'm happy with it other than it's noisy.
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/rowenta-everlast-anticalc-iron/?pkey=s~iron~823&sbkey=williams-sonoma-home
I chose it for the anti-calc properties. My last two irons were constantly spewing crap and cleaning would only help for a week or two but I had super hard water in Arizona. The water in my area of Tennessee is not as hard. I'm also dumping the water after every use which isn't something I've always done.
I had a gravity feed iron in the past but I burned it out because it was during a period in my life when I sewed a lot and I'd leave it on all day for 2-3 days a week. Also it was a little too heavy for my tiny wrist and caused pain. But it sure did work well. It also required distilled water so it never spewed garbage like the regular irons.
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That page isn't showing in this country. :( I had a good look at Rowenta irons, because it's a make I like, but didn't find anything over here.
I have, however, just ordered a Tefal iron with a nice shiny stainless steel soleplate and only the necessary holes. Not too expensive either - £25 including next day delivery.
Fingers crossed... my new tumble dryer arrives tomorrow, so I'll have a good sized ironing pile by the time it arrives on Thursday.
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Mines the cheapest iron in Currys, a Russel Hobbs purple one .. with the Stainless Steel soleplate!
When I first bought it .. it was £9 ... I think the non lemming variety cost a bit more at £15.
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I have the same iron as Iminei and it's great although I can't remember how much I paid for it but I think it was fairly cheap. I also have a Philips steam generator but I only use that if I have a lot of ironing, and I have a Morphy Richards dry iron which was a wedding present 45 years ago and that is still used occasionally for some sewing tasks.
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That page isn't showing in this country. :( I had a good look at Rowenta irons, because it's a make I like, but didn't find anything over here.
Geo blocking really annoys me @Acorn.
Maybe one of these is accessible:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Rowenta+Everlast+Anticalc+Iron+DW7180&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images
When I was looking I was trying to find a high wattage iron as some of them don't get hot enough to deal with my beloved linen.
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That looks like a great iron - especially the soleplate.