Buying a new iron......

RE: Buying a new iron......

I'v just moved into a place by myself. Can you not buy an uncomplicated iron for an unprofessional ironer. Are there any that work on auto-pilot?.. or do I have to help it along.
Windy. x

RE: Buying a new iron......

HI Windy - here's the sum of my 30 odd years experience of minimising ironing.
1) Wash on thelowest spinyou can and be prepared to dry your clothes for longer. Spinning creases clothes.
2) Use a fabric conditioner which says low iron.
3) Take the washing out of the machine as soon as it's finsihed and hang up straight away, shaking and smoothing the items as you go.
4) Follow these instructions and youwill probablynot haveto iron tee-shirts, sweat shirts, in fact most items will be ok as long as you don't have 20:20 vision. You will probably have to iron shirts, and trousers. Do them while they are slightly damp, and use plenty of steam, and elbow grease, LOL. Spray on starch is great for shirts and makes the job slightly less mind-numbing, but only slightly.
5) Life is too short to iron bed linen, and underwear, unless you are my mother-in-law or sister-in-law and your only function in life is to make me feel inadequate.

RE: Buying a new iron......

My mum thinks I am a philistine as I don't iron anything, I absolutely hate doing it! So my iron is just a bog standard Tesco's cheapy £8.99 one, which I think was used once to Iron on of my partners shirts when he was going to an important family do!!! Otherwise I just don't do it, however I do follow all of spinal music's tips in order for everything to not look creased.

RE: Buying a new iron......

Windynights - Sharon - i have one more to add to that list =
(6 get your significant other to do it

ok - thats really horrible - but seriously - i DETEST!!! ironing! seriously...i did it for 4-5 years straight through when i was in the military...i had to iron not only my clothes but sometimes my boyfriends or roomates clothes - and yes, even my undies.....lol (just joking)

anywho - thought i would share...

Ada

RE: Buying a new iron......

Holistic heaven
I have both an iron and mum like yours!
When I announced "Theres better ways to spend your time than ironing" my Mum replied " and doesn't it just show"!
She bought me an iron from a shopping channel, which claimed you only need to iron one side of anything so you cut your ironing time in half.
Rubbish.
But I must say that she has a great iron(phillips azure) which must be why when I visit her 138 miles away I take a suitcase down with laundered unironed clothes and then Iron them there.
Not sure though whether that is for her benefit or mine.
LoL
Sunflower

RE: Buying a new iron......

The only time my clothes ever get ironed is when I got to visit my mum and she will insist on washing and ironing everything I take with me.

I think I hate it so much as I used to work nights in a children's home and part of the job was to do ALL the ironing, bedding, kids clothes etc and since I stopped doing that job I have hardly ironed since.

x

RE: Buying a new iron......

Thanks guys for all the advice. I was really cheeky the other weekend, I took it all down to my girlfriends (320 mile round trip) and used her washing machine and dryer. I tried her iron, but gave up after a while and went to the pub instead(she unfortunately at work).
The tesco iron mentioned seems good. That way I can save up and get my own washer and dryer and follow the advice given.
Wish me luck in my new job!
Luv Windy x

RE: Buying a new iron......

I have bog standard steam iron. I cannot iron without steam though.

My son and daughter keep ironing to in my daughter's case minimum and my son less than that.

I don't make work for myself but I don't like crumpled clothes so I iron them. I do it once a week. I don't like what lots of people seem to do, get the ironing board out to iron something before rushing out to work.

RE: Buying a new iron......

hi there spinal music 😀

when my money tree starts to grow again, i've got my beady eye on this model which is available in argos for around £80-00.

i've used a bigger version when i used to work in a clothes shop, and i have to say that they are a complete godsend as they get creases out just like that! the only downside is unless you do all your ironing beside your wardrobe, one of them space racks would be required to hang the ironed clothes . despite this, i wouldn't be deterred as anything for an easy life is my philosophy!!

warm wishes -calla lily x

RE: Buying a new iron......

Hi Sharon

Ironing is not my big thing so I can't imagine spending 90 quid on an iron. However, having said that, it can sometimes be quite a soothing, meditational thing to do and the thrill of reaching the bottom of the ironing basket is unmatchable!:D

Look: here I am!

Calla Lily: I used to have a very much smaller steamer. I'd seen a shop assistant using one on a dress and thought it looked like a good idea. However, it turned out that I hardly ever used it - probably because of the hassle of having to hang all the clothes up to make it work. I think I gave it away in the end. Anyway, my point is that you don't have to spend £80 for one.

Love
Sunanda xx

RE: Buying a new iron......

ORIGINAL: spinal music

I need to buy a new one, and I'vevisited the Which site and it says the current best buys are the ones with the big integral steam reservoirs: the cheapestone they mention comes in at £90 - a Phillips,
Incidentally the Which web-site says Bosch is best - for washing machines fridges etc -
Sharon.

Hi Sharon,

What next? A bloke writing about steam Irons? Still, please allow me:

What you want is indeed the Philips GC 6310: available at £79 from here:
[DLMURL] http://www.deals4u.co.uk/product.asp?id=2195&ref=www.kelkoo.co.uk [/DLMURL]

I am a member of Which? albeit about to leave. I have visited the member's area for you. Here are the results on their 6 best buys in January 2007:
% = Overall score by which?
...kg = Weight with full tank or just iron for steam generators.
...m = length of steam line from tank to Iron.
1. Breville IR20 DIVA Extra Glide/ £30 / 72% / 350ml/ 1.9kg /
2. Morphy Richards 40706 Comfigrip Professional / £35 / 72% / 400ml / 2kg /

for very little effort it returns plenty of steam and good results. It's speedy once you start pressing, results were super-fast on the medium heat setting and only our Best Buy generators were able to provide a better finish at higher temperatures.

3. Philips GC4340 Azur Precise / £70 / 69% / 350ml / 2kg/
4. . Tefal FV9250 Program 8 / £80 / 68% / 350ml / 2.1kg
5. . Philips GC6103 Provapor Azur Doublespeed Steam Generator £90/ 80% / 1000ml / 1kg / 1.7m

6. Rowenta DG7140 Pro Precision (Exc/good/good)/ £175 / 76% / 1000ml / 1.3kg / 1.8m

Details on the Philips are:
(Exc/Exc/good) This Best Buy Philips produced plenty of steam which made it extremely quick at getting a good result. It ironed on all settings to a very high standard and performed brilliantly on linen.
There seems to be no job too big for the Doublespeed; it continued to steam to the end of our durability test without cleaning. The controls and design are simple and the iron is light and easy to manoeuvre. The steam button is well placed with an incorporated slider which locks into place for continuous steam.

If anything the cord from the generator to the iron is a little short, but all in all an impressive generator model well equipped to take on a large families ironing.
Pros: Excellent performance results.
Cons: Short cord from generator to iron.
I would say: go for it.

Live long and prosper.

Prashna.

RE: Buying a new iron......

I actually quite like ironing - ok now we've established I'm bonkers.

I've got a steam reservoir thingy. I bought one from Aldi last year and loved it - but it died, so I bought a Bush one from Sainsburys on 26th December 2006, but it died on 2nd January 2007, so I bought a very cheap one from Currys, but it lasted about 10 days. I'm now using a Breville one which I really, really like - it cost about £45 from Comet I think & it's nearly March!! I do deep tissue ironing I think.

IMHO, they can be a bit tempermental and the cheap ones don't last, but I would always try and replace my iron with one of this type, because I just find they are so effective (mind you if I followed the earlier washing instructions, _- I wouldn't have to iron so deep!!:D)

LOL

FBx

RE: Buying a new iron......

ORIGINAL: spinal music

I need to buy a new one, and I'vevisited the Which site and it says the current best buys are the ones with the big integral steam reservoirs: the cheapestone they mention comes in at £90 - a Phillips,

Incidentally the Which web-site says Bosch is best - for washing machines fridges etc - we've bought a Bosch washing m/c and I second that, and I'd also like to take this consumerist opportunity to say Zanussi are crap (judging by the falling apart performance of our fridge anddishwasher. Appliance of Science my eye.

Sharon.

Hi Sharon,

A quick update:

There IS an alternative to the Philips. A Russell Hobbs at £70 from Argos. Link:
[link= http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4100717/Trail/C%24cip%3D50160.Kitchen%2Band%2Blaundry%3EC%24cip%3D50272.Irons%3EC%24cip%3D50273.Steam%2Bgenerator%2Birons.htm ]http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4100717/Trail/C%24cip%3D50160.Kitchen%2Band%2Blaundry%3EC%24cip%3D50272.Irons%3EC%24cip%3D50273.Steam%2Bgenerator%2Birons.htm[/link]
Steam output 90g/min as opposed to 70g/min with the Philips. Also £10 cheaper still. And Argos might be local ie no sending off.

Also Argos return policy. A picture from Amazon below:

Unfortunately, Which? did not test this Russell Hobbs. So side-by-side comparison not possible.

Argos do not sell that Philips though.

We have a Bosch washing Machine. Fantastic. The Bosch Irons are too pricey for what they are. Hence not Which? best buy.
Regards.

Prashna

RE: Buying a new iron......

ORIGINAL: sunanda

and the thrill of reaching the bottom of the ironing basket is unmatchable!:D

LOL i think i've only managed to do that three times in the last decade.. i seem to have a full ironing basket and then a massive pile alongside it.. i have no idea where it comes from to be honest.. mind you, it does have it's plus points, being lazy as far as the ironing goes.. there are times when i think, right, i'm going to sort this blinkin pile out and as i work my way down i find items of clothing i totally forgot i had.. saves a fortune on clothes shopping..

as for spending £90 on an iron i don't think i would.. i tend to go for the ones which are middle range prices.. sort of round the £30 mark.. at the end of the day they all have to go through the same quality control and safety checks before they go on sale so what's the difference..

besides, my friend has one of those irons that comes complete with it's own launch pad.. (she's one of these people who irons her knickers, socks and even her tea towels, god love her).. i remember borrowing her iron once and apart from the racket it made when steaming i found it incredibly heavy.. the amount of ironing i have, i'd end up with carpal tunnel syndrome if i had to use one of those on a regular basis..

dear oh dear.. how much can you ramble on about ironing..?? 😮

ali xx